Michael J. Perkins

Private First Class, U.S. Army

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War I

Private First Class Michael J. Perkins (1899 - 28 October 1918) was a U.S. Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during World War I.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 101st Infantry, 26th Division.

Place and date: At Belieu Bois, France, 27 October 1918.

Citation: He, voluntarily and alone, crawled to a German "pill box" machinegun emplacement, from which grenades were being thrown at his platoon. Awaiting his opportunity, when the door was again opened and another grenade thrown, he threw a bomb inside, bursting the door open, and then, drawing his trench knife, rushed into the emplacement. In a hand-to-hand struggle he killed or wounded several of the occupants and captured about 25 prisoners, at the same time silencing 7 machineguns.

Death and Burial

Private First Class Michael J. Perkins died on 28 October 1918. He is buried at New Calvary Cemetery in Mattapan, MA.

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