Medal of Honor recipient faced down 100 enemy troops to cover his men

As the Germans launched their last, desperate offensive on the Western Front in mid-1918, a relatively new United States Army unit, the 3rd Infantry Division, would earn the nickname “Rock of the Marne” for its refusal to give an inch of ground against the overwhelming and advancing German forces. The Germans failed to break through the division’s defenses, turning the tide of the battle.

Despite its heroic stand, not one member of the 3rd Division was awarded the Medal of Honor throughout World War I, but that would change in the next conflict. Not only would the 3rd produce 61 Medals of Honor — the most of any division — but one of them, Audie Murphy, would be the most decorated soldier in the U.S. Army.

Although Murphy fought a long and agonizing war before receiving his Medal of Honor, one of his comrades-in-arms, 2nd Lt. Robert Craig, was destined for a much shorter, though no less violent, tour of duty.