WWI Medal of Honor Recipient Comes Home

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ)- Sgt. Willie Sandlin will be reinterred at New State Veterans Cemetery in Hyden.

Kentucky World War I hero Sgt. Willie Sandlin was reinterred Tuesday, along with his wife, in a special ceremony at the newly dedicated Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Southeast in Leslie County.

Willie Sandlin, who is from Eastern Kentucky, received the Medal of Honor one hundred years ago after single-handedly destroying three German machine gun emplacements and neutralizing 24 enemy soldiers at Bois de Forges on September 26, 1918.

Sgt. Sandlin received the second most citations for valor in World War I, just behind Sgt. Alvin York.

Sgt. Sandlins Medal of Honor citation reads: “He showed conspicuous gallantry in action by advancing alone directly on a machine gun nest which was holding up the line with its fire. He killed the crew with a grenade and enabled the line to advance. Later in the day he attacked alone and put out of action two other machine gun nests, setting a splendid example of bravery and coolness to his men.”

Sgt. Sandlin died in 1949 of lung infections caused by his exposure to poison gas during the Battle of Argonne.

He was buried at Hurricane Cemetery in Hyden, but later moved to Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, where his widow was interred with him.

Sgt. Sandlins immediate family, including his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as members of the Leslie County community, started the process of working to bring the Sandlins home as soon as work started to create a site for the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery South East in Leslie County.

Sgt. Sandlin’s legacy has touched the Leslie County community not only because of his military service, but also for his service to the community to help eradicate adult illiteracy.