The Last Medal of Honor Recipient From WW1.

are 65 living MOH Recipients. Korea – 1, Vietnam 48 and GWOT (Global War on Terror) - 16.

By Kenneth Riege USAF Veteran

June 29, 2002, America lost an amazing hero and dear friend to all who met him, World War 2’s last Medal of Honor Recipient, Mr. Hershel “Woody” Williams. A mere 5 months later on 29 Nov 2022, my dearest friend Hershey passed thus leaving Retired US Army Colonel Ralph Puckett as the last surviving MOH Recipient of the Korean War. For the record currently there

The early part of the last century has always held a special place for me. Maybe it’s because my grandfather, Pvt. Paul Emerson Riege fought with the US Marine Corps during WW1. Or it could be that so much of what we have today, began during this time in history. I love to watch the history channel and there are many shows in the “That Built America” Documentary series that I enjoy watching and encourage all to check them out.

With the passing of Woody and Hershey, A lot of attention was being placed on the last surviving MOH Recipient from WW2 and Korea that I began researching who was the last surviving Medal of Honor Recipient from WW1 when I came across Lt. Edourad Izac.

Lt. Izac was born on 18 Dec 1891 and passed on 18 Jan 1990. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy in 1915 and the very next day after his graduation he married Agnes Cabell who was the daughter of General DeRosey Caroll Cabell.

In July 1917, Lt. Izac was assigned to the troop transport ship The USS President Lincoln. He was tasked with helping to oversee the conversion of that ship from an ocean liner to a ship of war. These duties kept the ship in drydock until her maiden voyage on 18 Oct 1917.

By May 1918, Lt. Izac was now the ships XO (Executive Officer) and made several successful trips ferrying troops to Brest, France. However, during the early morning hours of 31 May 1918 as the ship had begun a return trip to New York City she came under attack from a German U-Boat. She was struck by 3 torpedoes at a range of only 1,000 yards and at 0930 she sank taking 26 of her 700 crew members, leaving the rest of her crew to fight for survival on lifeboats. Lt. Izac was taken prisoner as one of the crew members of the German U-Boat recognized his officer insignia. When questioned about the ship’s captain, Lt. Izac not wanting to give up his commanding officer informed his captors that the captain had gone down with the ship, which they believed since this has always been a common Naval practice.

To help everyone understand Lt. Izac’s action which earned him our nation’s highest award for valor against an enemy force, I have included his Medal of Honor Citation.

“When the U.S.S. President Lincoln was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-90, on May 21, 1918, Lt. Izac was captured and held as a prisoner on board the U-90 until the return of the submarine to Germany, when he was confined in the prison camp. During his stay on the U-90 he obtained information of the movements of German submarines which was so important that he was determined to escape, with a view to making this information available to the U.S. and Allied Naval authorities. In attempting to carry out this plan, he jumped through the window of a rapidly moving train at the imminent risk of death, not only from the nature of the act itself but from the fire of the armed German soldiers who were guarding him. Having been recaptured and reconfined, Lt. Izac made a second and successful attempt to escape, breaking his way through barbed-wire fences and deliberately drawing the fire of the armed guards in the hope of permitting others to escape during the confusion. He made his way through the mountains of southwestern Germany, having only raw vegetables for food, and at the end, swam the River Rhine during the night in the immediate vicinity of German sentries.”

After the war, Lt. Izac was welcomed to the Department of the Navy as a hero and was promoted to Lt. Commander. Shortly thereafter he was assigned as the director of munitions at the Navy Yard in DC and on 11 November 1920, 2 years after the end of WW1, Lt. Izac was awarded the Medal of Honor by then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt (later to become President Roosevelt).

Unfortunately, the injuries Lt. Izac sustained to his knees during the war forced him to an early retirement, thus ending his what was sure to be a very promising Navy Career. Lt. Izac and his family moved to San Diego to live with his father-in-law where be began selling ads for the San Diego Union and began working as a freelance writer. In 1931, a group of veterans in the city convinced him to run for Congress in California’s 20th congressional district, but ultimately lost the election. However, in 1936 he changed his campaign strategy using his war record and MOH Status as selling points in his political campaign. He would retell the story of his capture and became noted for his animation while speaking and won the election in 1936.

Lt. Izac, now Congressman Izac would serve in the United States Senate until 1946 and after leaving office, he moved his family to land inherited from his father-in-law in Gordonsville, VA. Where now Mr. Izac became a farmer raising cattle and growing fruits and vegetables. Later in his life, like all the MOH Recipients that I have met downplayed the accomplishments of his Medal of Honor choosing to say, he was doing his duty.

As with all my stories I end with a special quote from the “Medal of Honor Quote Book.” Unfortunately, this book was published after all the WW1 MOH Recipients had passed, but I came across this quote from WW2 MOH Recipient Lucian Adams United States Army and feel Lt. Izac would agree with.

In 1970 after 55 years of marriage his beloved wife Agnes passed and Lt. Izac lived the remainder of his life with his second daughter Anna in Fairfax, VA. By 1989 he was the oldest living Medal of Honor Recipient and on his 99th birthday he was honored by Willard Scott on the Today Show.

ON 18 January 1990, Lt. Edourad Izac died in his sleep of congestive heart failure. He was the last surviving Medal of Honor Recipient from WW1. He was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA in Section 3, Lot 422216.

While I never had the honor of meeting Lt. Edourad Izac, my family and I will be traveling to Washington, D. C. in September for an art show that my son Eric-Paul Riege will be a part of at the National Gallery of the Arts. While there we will be visiting Arlington National Cemetery and paying our respects to this amazing and humble war hero of WW1.

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