1. Matt Louis Urban was a United States Army lieutenant colonel and one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War II.
57 Facts About Matt Urban
1. 2.
Matt Urban received over a dozen personal decorations for combat, including seven Purple Hearts.
3.
Matt Urban was born Matthew Louis Urbanowicz in Buffalo, New York.
4.
Matt Urban's father Stanley was a Polish immigrant and a plumbing contractor.
5.
Matt Urban's mother Helen was born in Depew, New York.
6.
Matt Urban was baptized at Corpus Christi Church and lived at 1153 Broadway while growing up.
7.
Matt Urban attended East High School in Buffalo, and graduated in 1937.
8.
Matt Urban had three brothers: Doctor Stanley Urban, Arthur Urban, and Eugene, who died in 1927 from appendicitis.
9.
Matt Urban majored in history and government with a minor in community recreation.
10.
Matt Urban graduated on June 14,1941, with a Bachelor of Arts degree; during his last year, he used the name Matty L Urbanowitz.
11.
Matt Urban was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in the US Army on May 22,1941, and entered active duty on July 2,1941, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
12.
Matt Urban served as a first lieutenant and captain in six campaigns during World War II, and was severely wounded his seventh time while charging an enemy machine gun position on 3 September 1944, in Belgium.
13.
Matt Urban was promoted to first lieutenant on February 1,1942, captain on April 30,1943, major on October 2,1944, and lieutenant colonel on October 2,1945.
14.
Matt Urban was medically retired from the US Army on February 26,1946.
15.
Matt Urban first went into combat when he made the beach landing under fire with another soldier on a raft on November 8,1942, the first day of the invasion of North Africa, of the North Africa Campaign.
16.
Matt Urban followed up this refusal by taking out a combat patrol.
17.
Matt Urban killed him with a trench knife, took the German's machine pistol, and fired at the onrushing enemy.
18.
Later that day, while advancing near Orglandes, Matt Urban was struck in the left leg by shrapnel by direct fire from a German tank who spotted and aimed towards him before he could fire the bazooka.
19.
Matt Urban refused to be evacuated after a medic attended him, and continued directing his company from position to position while being carried by his men sitting down on a stretcher.
20.
The next day, he was wounded in the right forearm and attended in the field by the 2nd Battalion doctor, who had him evacuated to a field hospital surgical tent where Matt Urban underwent surgery on his left calf by two doctors using lanterns for light.
21.
Matt Urban was then shipped to England for further treatment on a troop carrier.
22.
Matt Urban, limping and using a stick he made as a cane, reached the 2nd Battalion to find that the unit was checked by strong enemy opposition after their attack began.
23.
Matt Urban then got men moving again so they would not be killed in their foxholes and ditches.
24.
Matt Urban helped a soldier pull a wounded and pinned-down Sherman tank driver out of his burning tank before it exploded.
25.
Matt Urban located another American support tank which was still operable, but its gun was not manageable and its turret gunner had been wounded.
26.
Matt Urban was told by a tank platoon lieutenant that the driver was still inside the tank.
27.
Matt Urban crawled alongside the tank and was able to get to and man the tank turret under fire.
28.
Matt Urban ordered the tank driver to advance in high gear, and as the tank jumped off, he fired on the German machine gun emplacement.
29.
The anti-tank gun started firing at Matt Urban, but was not able to hit him or disable his tank.
30.
Matt Urban destroyed more machinegun positions and the 2nd Battalion overran the Germans lines with hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting causing many German soldiers to surrender.
31.
Matt Urban was then made the executive officer of the battalion.
32.
Matt Urban bellied up to the tank and amid heavy gunfire scrambled aboard and manned the machine gun.
33.
The tank roared forward, and Matt Urban tore the hillside apart with that gun.
34.
The men, with 'Matt Urban-itis' scrambled up the rise and gained the objective.
35.
Matt Urban again refused to be evacuated to a hospital.
36.
One of Matt Urban's men got to him and immediately plugged and bandaged his two neck wounds.
37.
Matt Urban spent a few weeks in a field hospital in France before being sent back to England for further recovery.
38.
Matt Urban was welcomed by his men, who thought he had been killed in action.
39.
Matt Urban's request was denied for medical concerns by the 60th Infantry Regiment commander at Elsenborn.
40.
Matt Urban was allowed to stay with the 2nd Battalion until the battalion pulled out of Elsenborn, and he returned to England.
41.
Matt Urban was appointed chair of the Michigan Olympic Boxing Committee.
42.
Matt Urban organized a camp for underprivileged children and became its Camp Director, served as Boys Club director, and a Cub Scout Cubmaster.
43.
Matt Urban was involved in other activities and organizations like the Red Cross, the Amateur Softball Association, and Boy Scouts, as chairman, board member, and committee member.
44.
Matt Urban was inducted into the Hall of Honor at the Softball Hall of Fame.
45.
The misplaced MOH recommendation for Urban was found and revealed that Major Max L Wolf, Urban's battalion commander in France, had initiated a Medal of Honor recommendation for Urban which was forwarded by Staff Sergeant Earl Evans just prior to Wolf being killed in action in France on August 6,1944.
46.
On July 10,1980, Matt Urban was notified by the White House that he was a Medal of Honor recipient, and the next day he was notified that the Medal of Honor award ceremony would be on July 19.
47.
Matt Urban died on March 4,1995, in Holland, Michigan, at the age of 75.
48.
Matt Urban is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
49.
Captain Matt Urban, realizing that his company was in imminent danger of being decimated, armed himself with a bazooka.
50.
Matt Urban worked his way with an ammo carrier through hedgerows, under a continuing barrage of fire, to a point near the tanks.
51.
Matt Urban brazenly exposed himself to the enemy fire and, firing the bazooka, destroyed both tanks.
52.
Later that same day, still in the attack near Orglandes, Captain Matt Urban was wounded in the leg by direct fire from a 37mm tank-gun.
53.
Matt Urban refused evacuation and continued to lead his company until they moved into defensive positions for the night.
54.
Still limping from his leg wound, Captain Matt Urban made his way forward to retake command of his company.
55.
Matt Urban found his company held up by strong enemy opposition.
56.
Matt Urban located a lieutenant in charge of the support tanks and directed a plan of attack to eliminate the enemy strong-point.
57.
Captain Matt Urban quickly moved from his command post to the lead position of the battalion.