John C. Villepigue Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
CORPORAL
JOHN CANTEY VILLEPIGUE
UNITED STATES ARMY
For service as set forth in the following
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal John Cantey Villepigue (ASN: 1312401), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 15 October 1918, while serving with Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division, in action at Vaux-Andigny, France. Having been sent out with two other soldiers to scout through the village of Vaux-Andigny, Corporal Villepigue met with strong resistance from enemy machinegun fire, which killed one of his men and wounded the other. Continuing his advance without aid 500 yards in advance of his platoon and in the face of machinegun and artillery fire he encountered four of the enemy in a dugout, whom he attacked and killed with a hand grenade. Crawling forward to a point 150 yards in advance of his first encounter, he rushed a machinegun nest, killing four and capturing six of the enemy and taking two light machineguns. After being joined by his platoon he was severely wounded in the arm.
Born: 29 March 1896 in Camden, S.C…. Departed 18 April 1943… Interred at Old Quaker Cemetery in Camden, S.C.