Weedon Osborne

Weedon Edward Osborne (13 November 1892 – 6 June 1918) was a United States Navy officer and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War I.

Biography

A Chicago native, Weedon Osborne graduated from Northwestern University Dental School in 1915. He was appointed a U.S. Navy Dental Surgeon with the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade, on 8 May 1917. He was assigned duty with the 6th Marine Regiment on 26 March 1918. During the Battle of Belleau Wood, Osborne's unit participated in the advance on Boursches, France, in the Château-Thierry area. Osborne sought to aid the wounded during the battle and was killed while attempting to carry an injured officer to safety on 6 June 1918. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on that day.

Weedon Osborne was 25 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, Belleau, Aisne, France.

Osborne's Medal of Honor, a rare "Tiffany Cross" version, is held by the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum acquired the medal in 2003 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had confiscated it the year before after someone had attempted to sell the medal in South Carolina. It is illegal to sell a Medal of Honor within the United States.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, (Dental Corps), U.S. Navy. Born: 13 November 1892, Chicago, Ill. Appointed from: Illinois.

Citation:

For extraordinary heroism while attached to the 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in actual conflict with the enemy and under fire during the advance on Bouresche, France, on 6 June 1918. In the hottest of the fighting when the marines made their famous advance on Bouresche at the southern edge of Belleau Wood, Lt (j.g.). Osborne threw himself zealously into the work of rescuing the wounded. Extremely courageous in the performance of this perilous task, he was killed while carrying a wounded officer to a place of safety.