Clayton K. Slack

Clayton K. Slack
Clayton Slack
Born	February 23, 1896(1896-02-23) Plover, Wisconsin
Died	March 1, 1976(1976-03-01) (aged 80)
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Private
Unit	Company D, 124th Machine Gun Battalion, 33d Division
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Medal of Honor

Clayton Kirk Slack (February 23, 1896 – March 1, 1976) was a soldier in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the World War I.

Biography

Slack was born in Plover, Wisconsin on February 23, 1896.^[1]

Clayton Slack joined the United States Army and as a Private during World War I he was cited for single-handedly clearing out a German machine gun nest resulting in 10 prisoners and the capture of 2 machine-guns on October 8, 1918, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the biggest battle of World War I involving American troops.^[1]

Slack noticed several German troops and charged at them with his rifle and bayonet telling them to "put their hands up".^[1] The German soldiers thinking that he was at the lead of a patrol, surrendered. Slacks actions were credited with saving his unit heavy casualties.^[1]

After the war Slack toured the United States with war films and by the time of his death had met six presidents. In 1963 president John F Kennedy hosted a reunion of Medal of Honor recipients at the White House for the 100th anniversary of the first presentation of the Medal.^[1] Slack attended the function along with a number of other Medal of Honor recipients.^[1]

He died March 1, 1976 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia.^[1] His grave can be found in section 34, lot 59.^[1]

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company D, 124th Machine Gun Battalion, 33d Division. Place and date: Near Consenvoye, France, 8 October 1918. Entered service at: Madison, Wis. Born: 23 February 1896, Plover, Wis. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919.

Citation:

Observing German soldiers under cover 50 yards away on the left flank, Pvt. Slack, upon his own initiative, rushed them with his rifle and, single-handed, captured 10 prisoners and 2 heavy-type machineguns, thus saving his company and neighboring organizations from heavy casualties.^[2]

See also

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	World War I portal

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War I

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ckslack.htm
2. ^ "SLACK, CLAYTON K.". Army of Medal of Honor website. 2009-08-03. http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/worldwari.html. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 

External links

• "Clayton K. Slack". Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7862469. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 

Persondata
Name	Slack, Clayton K.
Alternative names	Slack, Clayton Kirk
Short description	United States Army Medal of Honor recipient
Date of birth	February 23, 1896
Place of birth	Plover, Wisconsin
Date of death	March 1, 1976
Place of death