James I. Mestrovitch
James I. Mestrovitch (May 22, 1894 – November 4, 1918) was an American sergeant who received the Medal of Honor, United States highest military decoration, for his actions in World War I.
James I. Mestrovitch | |
|---|---|
 Medal of Honor recipient | |
| Born | May 22, 1894 Bay of Kotor, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (modern Montenegro) |
| Died | November 4, 1918 (aged 24) France |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917 - 1918 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | Company C, 111th Infantry, 28th Division |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
Mestrovitch, an ethnic Serb, was born as Joko Meštrović[1] in the area of Boka Kotorska, today's Montenegro, and after immigrating to the United States in 1913 he lived in Fresno, California. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2]
During the war, Mestrovitch served at Company C, 111th Infantry, 28th Division. During the battle in Fismette in northern France, on 10 August 1918, he rescued his company commander:[3]
Seeing his company commander lying wounded 30 yards in front of the line after his company had withdrawn to a sheltered position behind a stone wall, Sgt. Mestrovitch voluntarily left cover and crawled through heavy machinegun and shell fire to where the officer lay. He took the officer upon his back and crawled to a place of safety, where he administered first-aid treatment, his exceptional heroism saving the officer's life.
He died from the Spanish flu one week before the armistice.[3] During the 1920s, his remains were repatriated by a U.S. battleship from France to Montenegro, where he was buried in cemetery of Serbian Orthodox Church of St. John in his home village of Đuraševići near Tivat.[1][4]
References
- "Oni ne zaboravljaju: Predstavnici ambasade SAD obišli grob Joka Meštrovića" [They do not forget: envoys from the U.S. Embassy visited the grave of Joko Meštrović] (in Serbo-Croatian). Vijesti. November 11, 2014. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- "SGT James I. Mestrovitch". Military Hall of Honor. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- "Army Sergeant James I. Mestrovitch - World War I". U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. March 25, 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- "Joko Meštrović, junak Crnogoraca, Srba i SAD". Danas. March 31, 2016. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
See also
