Harold W. Roberts

Harold William Roberts was born in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco, California. Roberts' father was John Albert Roberts. Roberts' mother was Elfreda Josephine "Freda" Roberts. His father was a harness-maker and his mother was a housewife. While still a boy, his family survived the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, but his mother died two years later of a gastric ulcer. Being now an only child of a single working class father, he was sent to live with his German immigrant grandmother, Christina Seifert, in a Victorian house that still stands at the corner of 25th and Diamond Streets in San Francisco.

He attended Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts in San Francisco, where was captain of the baseball team. After graduation, he worked construction and took a short trip through Mexico. He then enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley. [6]

[2][3]

  In December 1916, Roberts was sworn into the U.S. Army at Fort McDowell on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. He was assigned Army Serial number 1013943. After completing the very basic military training provided at that period to new recruits, he was assigned to the U.S. Cavalry. He was then sent to the Philippine Islands. There he was assigned to HQ Troop 15th Cavalry at Fort William McKinley (commanded by Brigadier General Hunter Liggett). [6]
 

Roberts served in the U.S. Army Company A, 344th Battalion, Light Tank Corps. [5] Roberts was ranked a Corporal.

Roberts, a tank driver, was moving his Renault FT17 tank into a clump of bushes to afford protection to another tank which had become disabled. The tank slid into a shell hole, 10 feet deep, filled with water, and was immediately submerged. Knowing that only one of the two men in the tank could escape, Cpl. Roberts said to the gunner, "Well, only one of us can get out, and out you go," whereupon he pushed his companion through the back door of the tank and was himself drowned.[2]

Served in the United States Army during World War I as a Corporal in Company A, 344th Battalion, United States Army Tank Corps. On October 4, 1918 his unit was engaged in a fierce battle at the Montrebeau Woods, France. This was part of the famous St. Mihel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives. His citation reads, Corporal Roberts, a tank driver, was moving his tank into a clump of bushes to afford protection to another tank which had become disabled. The tank slid into a shell hole, 10 feet deep, filled with water and was immediately submerged. Knowing that only 1 of the 2 men in the tank could escape, Cpl. Roberts said to his gunner, "Well, only one of us can get out, and out you go," whereupon he pushed his companion through the back door of the tank and was himself drowned. Cpl. Roberts was awarded the CMOH posthumously by authority of The War Department General Order 16, 1919.He was 22 years old. Roberts is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in Romagne, France, Plot B, Row 45, Site 36.[4]

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

Roberts' grave marker in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History. [5] https://www.history.army.mil/museums/artifacts/0005_renaultFT17.html [6] Corporal Roberts at camprobertshistoricalmuseum.com

• Harold W. Roberts at Find a Grave
• Corporal Roberts at camprobertshistoricalmuseum.com
• "Harold W. Roberts". Hall of Valor. Military Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
• "Corporal Harold W. Roberts at Montrebeau Woods". Retrieved November 26, 2010.
• Department of the Army (2007). The Soldier's Guide: The Complete Guide to U.S. Army Traditions, Training, Duties, and Responsibilities. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. ISBN 9781602391642. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
• California Center for Military History (2005). Images of America: Camp Roberts. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3055-0. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
• Only one of us can get out-and out you go: The splendid sacrifice of an American tank driver. Harper's pictorial library of the world war, Volume 11. Harper. 1920. pp. 386–387.