On March 18, 1945, Army 1st Lt. Jack Lemaster Treadwell saw eight of his soldiers gunned down while assaulting a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable section of the Siegfried Line near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany. The Siegfried Line was a defensive perimeter around the western front of Germany, littered with pillboxes — bunkers — tank obstacles, and other defenses designed to slow the Allied advance.
The German pillboxes had pinned down Treadwell’s Fox Company of the 180th Infantry, 54th Infantry Division, with intermittent artillery barrages and continuous machine gun and sniper fire for hours.
Armed with a submachine gun and hand grenades, Treadwell sprinted up the barren hilltop despite the onslaught of incoming fire. He returned the favor by firing at the pillbox opening and chucking grenades at it.
Through a furious solo offensive, Treadwell fought his way toward the first pillbox on his to-do list. Once he was close enough, he shoved the barrel of his submachine gun through the pillbox opening and forced four of the five surviving German soldiers to surrender.
He sent the captured Germans toward the American line, but he wasn’t done.
Treadwell fought on to the next pillbox under a thunderous onslaught of fire from machine guns and snipers, single-handedly overcoming a second German pillbox and, this time, capturing the German commander in charge of the hilltop defenses.
He then assaulted the third pillbox, fighting his way across the barren crest of the hill, completely exposed to incoming enemy fire. Then once the third bunker was dispatched, he hit the rinse and repeat button, defeating three more pillbox defensive positions. In total, he captured 18 German soldiers and shut down six well-defended pillbox positions.
For his actions on that ridgeline, on Aug. 23, 1945, Treadwell was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor.
“The Germans quickly fell prey to his further rushes on three more pillboxes in the confusion and havoc caused by his whirlwind assaults and capture of their commander,” states Treadwell’s Medal of Honor citation.
According to the Department of Defense, Treadwell joined the Army in January 1941 and earned a battlefield commission on March 23, 1944, following his actions fighting in Italy from 1943 to 1944.
“By his courageous willingness to face nearly impossible odds and by his overwhelming one-man offensive, Capt. Treadwell reduced a heavily fortified, seemingly impregnable enemy sector,” states Treadwell’s Medal of Honor citation.
His actions inspired the rest of his company to unleash a furious assault on the remainder of the German’s defensive positions, successfully breaking through a section of the Siegfried Line, allowing Allied forces to continue their fight into Nazi Germany’s final place of retreat in World War II.
According to the Department of Defense, Treadwell was subsequently promoted to captain following that battle. During World War II, Treadwell earned the Bronze Star, Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, and the Legion of Merit.
That’s not where this steely-eyed Mustang’s military history stops. He continued serving and was the chief of staff of the 23rd Infantry Division and later commanded the 11th Infantry Brigade during the Vietnam War. According to the Military Times Hall of Valor, as a senior officer, he earned the Army Commendation Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Soldier’s Medal, and his second and third Legion of Merit.
Treadwell retired as a colonel after a storied career spanning nearly 30 years and two wars. He died on Dec. 12, 1977, and was buried in the Fort Sill Post Cemetery in Lawton, Oklahoma.
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