1892-1972
2LT John H. Fling, Co I, 138th Infantry, received the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership under fire and while wounded during the battle of the Meuse-Argonne at Cheppy, France, on September 26-27, 1918. As the unit’s First Sergeant, he took over when the company commander was killed, withdrew and reorganized the unit, and then advanced it over a gassed area, even though he couldn’t wear a mask because of his wounds. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant after World War I action ended. He also received the French Croix De Guerre, the Purple Heart, and the WW I Victory Medal for action at the Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, and Defensive Sector. A Kansas City business owner after the war, he died in 1972.