Ken Harbaugh tells the stories of service members who have distinguished themselves through an act of valor. These stories feature recipients from the Civil War to present day, including a few who were originally overlooked for the medal.
A first generation Croatian American, Major Cukela was known for his fighting skill. Alone with a rifle, bayonet, and grenades, Cukela flanked a machine gun bunker firing upon his company, killing or capturing all of the enemy soldiers. Cukela was awarded two Medals of Honor for his actions, one from the Army, and one from the Navy.
Welcome to the Medal of Honor podcast, brought to you in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Museum. I’m Ken Harbaugh. In each episode, we’ll learn about a different service member who has distinguished him or herself through an act of valor.
Major Louis Cukela was born on May 1st, 1888 in the Kingdom of Dalmatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, now modern day Croatia. He was the son of George and Johana, and had four siblings. His mother died when he was 12.
At the age of 25, Cukela and his brother immigrated to the United States and lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A year later in 1913, Cukela enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment. He was honorably discharged as a Corporal in June 1916.
In January 1917, Cukela enlisted again, this time in the Marine Corps. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. As the United States entered the war, 5th Marines and 6th Marines formed the 4th Marine Brigade. A year later, Cukela and the 4th Marine Brigade were deployed to France under the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. With the collapse of the Russian Empire, the German forces moved 50 divisions back to the western front to capture Paris and defeat the Allies before the Americans could fully deploy.
On July 18th, 1918, Sergeant Cukela and his company were moving through the woods of Forest de Retz when they took heavy fire from an enemy strongpoint. Despite warnings from his fellow Marines, Cukela crawled out of the formation to flank the strong point alone. He single handedly defeated the defenders using his rifle, bayonet, and hand grenades, capturing four men and two machine guns.
Cukela served in every significant battle that the Marines fought in World War I: Belleau Wood, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and Mont Blanc Ridge. On September 26th, 1918, Cukela was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve, 10 days after fighting in the Battle of St. Mihiel. He was wounded twice in France, but the wounds were not severe.
On March 15th, 1919, Cukela was awarded two Medals of Honor, one from the Army and one from the Navy, by General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. Two weeks later, he was commissioned in the regular Marine Corps and promoted to First Lieutenant.
After World War I, Cukela served in the Banana Wars, and was questioned by the U.S. Senate for the brutal counterinsurgency campaign in Haiti. He was demoted to Second Lieutenant, but continued to serve and from 1927 to 1929, was deployed overseas to Tianjin. In 1940, Cukela retired as a Major, before being called back to active duty for World War II, serving until 1946.
Cukela’s other awards include the Silver Star, World War I Victory Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Haitian Campaign Medal, Yangtze Service Medal, and the French Fourragere. He also was the first Marine officer to receive the Médaille Militaire.
On March 19th, 1956, Cukela died in Bethesda, Maryland and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was married to Minnie Myrtle Cukela.
The Medal of Honor Podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.
Nathan Corson is our producer and engineer, León Pescador is our script writer, Declan Rohrs is our script editor and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.
We are proud to support the National Medal of Honor Museum. To learn more, and to support their mission, got to mohmuseum.org. Thanks for listening.
