Alexander R. Skinker

Alexander Rives Skinker
Alexander Rives Skinker
	Captain
Unit	Company I, 138th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division
Battles/wars	Argonne Forest, World War I
Awards	Medal of Honor
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis
Signature

Captain Alexander Rives Skinker (October 13, 1883 – September 26, 1918) was a

Missouri National Guard from 1903 to 1908, and entered the Army as a commissioned officer in 1916. He was awarded the medal for leading an attack on German pillboxes in the Hindenburg Line during the Meuse–Argonne offensive

. Skinker was killed in the attack.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company I, 138th Infantry, 35th Division. Place and date: At Cheppy, France; September 26, 1918. Entered service at: St. Louis, Missouri. Birth: October 13, 1883; St. Louis, Missouri. General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 13 (January 18, 1919).

Citation:

Unwilling to sacrifice his men when his company was held up by terrific machinegun fire from iron pill boxes in the Hindenburg Line, Captain Skinker personally led an automatic rifleman and a carrier in an attack on the machineguns. The carrier was killed instantly, but Captain Skinker seized the ammunition and continued through an opening in the barbed wire, feeding the automatic rifle until he, too, was killed.

Military awards

Skinker's military decorations and awards include:[1]^[2]

1st row	Medal of Honor
2nd row	Mexican Border Service Medal			World War I Victory Medal w/three bronze service stars to denote credit for the St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Defensive Sector battle clasps.			Croce al Merito di Guerra (Italy)