Cpl Jake Allex (Mandusich*)
Co H, 131st Infantry, 33rd Division.
At Chipilly Ridge, France
9 August 1918
The battle was going against the Americans when Cpl Allex realized that all of his officers were either wounded or dead – Cpl. Allex took command and took the fight to the enemy.
He led lead his men forward until they were confronted with enemy machinegun emplacements blocking their advance.
Allex ordered his men to take cover and advanced alone in the face of heavy enemy resistance.
His ammo depleted, Allex attacked the enemy position with his bayonet. When it broke, he used his rifle butt like a baseball bat dispatching 5 more enemy soldiers.
The remaining 15 enemy soldiers chose to surrender to Cpl Allex.
* Jake Allex Mandusich was a Serbian immigrant who served under his middle name, Allex, to appear more American. Cpl. Jake Allex was proud to be an American long before he was given the opportunity to prove it.
Allex fell off the grid after WW1 and little is known about his life post 1918.
Sgt. Jake Allex died on 28 August 1959 in a Veterans Administration hospital in Chicago. He was buried in the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of Saint Sava Cemetery in Libertyville, IL.
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