American War Hero · World War I · Notice Nearby
Wikimedia Commons — File:William Joseph Donovan cph.3b17495.jpg (Public domain; Library of Congress)
William Joseph Donovan
January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959
Born Buffalo, New York
Died Washington, D.C.
Colonel / later Major General, U.S. Army; 165th Infantry (69th New York), 42nd “Rainbow” Division, AEF — Meuse-Argonne, October 1918 (Medal of Honor)
William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan’s World War I card is the 165th Infantry in the Meuse-Argonne, not the later OSS desk. On October 14–15, 1918 near Landres-et-St. Georges, as a lieutenant colonel leading the 1st Battalion, he organized and pressed an attack under heavy fire despite wounds — conduct cited in his Medal of Honor award (presented years later). The Rainbow Division after-action language fixes unit, date, and sector.
Buffalo law practice, interwar politics, and World War II OSS directorship are other shelves. This register lists the 1918 165th / Meuse-Argonne chapter: October 1918, MoH. Donovan died in Washington in 1959 and is buried at Arlington. The Library of Congress photograph on Wikimedia Commons is public domain. He is not listed as missing.
- Publication
- NN-HERO-1918-010
- Content hash
- dad18c1f f6f562e4 a043e4ef 8cc1c185 18fab2d7 2861d7a3 9d47e15f 35f6c145
- Base anchor
- 0x8b9793 b92f363e bd447287 87477f4b 731d26f9 165ec425 db252a2a de1315b8 45
Base stores the content hash, publication number, memorial id, and timestamp — not the full obituary text. The complete memorial remains on Notice Nearby. This is not a legal affidavit.