MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT
Signal Corps 1st Lt. Charles Evans Kilbourne
Signal Corps 1st Lt. Charles Evans Kilbourne
Charles Evans Kilbourne Jr. is the only Signal officer to win the Medal of Honor while performing a combat communications mission. LT Kilbourne was assigned to First Company, VSC, and shipped out to the Philippine Islands, where he participated in the campaign against Spanish forces climaxing in the seizure of Manila. Following the end of hostilities with Spain, the Philippine Insurrection erupted Feb. 4, 1899. The following day, LT Kilbourne earned a place in history and the Medal of Honor. According to the MOH citation, "Within ... 250 yards of the enemy and in the face of rapid fire, [he] climbed a telegraph pole at the east end of [Paco Bridge] and, in full view of the enemy, coolly and carefully repaired a broken telegraph wire, thereby re-establishing telegraphic communication to the front."
