Samuel Major Sampler

SAMUEL MAJOR SAMPLER (1895 ~ 1979). Medal of Honor Recipient Samuel M. Sampler was born in Decatur, Texas, on January 27, 1895, to Loranza Dow and Elizabeth Warren Sampler; one of thirteen children. The family moved to Altus, Oklahoma, in 1907 and Samuel Sampler attended school in Center, Oklahoma.

He enlisted in the Army in Quanah, Texas, on July 13, 1917, and was assigned to Company B of the 142nd Infantry after completing training at Camp Bowie in Fort Worth, Texas.

On October 8, 1918, Sampler, now a corporal, was part of an advance near St. Etienne, France, as part of the Argonne Offensive. His unit was pinned down by intense machine gun fire and now missing its lieutenant. Corporal Sampler seized upon the moment he saw smoke coming from the enemy machine gun position, meaning that the gun had gotten too hot to continue firing. Sampler rushed forward and threw grenades at the machine gun nest, eliminating the gun and its crew and forcing the surrender of twenty-eight German soldiers. Sampler's actions allowed the advance to continue, and for his actions he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor while still in France, as well as the French Croix de Guerre, an Italian medal, and a promotion to Sergeant.

Sampler was offered a commission that would make him a First Lieutenant upon his discharge, which he refused. He married a native of Philadelphia in a ceremony in Altus, Oklahoma, and the pair returned to Philadelphia to begin their lives together.

Samuel and Rosina Sampler had two children; Doris and Major. Sampler worked at the Naval Supply Depot in Philadelphia until he was diagnosed with diabetes. He moved to Ft. Myers, Florida, after the death of his wife on February 10, 1961.

There, he met a visiting widow from Ohio who he married in 1965. Samuel and Florence Sampler lived happily in Ft. Myers until Samuel's death on November 19, 1979. He is buried in the Memorial Gardens Cemetery at Ft. Myers, Florida.

Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas." Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas; Melton, Wayne. "Lee resident who was a World War I hero dies at 84." Fort Myers News Press: Local. November 21, 1979; Official U.S. Military Records, National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Center; Sampler, Florence. "Samuel M. Sampler." Dan Younger, Editor. Medal of Honor Historical Society: 1976; "Samual [sic] M. Sampler." Ft. Myers News-Press. November 22 and 24, 1979;