Lt. Col. Matt Urban; U.S.’s Most Combat-Decorated Soldier

Lt. Col. Matt Urban, 75, “the most combat-decorated soldier in American history.” Urban was so named by the Guinness Book of World Records for his exploits in World War II which netted him 29 medals for bravery, seven Purple Hearts for as many battle wounds, and the French Croix de Guerre. Urban also received the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest decoration for bravery, but it took him 35 years to get it. The prestigious medal was presented to Urban by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Urban was nominated for the medal during the war, but the application was lost in Pentagon files until 1978. The hero detailed his actions of fighting in France in the book “The Matt Urban Story: Life and World War II Experiences.” Urban retired from the Army in 1946 for medical reasons, and became a recreation center director in Michigan. On Saturday in Holland, Mich., from complications of a collapsed lung.