James Cordie Dozier

U.S. Army National Guard Lieutenant General, World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award from U.S. Army General John J. Pershing near Teille, France on January 21, 1919 for his actions as a 1st lieutenant with Company G, 118th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, on October 8, 1918, near Montbrehain, France. He joined the United States Army National Guard as a private in September 1904 and in September 1916, he participated in the Pancho Villa Expedition along the U.S.-Mexican border. When the U.S. entered World War I (WWI) in April 1917, he was activated and commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in July 1917. The following November, he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant and sent to the Western Front in France. On that day, he and another soldier captured and destroyed seven machine-gun nests, which allowed his unit to successfully capture their military objective. Following the war, he returned home and was appointed The Adjutant General of South Carolina and was instrumental in expanding the number of National Guard armories through the state. He remained in that position for the rest of his career, retiring in 1959 at the rank of lieutenant general. He was also awarded the Purple Heart, the World War I Victory Medal (with three battle stars), the British World War I Military Cross, the French Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and the French Croix de guerre (with palm), among others. He died at the age of 89. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "In command of two platoons, 1st Lt. Dozier was painfully wounded in the shoulder early in the attack, but he continued to lead his men, displaying the highest bravery and skill. When his command was held up by heavy machine-gun fire, he disposed his men in the best cover available and with a soldier continued forward to attack a machine-gun nest. Creeping up to the position in the face of intense fire, he killed the entire crew with hand grenades and his pistol and a little later captured a number of Germans who had taken refuge in a dugout nearby." His Medal of Honor is on display at the South Carolina Military Museum in Columbia, South Carolina.