George Dilboy

Who was George Dilboy?

George Dilboy, Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company H, 103d Infantry, 26th Division is thought to be the first Greek-American to receive the Medal of Honor during World War I. He led an attack on a machine gun position and continued to fire at the enemy despite being seriously wounded, killing two of the enemy and dispersing the remainder of the gun crew. General John Pershing listed George Dilboy as "one of the ten great heroes" who "died in the battlefield of France with super-human heroism and valor." Dilboy is buried in Section 18 of Arlington National Cemetery.

The Dilboy Field and its Dilboy Stadium in Somerville, Massachusetts were named after him, as was Somerville's Dilboy Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Dilboy post is VFW Post #529 and is located at 371 Summer Street. There is a monument and bust honoring Dilboy in front of Somerville's City Hall.