Josephus Samuel Cecil

(Seated, left, in family photograph) Born in New River, TN, in 1878, Josephus, or Joseph, Cecil entered service there. Cecil was a "Mustang," or commisioned officer who began his career as an enlisted man. He had served in the Spanish-American War as a non-commissioned officer before serving in the Philippine-American War.

The Cecil family is considered one of the most decorated military families in America. The family's combined service began in the Civil War and lasted through World War II. Judge Beaty Cecil, father of Joe, Henry, Tom, and James, fought in the Civil War. Commander Henry Barton Cecil, 1910 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was killed on U.S.S. Akron in 1933, and the Jackson, FL, Naval Air Station named Cecil Field in his honor. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Cecil fought in World War II, and Col. James J. Cecil fought in both World Wars.

Citation: While at the head of the column about to assault the first cotta under a superior fire at short range personally carried to a sheltered position a wounded man and the body of one who was killed beside him.