Battalion headquarters to be named for MOH recipient

By Staff reportsMarch 20, 2017

Urban
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Second battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment will be dedicate their headquarters building in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Col. Matt Urban March 31.

Urban graduated from Cornell University in 1941 and was sent to Ft. Bragg, N.C., for training a week later. He tasted combat in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany with the 60th Infantry Regiment.

Despite a suffering a broken leg in a landing mishap at Omaha Beach on D-Day, Urban got up on top of a tank and led his trapped unit in an attack on German positions and off the beach.

In many subsequent encounters, Urban's battlefield leadership skill and his uncanny ability to frustrate German plans caused the enemy to give him the nickname, "the Gray Ghost." He was wounded six times and each time went back to the front lines.

The seventh time he was wounded, he was shot in the throat and the bullet tore out a vocal cord. Army doctors gave Urban no hope for survival. He recovered two years later with damaged vocal cords that left him permanently raspy-voiced.

Urban died on March 20, 1995 a result of complications from a collapsed lung brought on by one of his seven war wounds.

President Jimmy Carter awarded the MOH to Urban during a ceremony in 1980.

For more information on the Urban Hall dedication contact 1st Lt. Manuel Cabrera, the 2-60th assistant operations officer, at 803-751-6654.