US Army Lt. Col. Matt Urban, The Ghost - WWII Medal of Honor Recipient

Hi everyone, In this premiere episode of Duty & Valor, I’m going to tell you the story of a man who selflessly served our nation in the midst of the most horrific fighting during WWII.  A man whose battlefield actions would be considered fiction if it weren’t real.  A man who, if you called him a hero, it would be an understatement.  A man who would earn the Medal of Honor, two Silver Stars, Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars with valor, and seven Purple Hearts among many awards. A man whose leadership and bravery saved countless American lives and helped the Allies win the war.  This is the story of US Army Lt. Colonel Matt Urban, the Ghost.

Matthew Louis Urbanowicz, who would later go by Matt Urban, was born on August 25, 1919.  

One of four children born to parents Stanley and Helen Urbanowicz of Buffalo, New York, Matt graduated high school in 1937 before continuing his studies at Cornell University.  While at Cornell, Matt was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and would be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army following graduation.  

Lt. Urban officially entered active duty in July of 1941 as a platoon leader of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and he first saw combat action on November 8, 1942 on the first day of the invasion of North Africa.  It was reported that he was wounded early in the fighting but refused to be evacuated.  Following his refusal to leave the battlefield, he would be instrumental in neutralizing a German combat patrol.  Shortly thereafter, in the face of a fierce German counterattack, he was seen using his trench knife to kill a German soldier in hand to hand combat.  Now needing a weapon, he grabbed the German’s pistol and engaged the attacking enemy.  Lt. Urban received a shrapnel injury from a German grenade, but his actions were instrumental in slowing the counterattack and allowed his unit to fall back and regroup.  During his time in North Africa, Lt. Urban was awarded two Purple Heart for his injuries, along with a Bronze Star and two Silver Stars for his valor in combat.  

The 60th Infantry Regiment left Africa in July of 1943 and made their way towards Sicily in support of the recent Allied invasion.  Before Urban’s unit could disembark the USS Orizaba transport ship, it was attacked by German aircraft.  As Urban wasn’t one to run to safety, he would replace an injured sailor and would fill the sailor’s role as a spotter for an anti-aircraft battery on the ship.  He was credited with spotting a German dive bomber headed towards the ship, allowing the gun crew to shoot it down before it could release its payload.  

Soon after, Lt. Urban and the 60th were part of a clandestine night-time maneuver that flanked the entrenched Germans at Troina, forcing the Germans to fall back to their next line of defense at Randazzo.  Not long after, the whole of Sicily was liberated by the Allies.  Lt. Urban earned another Silver Star for the valor he displayed in combat during the Sicily campaign.  Amazingly, Lt. Urban’s actions to this point would be eclipsed by his heroics in France and Belgium.

On June 11th, 1944, just days after the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy at the start of the long awaited invasion of France, the 2nd Battalion landed at Utah beach.  Days later on the 14th of June, Urban, now a Captain, led his men in attacking the town of Renouf.  There his unit would come under tank and heavy small arms fire.  Allied casualties were increasing as the tank fire was relentless.  Knowing something needed to be done, Urban armed himself with a bazooka and used the cover offered by the hedgerows to set up position near the German tanks.  He risked life by moving forward from his cover to fire the bazooka to take out two tanks.  

His actions spurred his men on and they routed the Germans. Later the same day, Urban was wounded in the leg by a tank gun during an attack on a German position.  Again refusing evacuation, He was able to lead his men throughout the remainder of the day.  And with little rest, at 0500 the next morning, Urban and his men would continue their attack.  Shortly after, he was once again wounded.  Now suffering from two wounds, with one being serious, he was evacuated to England to recover.  The following month, while on the mend in England, reports were reaching Capt. Urban that his unit was suffering tremendous losses as they made their way across France.  Knowing he could offer the battle-tested leadership that his unit badly needed, he voluntarily left the hospital, made his way across the English Channel, and then hitchhiked through France where he would reconnect with his men.  

The progress that his unit was making was halted by a fortified German position.  The Germans had destroyed two of three tanks that were in support of their advance.  The third tank was not damaged but it was not moving forward as it lacked a tank commander and gunner.  

Urban found two men who were among the tank support personnel and directed them to enter the tank and support their plan to overrun the German position.  Unfortunately the two men were killed while trying to mount the tank as the Germans understood the importance in keeping this tank out of action.  The Germans were directing heavy small arms fire in the direction of the tank.  Undeterred, a badly limping Urban made his way through heavy fire and was able to mount the tank.  He then took up position as the gunner on the tank and was able to place heavy fire on the Germans.  His actions galvanized his men forward where they would destroy the enemy position, aiding in the Allied advance further away from the Normandy coast. 

On August 2nd, Capt. Urban would again sustain injuries, this time to his chest from shrapnel, and again he refused medical evacuation.  On August 6th, he was given command of the 2nd Battalion.  Soon after he was once again injured in combat, but true to form for Capt. Urban, he refused to be medically evacuated.  It was reported that around this time he would be given the moniker “The Ghost” , as he seemed to return from the dead repeatedly.  Some accounts write that Germans gave him the nickname, while others say it was his men.   It’s more plausible that his men, who would have been by his side and would have witnessed his heroics, and repeated injuries first hand, would have given him the name.   

In early September, the 2nd Battalion found itself in Belgium where they were tasked with securing a crossing point across the Meuse River.  The German Army had set up heavy resistance at the Meuse in an effort to halt the Allied advance through Europe.  Facing heavy German resistance, which included artillery, mortar, and small arms fire, the 2nd Battalion made their way towards the Meuse River.  Not long after reaching the river, Capt. Urban chose to forgo the relative safety of the command post and he chose to lead the men of the 2nd Battalion forward himself.   He identified an opportunity to attack the Germans head on at their strongest point and took personal command of the attack.  The 2nd Battalion advanced across open terrain with little cover, and Capt. Urban sustained a life threatening neck injury.  This injury made it impossible for him to speak above a whisper, but Capt. Urban wouldn’t allow this to be an excuse to remove him from the field of combat.  His words carried weight in their substance, rather than in their volume and Capt. Urban continued to pass along orders as he refused to be evacuated until the 2nd Battalion secured the crossing point across the river. Capt. Urban was so badly wounded that medical personnel didn’t believe he would recover from his wounds.  He was even given his last rites by a priest.  But he would survive.  He would then be promoted to Major in October.   

Though still unable to speak, Major Urban met up with his battalion in Germany, and to the disbelief of his men, Major Urban was still alive as many had shared the news that he had actually been killed in combat.  But his reunion with the 2nd Battalion was short lived as he was denied a position within the battalion and they soon continued towards Berlin.  

 He was promoted to Lt. Col. and was medically discharged from the US Army in February 1946, thus ending one of the most decorated military careers in US history  

Lt. Col. Urban would take on writing assignments and he was a staff writer, and then editor of the Liberty Magazine’s Veteran View bulletin, a position which he held until October of 1947.    

Following the war, he moved to Michigan, and he took on positions that would serve his community as director of recreation in Port Huron, director of the community center in Monroe, and later as a coach in multiple sports.

Early recommendations for Lt. Col. Urban to receive the medal of honor were unfortunately misplaced and it would take decades for the story of his heroics to reach the Department of the Army.  However, once they were made aware of the recommendations, they would agree and approve the process to finally recognize his actions.  Although it took many years to receive the recognition that he earned, he would finally be honored by the nation on July 19th, 1980 as President Carter bestowed the Medal of Honor upon Lt. Col. Matt Urban, the Ghost. 

Lt. Col. Urban died in Holland, MI on March 4th 1995.  On that day the United States lost one of its most heroic war time heroes. 

If you want to learn more about Lt. Col. Urban, there is a book he co-authored about his heroics titled The Matt Urban Story.

Thank you for listening, and if you enjoyed this week's show, we kindly ask that you follow us and leave a review and 5 star rating.  A link to Matt Urban’s book and sources for today's show can be found in the show notes.  And join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.