June 11, 1944. Matt Urban is with the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry,
close to the wartorn beaches of Normandy, France. The Germans are throwing everything
they’ve got at the Americans. It’s chaos, and in the melee a soldier carrying a bazooka goes down.
Urban, who’s no stranger to being on the losing end of a battle, picks up the bazooka
and walks towards the advancing German tanks. His men can only look on in awe as they watch him walk
through the smoke towards those giant machines. He takes two of them out, but is soon hit in the
leg by shrapnel. Unfazed, he directs orders from a stretcher, moving his men towards the action.
His motto: You never turn away from a fight. He would do this kind of thing time and again,
walk right into the line of fire, his gun blazing, his own blood staining his military fatigues.
He suffered tremendously for his bravery, but he almost single-handedly won battles,
and he saved countless soldiers’ lives. Urban was possibly one of the most
courageous soldiers the U.S. has ever produced. He wasn’t only insanely valiant,
he was also a brilliant tactician. He could have died; he should have died
on numerous occasions, but there’s a reason he got the nickname “The Ghost.” He was unstoppable and
he could seemingly defy death. Time and again he took out the enemy and somehow evaded being
killed himself. That’s why he became one of the most decorated American soldiers of all time:
The Medal of Honor. Seven Purple Hearts. Silver Stars. The French Croix de Guerre. The American
Campaign Medal, and others. This is his story.
Born on August 25, 1919, Urban was brought up on the tough streets of Buffalo,
New York. His family were regular blue-collar workers. There wasn’t much cash to go around,
but coming from a humble background no doubt set this person up to become the man he became.
In high school he succeeded in most sports and was a very proficient boxer. In 1937,
he enrolled at Cornell University to study history. While there he joined the Reserve
Officers Training Corps, competing in its athletics and boxing competitions.
His life was about to change forever. The world was about to change forever. War was on its way.
November 8, 1942. Urban finds himself under fire for the first time in his life. He’s part of
what’s called the invasion of North Africa. He’s fighting at the Battle of Port Lyautey in French
Morocco when something happens to Urban that will shape him into the fearless soldier he’ll become.
It’s a vicious fight, with both sides seeing many casualties. Some of the American landing boats
don’t even make it to the port. At one point Urban finds himself in the middle of the battle, guns
blazing all around him, smoke filling the air. Suddenly he’s standing in the midst of the chaos,
holding the decapitated head of a comrade. He would later say that it was the shock he felt at
that moment that motivated him to become a hero. The battle is won, and Urban is sent to Tunisia.
There he captures a German communications post almost by himself. He leads his men against the
German army in the Battle of Kasserine Pass. His battalion holds off a German counterattack,
and Urban is fierce as always. During the fight his men are on the back foot,
but Urban holds his ground. At one point he grabs a German soldier and kills him with a
trench knife. He then takes the dead man’s pistol and rushes towards the Germans firing at him.
All this doesn’t come without injuries. Urban suffers seven different injuries from shrapnel,
but of course he refuses to go back to the U.S. to receive treatment.
For his bravery he later gets two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star, and with two Purple Hearts.
This is just the beginning of this man’s death-defying actions in the army.
He’s then sent to Sicily where he’s given an order to take his unit across a mountainous trail
so they can outflank German troops. 4,000 troops with their mules make the hazardous journey
and they mount a surprise attack on the Germans. The enemy has no choice but to retreat.
Sicily is soon liberated and Urban can add another Silver Star to his growing collection.
Now we come to France and the beaches of Normandy. This is when Urban takes
that bazooka and blasts two German tanks, saving many lives on the side of the Allies.
Just a day later, Urban is hit by shrapnel. This time it’s more serious. His men try to convince
him to get help, but as always, the stubborn Urban says he can go on. ‘tis but a scratch, he may or
may not have told his men, but it doesn’t matter anyway because he’s hit again not long after.
This time it’s even more serious and Urban has no choice but to go to England and receive treatment.
So, there he is, lying in a hospital bed in England when he gets word that his men are not
faring too well in Normandy. What should happen is Urban follows orders and returns to the U.S.
His leg is in a really bad way. It gives him constant pain, and he can’t walk without a cane.
This doesn’t stop him. He gets forty guys together and they board a troop carrier and
return to France. Once there he hitchhikes to Utah Beach where his battalion is. When he arrives,
he finds his men in a difficult position. They’re taking heavy fire and are basically pinned down.
It’s now time for more heroics. Urban is informed that a U.S tank still
has its driver in it. Two soldiers have already been killed by the Germans after trying to get
to the turret and the 50-caliber machine gun. Under heavy fire, Urban crawls through the mud,
making his way to the tank. Where others have failed, he succeeds. He gains control of the
tank and orders the driver to head towards the Germans. Under fire from anti-tank artillery,
Urban and the driver keep pressing ahead. Those who witness this can’t believe their eyes.
Here is a man that can hardly walk. A man that should be in a hospital bed, and he’s blasting
his way through German forces like he’s both invisible and invincible. This guy is half-crazy,
say some men, it’s as if he has no fear. It’s then that they give him the name, “The Ghost.”
The Ghost isn’t done yet. He’s just starting. After reaching enemy lines in his tank,
Urban’s men gain confidence. They pick up their guns and run toward the Germans. What ensues
is a fight for life, hand-to-hand combat and bayonet fighting between U.S. and German troops.
Buoyed by the brutal strength of their commander, the American troops overwhelm the Germans.
The white flag is held up. The enemy is defeated. All this is being watched from a distance.
Second Battalion Commander Max L. Wolf has been standing at a far-off command post
watching the fight through his binoculars. He can’t believe what he’s just witnessed.
One man has pretty much led his men to victory in a battle they looked certain to lose. Wolf soon
recommends Urban for the Medal of Honor, not just for showing incredible bravery, but for saving the
lives of a battalion that looked sure to die. This is what was later written about Urban’s
actions, and why he was recommended for the Medal: “Urban moved forward, and damned if the U.S. Army
didn't move forward also. He bellied up to the tank and amid heavy gunfire scrambled aboard and
manned the machine gun. The driver took heart with Urban aboard. The tank roared forward,
and Urban tore the hillside apart with that gun. The men, once again with 'Urban-itis'
scrambled up the rise and gained the objective.” So, does Urban return home, collect his medal and
bask in the warmth of his country’s appreciation? Hell no, he fights on,
even with a seriously damaged leg. Around a week later, he gets injured again,
this time by a shell fragment that just misses his heart. Does he return
home when asked? You know the answer to that. His admirer, Wolf, is taken out by the Germans,
so the 24-year old Urban assumes command of the 2nd battalion. Believe it or not,
he gets wounded yet again by shrapnel, but he manages to stay with his unit. That unit
receives the French Croix de Guerre, and now it’s time for Urban to raise hell over in Belgium.
This is where he really should die…God knows how he didn’t.
He’s fighting against the Germans with his battalion in a place called Philippeville.
There they’ve discovered a fairly large, well-equipped German unit. When Urban and his men
finally get the aircraft cover they’ve requested, they advance towards the German troops. Not one to
shy away from a fight, Urban runs at the Germans. His objective is to take out a machine gun nest,
but to do that, he has to get close. Armed with two grenades he runs towards the emplacement.
His men watch in wonder, and then in horror, as their commander takes a bullet to the neck.
Urban is now lying on the floor, trying to staunch a river of blood seeping from his neck.
The unused grenades lie at his side. His life force diminishes.
Luckily for him, some of his men manage to drag him through the mud and take him to
a place of safety. There they patch him up as best they can as bullets rain over their heads.
A doctor arrives at the scene. He administers blood to Urban and performs a tracheotomy so
he can breathe. Until then, Urban was gurgling blood, looking like his days were numbered. He’s
in such a bad way that when the chaplain arrives, he’s read his last rites. The doctor approves,
saying this man has seen his last fight. But we are talking about a man called The Ghost.
Ghosts don’t die easily. Urban knocks on death’s door a
few times during his recovery, but in hospital in France he gets over the worst of it. In England,
he receives more treatment and a man that looked as good as dead comes back to life.
And no, he doesn’t go home to the U.S. You should know that by now. Instead, he gets the green light
in Scotland to go back to his battalion. His men are over the moon to see him because no
one thought he could have survived that neck wound. It’s as if they are looking at a ghost.
There is a slight problem when it comes to leading his men. He can’t actually speak. He asks the
higher ups if he can take a combat assignment and if he can do that using writing, not speaking.
This is a bridge too far for his Infantry Regiment commander. He’s told he can stay with his men for
a while, but no more big fights. It’s time to hang up your gloves, the commander tells him.
Urban retired from the military in 1947 to concentrate on sports coaching,
especially boxing. He trained a bunch of young men and helped them to become national Golden
Gloves Champions. He even trained Cassius Clay for a while, the man that would become Muhammad Ali,
possibly the greatest fighter that ever lived. Urban could talk in those days, but his damaged
vocal chords gave him quite a raspy voice. The Ghost died in 1995, aged 75. The cause
of death was a collapsed lung, a consequence of the injuries he’d received in the war.
Now you need to watch, “The Insanely Crazy Story of a Tiny Soldier.” Or,
“Bazooka Charlie - Pilot Who Attached A Bazooka To Plane.”