Decorated Soldier Buried At Arlington

Army Lt. Col. Matt Urban, a World War II veteran known as the most combat-decorated soldier in U.S. history, was buried under gray skies Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery.

Urban, who had been awarded the Medal of Honor, died last week in a Holland, Mich., hospital of complications from a collapsed lung. He was 75.

Nicknamed “The Ghost” because of his sophisticated combat exploits, Urban led his troops through six campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Belgium, France and Germany. He was awarded 29 medals for bravery and received the Purple Heart seven times.

The Guinness Book of World Records has listed Urban as “the most combat-decorated soldier in American history.”

He received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest citation for bravery, from President Carter in July 1980, 35 years after the original nomination was lost.