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William F. Lyell

United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1929–1951)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ8008829
Source-derived summary

William Franklin Lyell (February 14, 1929 – August 31, 1951) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean War who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on August 31, 1951.

Lyell joined the army from Old Hickory, Tennessee, in 1950.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company F, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division

Place and date: Near Chup'a-ri, Korea, August 31, 1951

Entered service at: Old Hickory, Tennessee Birth: Hickman County, Tennessee

G.O. No.: 4, January 9, 1953.

Citation:

Cpl. Lyell, a member of Company F, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon leader was killed, Cpl. Lyell assumed command and led his unit in an assault on strongly fortified enemy positions located on commanding terrain. When his platoon came under vicious, raking fire which halted the forward movement, Cpl. Lyell seized a 57mm. recoilless rifle and unhesitatingly moved ahead to a suitable firing position from which he delivered deadly accurate fire completely destroying an enemy bunker, killing its occupants.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “William F. Lyell” is united States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1929–1951). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through William, Lyell and United, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1929, 1951, 1950, 1953—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1929-02-14. For this dossier, William, Lyell and United is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “united States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1929–1951)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8008829. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 1951, 1950 and 1953.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from William F. Lyell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.