One of the most daring exploits by a member of the regiment was that performed by Sergeant Matthew Jenkins, a Chicago boy and member of Company F. On September 20, at Mont des Singes, he went ahead of his comrades and captured from the Boche a fortified tunnel which by aid of his platoon was held for thirty-six hours without food or ammunition, making use of the enemy machine gun and munitions until relieved. This gained for Sergeant Jenkins the Croix de Guerre with Palm and the Distinguished Service Cross. A deed of remarkable bravery accompanied by clever strategy was performed by Captain Chester Sanders and twenty men mostly of Company F. It won decorations for three and the unbounded admiration of the French. Captain Sanders and his men offered themselves as sacrifices in an effort to draw the fire of about a dozen German machine guns which had been working havoc among the Americans and French. The Illinois men ran into the middle of a road knowing they were under German observation. Instantly the Germans, suspecting a raid on their lines, opened fire on the underbrush by the roadside, figuring the Americans would take refuge there. Instead they kept right in the center of the road and few were wounded. The ruse had revealed the whereabouts of the German guns, and a short time later they were wiped out by French artillery. Another hero of Company F was Lieutenant Harvey J. Taylor, who found himself in a nest of machine guns on July 16 in the western part of the Argonne forest. He received wounds in both legs, a bullet through one arm, a bullet in his side, had a front tooth knocked out by a bullet and received a ruptured ear drum by another. After all this he was back in the lines October 24th at Soissons. The Germans were making a counter attack that day and when the battling colored men needed supplies, Lieutenant Taylor, who was regimental signal officer, proceeded to get the supplies to them, though he had to pass through a German barrage. He was badly gassed. He received the Croix de Guerre with a special citation. Lieutenant Elmer D. Maxwell won his Cross in the Champagne, six miles northwest of Laon. He led a platoon of men against a nest of machine guns, taking four guns and eighteen prisoners, not to speak of leaving behind a number of Germans who were not in a condition to be taken prisoner. Many of the officers of the regiment were wounded. The escape of many from death, considering the continuous fighting and unusual perils through which they passed, was miraculous. The only officer who made the supreme sacrifice was Lieutenant George L. Giles of 3833 Calumet Avenue, Chicago. He was the victim of a direct hit by a shell at Grandlut on November 1 while he was heroically getting his men into shelter. Lieut. Giles was very popular with the men and with his brother officers. He was popular among the members of the race section in which he lived in Chicago, and was regarded as a young man of great promise.