First Lieutenant William Joseph Alexander MacDonald was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 167th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division, near Landres-et-St. Georges, France on October 14, 1918. When the platoon commanded by Lt. MacDonald began the attack, it encountered a tremendously heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. Realizing the difficult and hazardous position his men were in, and with utter disregard of his own personal safety, Bill valorously led the platoon forward and attained the objective. In the performance of this brave act Lt. MacDonald so encouraged his men that they continued to carry on after he had made the supreme sacrifice. (Congressional Commendation.)
Bill was with his regiment in the Argonne and was killed on October 14th while attacking Cote de Chatillon. Early in the attack he received a bad shrapnel wound in the leg, but carried on until his platoon was established, Bill started to crawl back to a dressing station. He had gone but a short distance when a shell fell near him and he was instantly killed. Three days later the chaplain of his regiment found his body and he was buried on the north side of Cote de Chatillon with three of his men who were lying near him.
The only child of Dr. Alexander MacDonald, and his wife, Margaret Anna Forster, Bill was a 1917 graduate of the UW’s law school, a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and captain of the track team in 1917. In honor of Bill, a University athletic field was named MacDonald Field “for all time.” (TYEE, 1919, pg. 35.) In addition to his parents, Bill was also survived by his wife, Helen Bain, a fellow UW student, who he married on April 7, 1917. Originally buried in France, Bill was later reinterred in Minnesota. (bit.ly/uw_macdonald)