On BFA we often write about the Col. Matt Urban Center, but did you ever wonder about who Matt Urban is?
The following is the Matt Urban story taken from UB.
It is truly a great story and in part, a great Buffalo and Broadway-Fillmore story.
The Greatest Soldier in American History.” is how President Jimmy Carter, described Lt. Col. Matt Urban on July 19, 1980, while presenting him with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during World War II. It had taken 35 years for this recognition of his venerated feats in World War II. It came after officials discovered they mistakenly had overlooked awarding the medal to Urban. Though his exploits on WWII battlefields earned him a greater number of citations than those of the legendary Audie Murphy, the award nomination his battalion commander wrote for him prior to being killed in action, never reached the headquarters of the 9th Infantry Division in Europe. When a review of Urban’s records in 1978 revealed a copy of the proposed letter, President Jimmy Carter resolved to correct the administrative error and awarded Col. Urban the medal.
Lt. Col. Matt Urban was born on August 25, 1919, in Buffalo of Polish immigrants. He was raised at 1153 Broadway and attended Buffalo Public School #57. He entered the US Army in 1941, saw a much conflict during World War II and became the most decorated American war hero, earning virtual every combat medal including the Congressional Medal of Honor.
