Born on March 25, 1890, in Iowa, Milo Lemert was the second youngest of 11 children. In 1912, the Lemert family moved to Cumberland County, just outside Crossville.

When World War I began, Milo and his brother Nathan enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard. In March 1918, Lemert and his division shipped out to Europe to join the fight. They made their way across France and eventually ended up outside Bellicourt, where the Germans were firmly entrenched, fortifying the Hindenburg Line.

On September 29, 1918, after all his company’s officers were killed in action outside Bellicourt, Lemert reorganized the remaining men. He led a small team on a mission to destroy four German machine gun nests. Lemert successfully quieted three of the nests with grenades before dying during the destruction of the fourth.

The chief of staff commanding the Southeastern Department presented Nellie, Lemert’s widow, with his Medal of Honor on October 19, 1919.