Gordon McSweeney

Gordon McSweeney (d 1917) was an American soldier in the Great War. He was a brave, almost reckless soldier who saw action in Kentucky, Utah, Mexico, and Tennesse. He was decorated with a Congressional Medal of Honor for destroying a Confederate barrel with a flamethrower and was later promoted to lieutenant as a reward for destroying a Confederate monitor.

McSweeney was devoutly Protestant, reflecting an uncompromising spirit of piety that had not been seen in his Scotch Presbyterian tradition since the days of the Puritans. He was extremely intolerant of those who did not share his beliefs, especially of Catholics.

He was killed in 1917 when the war was almost over.