He earned the medal while serving as a stretcher bearer during the Meuse–Argonne offensive, when he and another soldier, Charles D. Barger, entered no man's land despite heavy fire and rescued two wounded officers.

[2] After training at Camp Funston in Kansas, Funk was sent to Europe with the 354th Infantry Regiment, 89th Division.

He saw action in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and, by October 31, 1918, was a private first class serving as a stretcher bearer in the 354th Regiment's Company L.[1][2] On that day, near Bois-de-Bantheville, France, Funk's division sent several patrols into no man's land to reconnoiter German positions in preparation for an advance as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Funk's official Medal of Honor citation reads: Learning that 2 daylight patrols had been caught out in No Man's Land and were unable to return, Pfc.

Funk and another stretcher bearer, upon their own initiative, made 2 trips 500 yards beyond our lines, under constant machinegun fire, and rescued 2 wounded officers.