Samuel Dreben (June 1, 1878 – March 15, 1925), sometimes misspelled "Drebben" or "Drebin", and known as "The Fighting Jew", was a highly decorated soldier in the US Army and a mercenary who fought in a variety of wars and revolutions.

[1]: 211  With prospects for a Jew in Czarist Russia exceedingly bleak, he ran away twice (once reaching Germany), before emigrating for good at the age of eighteen.

Dreben enlisted on June 27, 1899, in the 14th Infantry Regiment[3] and was shipped to the Philippines (acquired by the U.S. as a result of its victory in the Spanish–American War) to help put down a native insurrection led by Emilio Aguinaldo.

Together with two other soldiers of fortune and machine gun experts, Tracy Richardson and Emil Lewis Holmdahl, Dreben's wanderings then took him to Central America.

[4] When Villa made his infamous raid on Columbus, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916, killing some civilians, Dreben joined the Punitive Expedition sent by an outraged America to bring his former comrade-in-arms to justice.

For his bravery at St. Etienne in October 1918, Sergeant Dreben was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de guerre and the Médaille militaire.

"[5][6][7] The citation for his Distinguished Service Cross reads: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Sergeant Sam Dreben (ASN: 1480481), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company A, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, A.E.F., near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918.

Sergeant Dreben discovered a party of German troops going to the support of a machine-gun nest situated in a pocket near where the French and American lines joined.

In 1921, Dreben received another honor; he was selected by General Pershing to be one of the honorary pallbearers (along with another World War I hero, Alvin York) for the burial of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11.