January 03, 2025
Local News | The Times
Local News

Streator soldier awarded Prestigious Order of St. Martin Medal

Lt. Col. Tim Barnhart, Commander of the 198th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, presents Master Sgt. Michael Sass with the Order of St. Martin Medal during the battalion's ball in Elgin on Sept. 8. Sass also is a Streator police officer. (U.S. Army / Lt. Col. Bradford Leighton / Illinois National Guard Public Affairs)

Master Sgt. Michael Sass, who also is a Streator police officer, was awarded the Order of St. Martin Medal by the Association of Quartermasters for his contributions toward enhancing the professionalism and development of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps.

The medal presentation was part of the North Riverside-based 198th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion's annual military ball Sept. 8 in the Holiday Inn in Elgin.

Sass has been a member of the Illinois Army National Guard since January 1999 and is qualified in various jobs in both logistics and communications, according to a press release from the Illinois National Guard.

He deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013. He is the recipient of multiple military awards and decorations including three Army Commendation Medals and three Army Achievement Medals.

The award was named after St. Martin, a Roman soldier assigned to what is present-day France. St. Martin is known for tearing his beautiful ornate cloak in two to share with a cold, half-naked beggar.

According to the Association of Quartermasters website, he "was the most popular saint in France during the great antiquity and the early Middle Ages. It is said that French kings carried his cloak into battle as a spur to victory."