World War II
Ralph G. Neppel
Sergeant · U.S. Army
U.S. Army, Company M, 329th Infantry, 83d Infantry Division
14 December 1944 · Birgel, Germany
Public domain. Office of War Information; photograph by John Rous, chief of photographers Source file
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Era
- World War II
- Home state
- Iowa
- Action
- Birgel, Germany
The citation
Official citation
He was leader of a machinegun squad defending an approach to the village of Birgel, Germany, on 14 December 1944, when an enemy tank, supported by 20 infantrymen, counterattacked. He held his fire until the Germans were within 100 yards and then raked the foot soldiers beside the tank killing several of them. The enemy armor continued to press forward and, at the pointblank range of 30 yards, fired a high-velocity shell into the American emplacement, wounding the entire squad. Sergeant. Neppel, blown 10 yards from his gun, had 1 leg severed below the knee and suffered other wounds. Despite his injuries and the danger from the onrushing tank and infantry, he dragged himself back to his position on his elbows, remounted his gun and killed the remaining enemy riflemen. Stripped of its infantry protection, the tank was forced to withdraw. By his superb courage and indomitable fighting spirit, Sergeant. Neppel inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and broke a determined counterattack.
Sources
- U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation index
- Wikipedia. Linked only. The article text is not copied here.