13-234 GARAND Picture of the Day - 83 INF Div

[browningautorifle]

For those like me that gotta' know...

Neppel joined the Army from Glidden, Iowa in March 1943, and by December 14, 1944 was serving as a Sergeant in Company M, 329th Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division. During a German counterattack on that day, at Birgel, Germany, his leg was severed by enemy fire, but he continued to man his machine gun until the German force withdrew. Neppel survived his wounds, although his remaining leg was badly damaged and had to be amputated. Nine months after the battle, on September 10, 1945, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Neppel reached the rank of technical sergeant before being discharged in February 1946. He died at age 63 and was buried in Holy Family Cemetery, Lidderdale, Iowa