SERGEANT RALPH G. NEPPEL was leader of a machine gun squad defending an approach to the village of Birgel, Germany, on 14 December 1944 when an enemy tank, supported by twenty infantrymen, counterattacked. He held his fire until the Germans were within one hundred yards and then raked the foot soldiers beside the tank, killing several of them. The enemy armor continued to press forward, and at the point-blank range of thirty yards fired a high-velocity shell into the American emplacement, wounding the entire squad. Sergeant Neppel, blown ten yards from his gun, had one 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 counterattack.

Mr. Neppel joined the L.O.V. in 1984 as a life member and resided in Iowa.