Gentlemen,
Alton Knappenberger passed away on June 9th. Alton was born in Pennsylvania in 1923 and his father died when he was five. He quit school to help his family survive during the Great Depression. He learned to shoot a rifle as a young man and these skills helped put food on the table. He was drafted in 1943 and was later part of the landing force at Anzio. On February 1, 1944, following the German counter attack at Anzio, he found himself in a forward position with Germans attacking. Using a BAR, he quickly expended his ammunition and gathered more from American causalities around him. He was credited with killing 60 German soldiers that day and holding up two German companies. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor. A General later called him "a one man army."
After the war he lived in a rural town in Pennsylvania not far from where I grew up. Unfortunately, I never met him.
Alton was the second MOH winner who has passed away recently. Jack Lucas also recently passed. I think Brokow's description "The Greatest Generation" may be an understatement.
RIP Alton,
John
Alton Knappenberger passed away on June 9th. Alton was born in Pennsylvania in 1923 and his father died when he was five. He quit school to help his family survive during the Great Depression. He learned to shoot a rifle as a young man and these skills helped put food on the table. He was drafted in 1943 and was later part of the landing force at Anzio. On February 1, 1944, following the German counter attack at Anzio, he found himself in a forward position with Germans attacking. Using a BAR, he quickly expended his ammunition and gathered more from American causalities around him. He was credited with killing 60 German soldiers that day and holding up two German companies. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor. A General later called him "a one man army."
After the war he lived in a rural town in Pennsylvania not far from where I grew up. Unfortunately, I never met him.
Alton was the second MOH winner who has passed away recently. Jack Lucas also recently passed. I think Brokow's description "The Greatest Generation" may be an understatement.
RIP Alton,
John
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