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destroyer. Without hesitation, he lowered himself into the burning turret, removed the wounded and then extinguished the fire. From a position he assumed the next morning, he observed hostile infantrymen advancing. With his machinegun, he poured such deadly fire into the enemy ranks that an entire pocket of 55 Germans surrendered, clearing the way for a junction between
American units which had been held up for 2 days. Later that day, when another of his destroyers was hit by a concealed enemy tank, he again left protection to give assistance. With the help of another soldier, he evacuated two wounded under heavy fire and, returning to the burning vehicle, braved death from exploding ammunition to put out the flames. By his heroic initiative and complete disregard for personal safety, S/Sgt. Briles was largely responsible for causing heavy enemy casualties, forcing the surrender of 55 Germans, making possible the salvage of our vehicles, and saving the lives of wounded comrades.
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fire. A direct hit was scored on 1 of the vehicles, killing 1 man, seriously wounding 2 others, and setting the destroyer afire. With a comrade, S/Sgt. Briles left the cover of his own armor and raced across ground raked by artillery and small-arms fire to the rescue of the men in the shattered
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soldiers and again left cover to reach a burning tank destroyer, rescue its crew, and put out the flames. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor ten months later, on
September 10, 1945.
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He was leading a platoon of destroyers across an exposed slope near
Scherpenseel, Germany, on 20 November 1944, when they came under heavy enemy
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Briles was born in Colfax, Iowa, the son of Ida Ellen (Gouty) and
William Henry Briles. He joined the Army from
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and extinguish the vehicle's flames. The next day, he single-handedly forced the surrender of fifty-five
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soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the
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Herschel Briles after receiving his Medal of Honor from
President
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on his 27th birthday, and by
November 20, 1944, was serving as a
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in
Company C, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. On that day, near
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He died at age 80 and was buried in
Waveland Cemetery,
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United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1914–1994)
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283:List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
366:"Medal of Honor recipients - World War II (A–F)"
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171:(February 7, 1914 – July 17, 1994) was a
432:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor
374:United States Army Center of Military History
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427:United States Army non-commissioned officers
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343:Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients
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222:before leaving the Army in June 1945.
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303:"Briles, Herschel F. (899th) MOA"
278:List of Medal of Honor recipients
324: This article incorporates
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376:. June 8, 2009. Archived from
142:899th Tank Destroyer Battalion
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218:Briles reached the rank of
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360:Iowa Medal of Honor Heroes
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422:People from Colfax, Iowa
370:Medal of Honor citations
103:United States of America
238:Medal of Honor citation
326:public domain material
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193:Fort Des Moines, Iowa
169:Herschel Floyd Briles
121:Years of service
48:Herschel Floyd Briles
339:"Herschel F. Briles"
179:—for his actions in
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81:Mitchellville, Iowa
232:Prairie City, Iowa
173:United States Army
115:United States Army
92:Prairie City, Iowa
39:on August 23, 1945
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75:July 17, 1994
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151:World War II
147:Battles/wars
77:(1994-07-17)
66:Colfax, Iowa
407:1994 deaths
402:1914 births
124:1941 - 1945
396:Categories
384:2008-02-25
352:2008-02-25
289:References
99:Allegiance
59:1914-02-07
45:Birth name
248:artillery
187:Biography
256:See also
109:Service/
205:Germany
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157:Awards
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129:Rank
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