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bullets that tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet. He threw his last grenade into the machine gun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He had completed this self-appointed task when a machine pistol burst killed him instantly. In his spectacular 1-man attack, Pvt. Merrell killed 6 Germans in the first machine gun emplacement, 7 in the next, and an additional 10 infantrymen who were astride his path to the weapons that would have decimated his unit had he not assumed the burden of the assault and stormed the enemy positions with utter fearlessness, intrepidity of the highest order, and a willingness to sacrifice his own life so that his comrades could go on to victory.
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247:'s bullet, leaving him armed only with 3 grenades. But he did not hesitate. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within 10 yards of the first machine gun, where he hurled 2 grenades and then rushed the position, ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement, he seized a
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and killed the
Germans that had survived the grenade blast. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machine gun located 30 yards away, killing 4 Germans in camouflaged foxholes on the way, but himself receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. And yet he went on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding
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positions that were firing on his unit. He disabled two enemy machine gun emplacements and killed nearly two dozen German soldiers before he was himself killed. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor (now on exhibit at Fort
Wadsworth) ten months later, on February 26, 1946.
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He made a gallant, 1-man attack against vastly superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany. His unit, attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open the route to
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boat was named after him (in service until 1982), it would become a Rikers Island Jail barge named the
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before the enemy could organize his defense of that city, was pinned down by brutal fire from rifles,
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in August 1944 (a week after his 18th birthday), and by April 18, 1945, was serving as a
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soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration – the
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was scrapped in 1974. A plaque dedicated to
Private Merrell's honor is in the
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Merrell, aged 18 at his death, was buried in Saint Peters
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Private
Merrell's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
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United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1926–1945)
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United States Army personnel killed in World War II
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344:"Medal of Honor recipients - World War II (M-S)"
191:Merrell joined the Army from his birthplace of
176:(August 21, 1926 – April 18, 1945) was a
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352:United States Army Center of Military History
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395:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
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314:List of Medal of Honor recipients
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354:. June 8, 2009. Archived from
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420:Deaths by firearm in Germany
333:WWII Army Enlistment Records
405:United States Army soldiers
221:West New Brighton, New York
184: – for his actions in
87:West New Brighton, New York
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415:Curtis High School alumni
400:People from Staten Island
18:Private Joseph F. Merrell
348:Medal of Honor citations
174:Joseph Frederick Merrell
98:United States of America
227:Medal of Honor citation
85:Saint Peters Cemetery,
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201:15th Infantry Regiment
139:15th Infantry Regiment
288:, Staten Island, NY.
281:Pvt. Joseph F Merrell
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205:3rd Infantry Division
143:3rd Infantry Division
116:Years of service
275:Harold A. Wildstein
271:Staten Island Ferry
178:United States Army
110:United States Army
257:Additional honors
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149:Battles/wars
65:(1945-04-18)
385:1945 deaths
380:1926 births
374:Categories
362:2008-01-02
320:References
94:Allegiance
46:1926-08-21
261:A former
237:Nuremberg
209:Nuremberg
119:1944/1945
71:Nuremberg
292:See also
267:Nürnberg
104:Service/
197:private
128:Private
75:Germany
245:sniper
213:German
159:Awards
106:branch
279:USNS
69:near
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60:Died
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