2nd Lt. Fredric T. Neel , Lux. American Cemetery, grave F-2-5

 

2nd Lt. Fredric T. Neel (front row, right) was killed in action on 24 May 1944.  He was navigator on a no-name B-17, 401st Bomb Squadron, 91 Bomb Group (Heavy) that crashed just off the coast of Sweden. The 91st was flying as part of an armada of 616 heavy bombers who flew a mission to bomb aircraft plants in Berlin that day.  The pilot of the B-17 was William Nee.

The 91st Bomb Group was attacked by German fighters while in the vicinity of Berlin. William Nee’s B-17 received direct hits by 20-mm canon shells, which started a fire in the electircal wiring that controlled the intercom and also affected the alarm bell, which was used to tell the crew members to bail out.

The fire appeard to be uncontrollable and Nee alerted the crew to bail out by intercom and turned on the alarm bell.  He then bailed out with the copilot and flight engineer.  The other six members of the crew evidently didn’t hear the bailout order or the alarm bell. The Navigator, Neel, put the fire out and climbed into the pilot’s seat.  Tail gunner Spaulding climbed into the copilot’s seat and the navigator flew the B-17 on a course that would take them to Sweden.  After making several passes at landing the aircraft on land, Neel had the others bail out over land and then apparently bailed out himself prior to setting the aircraft down just off the coast. Neel was drowned in this attempt. Of the six men who flew with the B-17 to Sweden, only three men survived.

Commander of the unit that liberated Luxembourg

Major General Lunsford E. Oliver, 5th Armored Division.

Liberated Luxembourg City on 10 September 1944.

Members of the BAND OF BROTHERS buried in Lux. American Cemetery

E Company – 506 Parachute Inf. Regmt. 101 Airborne Division

 

  

John T. Julian                Warren H. Muck        

F-10-24                        E-9-45                      

  

Alex M. Penkala, Jr.     Kenneth J. Webb

I-9-5                             G-4-20

Patrick H. Neill

B-9-34

My namesake Ewald Schroeder

   

PFC Ewald E. Schroeder, TX, 112 Infantry 28 Division, grave B-5-55. Fell under German machine-gun fire on Wallendorf bridge at German-Lux. border 20 Sep. 1944.

THE ONLY WOMAN in Lux. American Cemetery

 

2LT Nancy Leo, an Army nurse from Maryland, is the only woman buried among the 5,076 soldiers in the Luxembourg American Cemetery. She died in a jeep accident in Paris on 24 July 1945. Her grave is H-9-71.

MEDAL OF HONOR recipients -citations

 

MEDAL OF HONOR

Citation:

DAY G. TURNER    Plot, Row, Grave: E – 10 – 72

 

Sergeant, U. S. Army

Company B, 319th Infantry, 80th Infantry Division

 

Birth: Berwick, Columbia County, Pennsylvania

Entered service at: Nescopek, Pennsylvania

 

Place and date: At Dahl, Luxembourg, 8 January 1945

 

General Order Number 49, 28 June 1945

 

      Citation:  He commanded a 9-man squad with the mission of holding a critical flank position. When overwhelming numbers of the enemy attacked under cover of withering artillery, mortar and rocket fire, he withdrew his squad into a nearby house, determined to defend it to the last man. The enemy attacked again and again and were repulsed with heavy losses. Supported by direct tank fire, they finally gained entrance, but the intrepid sergeant refused to surrender although 5 of his men were wounded and one was killed. He boldly flung a can of flaming oil at the first wave of attackers, dispersing them, and fought doggedly from room to room, closing with the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand encounters. He hurled hand grenade for hand grenade, bayoneted 2 fanatical Germans who rushed a doorway he was defending and fought on with the enemy’s weapons when his own ammunition was expended. The savage fight raged for 4 hours, and finally, when only 3 men of the defending squad were left unwounded, the enemy surrendered. Twenty-five prisoners were taken, 11 enemy dead and a great number of wounded were counted. Sergeant Turner’s valiant stand will live on as a constant inspiration to his comrades. His heroic, inspiring leadership, his determination and courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest tradition of the military service.

 

Sgt. Turner died exactly one month after this battle, on 8 February 1945.

===================================================

 

MEDAL OF HONOR

   Citation:

WILLIAM D. McGEE    Plot, Row, Grave: C – 7 – 13

 

Private, U.S. Army

Medical Detachment, 304^th Infantry, 76^th Infantry Division

 

Birth: Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana

Entered service at: Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Place and date: Near Mulheim, Germany, 18 March 1945

 

General Order Number 21, 26 February 1946

 

      Citation:  A medical aid man, he made a night crossing of the Moselle River with troops endeavoring to capture the town of Mulheim. The enemy had retreated in the sector where the assault boats landed, but had left the shore heavily strewn with antipersonnel mines. Two men of the first wave attempting to work their way forward detonated mines which wounded them seriously, leaving them bleeding and in great pain beyond the reach of their comrades. Entirely on his own initiative, Private McGee entered the minefield, brought out one of the injured to comparative safety, and had returned to rescue the second victim when he stepped on a mine and was severely wounded in the resulting explosion. Although suffering intensely and bleeding profusely, he shouted orders that none of his comrades was to risk his life by entering the death-sown field to render first aid that might have saved his life. In making the supreme sacrifice, Private McGee demonstrated a concern for the well-being of his fellow soldiers that transcended all considerations for his own safety and a gallantry in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.

AMERICAN CEMETERY VIEWS and map of WWII monuments in Luxembourg & Voie de la Liberté