After almost 70 years, Sgt. Alfred B. Nietzel of the 2/16 INF, 1 DIV, FIRST ARMY was awarded the Medal of Honor for the heroic actions he took on November 18, 1944, during an afternoon ceremony at the White House on March 18, 2014.
Before the war began, 19 year old Nietzel of Nassau County, New York, a foster child from the Bronx. His father was committed to a state mental institution until his death in 1971. Alfred became a machinist with a couple of years of high school und...er his belt went to Jamaica Queens and enlisted in the Army on October 5, 1940. We are not sure without further research, but he may have served the first few months of his Army career at Fort Jay with the 16th Infantry Regiment before they departed here in February 1941. Had he served in the 16th Infantry Regiment from the beginning, he would have survived combat and landings in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and Belgium and been a very lucky, very seasoned combat veteran.
By 1944, Alfred was a sergeant in Company H, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, as U.S. First Army's moved across France, Belgium and Germany.
By late November, 1944, the 1st Infantry Division, the 16th Infantry Regiment and Alfred had been in heavy, grueling, combat for nearly seven straight weeks, some of the longest rounds of non-stop combat during the war.
Alfred died during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in Heistern, Germany on November 18, 1944. In an intense day of fighting for a hill and the town of Heistern, several 16th Infantry men were awarded the Sliver Star and Distinguished Service Cross.
Nietzel selflessly covered for the retreating members of his squad which he had sent to the rear for reinforcements. He did so by laying down suppressive fire with his .30 caliber machine-gun on an enemy advance threatening to overrun his position. He continued until all his ammunition was expended then picked up his rifle and continued firing until killed by an enemy grenade. His actions delayed the advance of the opposing force long enough for reinforcements to arrive, stop and turn back the enemy.
In 1945, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and in 1949, a week before what would have been his 28th birthday, he was laid to rest at the Long Island National Cemetery. Near by on the same day, his brother William, a private in the Army Air Corps who also died during the war, was also laid to rest and whose remains returned to New York and the Brooklyn Army Terminal on the same ship as Alfred's.
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