First Lieutenant John Grimball of Charleston, South Carolina, a young lawyer from Columbia, South Carolina, was commanding officer of Company A, 14th Tank Battalion during the battle to capture the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine on 7 March 1945. In the battle for the bridge over the Rhine, he led an understrength platoon of four of the newest heavy-duty T26E3 M26 Pershing tanks. Under his leadership, his unit played an instrumental role in capturing the last intact bridge across the Rhine, the only one of 22 road and 25 railroad bridges across the Rhine that the Germans had not yet blown up.