serviceyears branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date placeofburial rank article_title name
1944/1945 united states army near nuremberg suburb lohe , germany 18 april 1945 staten island , new york united states of america 3rd division battalion , 15th infantry regiment , 3rd infantry medal of honor place of burial world war ii 21 august 1926 saint york peters cemetery , west new brighton , new private joseph f. merrell
 joseph f. merrell
joseph f. merrell

joseph frederick merrell -lrb- august 21 , 1926 -- april 18 , 1945 -rrb- was a united states army soldier and a recipient of the united states military 's highest decoration -- the medal of honor -- for his actions in world war ii .
merrell joined the army from his birthplace of staten island in august 1944 -lrb- a week after his 18th birthday -rrb- , and by april 18 , 1945 , was serving as a private in company i , 15th infantry regiment , 3rd infantry division .
on that day , near lohe -lrb- a suburb of nuremberg -rrb- , germany , he singlehandedly attacked german 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 -lrb- now on exhibit at fort wadsworth -rrb- ten months later , on february 26 , 1946 .
merrell , aged 18 at his death , was buried in saint peters cemetery , west new brighton , new york .
