FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Alton W Knappenberger ~ 20 June 2022

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Alton W. Knappenberger

           

Alton Knappenberger (Dec 31, 1923 - June 9, 2008) was working on a Pennsylvania pig farm when he was drafted in 1943 at the age of nineteen. He landed at Anzio, on the Italian coast, on January 22, 1944, as part of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, and although he did not know it at the time, he was about to become engaged in one of the toughest combat actions of World War II. “Knappie,” as his friends called him, was surprised by how little resistance the Germans initially offered. But as his unit slowly pushed inland over the next few days, he could sense that the enemy was regrouping. It rained constantly. He never forgot the mud; it was so thick and viscous that he worried it might suck off his boots.

On February 1, as Private First Class Knappenberger’s battalion neared the small town of Cisterna di Littoria, the Germans launched a strong counterattack with tanks and artillery that nearly overwhelmed the U.S. force. It was the Germans’ intent to push the Americans into the sea. With American soldiers taking heavy casualties all around him, Knappenberger crawled to a rise so that he could see the enemy. A German machine gun about eighty yards away opened fire, its slugs hitting right in front of Knappenberger and kicking mud into his face. He scrambled to a Browning Automatic Rifle lying beside one of his dead comrades, stood up, and aimed a burst at the machine gun, killing the three Germans operating it. Two Germans crawled to a point within twenty yards of Knappenberger’s knoll and threw potato masher grenades at him. Knappenberger wheeled and killed them both with one burst from his automatic rifle.

He was moving forward when a second German machine gun opened fire from a range of a hundred yards. Knappenberger silenced it with the BAR. Shortly afterward, a German 20 mm antiaircraft gun directed fire at his unit. He took out the German position with his BAR. For the next two hours, Knappenberger single-handedly held off the enemy infantry, which was threatening the efforts of the U.S. force to organize a defense. When he ran low on ammunition, he crawled through heavy fire to the body of another fallen American and grabbed clips from his pack. He resumed firing and repelled a German platoon armed with automatic weapons. Despite heavy fire, shells bursting within fifteen yards of him, he held his precarious position while continuing to fire at the enemy. Finally, his ammunition supply completely exhausted, he rejoined his company, having disrupted the enemy attack for more than two hours. Only six men out of his company of two hundred had not been killed or wounded.

Over the next few weeks, the breakout from Anzio stalled and developed into a stalemate between Allied and German forces as each regrouped. Knappenberger was in a foxhole not far from where the February action had occurred when he was informed that he was to receive the Medal of Honor. It was presented to him on June 8, 1944, by General Mark Clark, commander of the 5th Army, with American troops looking on and the regimental band playing. Soon therafter, Knappenberger was sent home and traveled around the country telling his story as part of a war bond drive. After the war, he returned home to Pennsylvania and worked as a truck driver and supervisor of an asphalting crew.

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor

to

    KNAPPENBERGER, ALTON W.

    Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division.
    Place and date: Near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy, 1 February 1944.
    Entered service at: Spring Mount, Pa.
    Birth: Cooperstown, Pa. G.O. No.: 41, 26 May 1944.

    Citation:

    For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, on 1 February 1944 near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy. When a heavy German counterattack was launched against his battalion, Pfc. Knappenberger crawled to an exposed knoll and went into position with his automatic rifle. An enemy machinegun 85 yards away opened fire, and bullets struck within 6 inches of him. Rising to a kneeling position, Pfc. Knappenberger opened fire on the hostile crew, knocked out the gun, killed 2 members of the crew, and wounded the third. While he fired at this hostile position, 2 Germans crawled to a point within 20 yards of the knoll and threw potato-masher grenades at him, but Pfc. Knappenberger killed them both with 1 burst from his automatic rifle. Later, a second machinegun opened fire upon his exposed position from a distance of 100 yards, and this weapon also was silenced by his well-aimed shots. Shortly thereafter, an enemy 20mm. antiaircraft gun directed fire at him, and again Pfc. Knappenberger returned fire to wound 1 member of the hostile crew. Under tank and artillery shellfire, with shells bursting within 15 yards of him, he held his precarious position and fired at all enemy infantrymen armed with machine pistols and machineguns which he could locate. When his ammunition supply became exhausted, he crawled 15 yards forward through steady machinegun fire, removed rifle clips from the belt of a casualty, returned to his position and resumed firing to repel an assaulting German platoon armed with automatic weapons. Finally, his ammunition supply being completely exhausted, he rejoined his company. Pfc. Knappenberger's intrepid action disrupted the enemy attack for over 2 hours.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[freepertoo]

Wow!

[M Kehoe]

Cajones grande bump.

Don’t translate.

5.56mm

[lightman]

Thanks for keepin these heroes’ stories before us!

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Hall of Heroes: Alton W Knappenberger ~

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[PROCON]

Thanks for honoring tonight’s Hero, Kathy!

[Jet Jaguar]

What a Badass!

Thanks Ma.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, freepertoo...glad you enjoyed PFC Alton Knappenberger’s story.

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

😁 Good evening, M Kehoe...he really stood his ground!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello, lightman...so important that we remember the heroes who helped keep America free.

[larryjohnson]

Been in CA with son for two weeks. Closer to your home. Always glad to visit canteen
Reading third volume of Rick Atkinson WW II book The Guns At last Light. Anzio was bottled up for 4 months. At my age I knew cousins in Europe campaign.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Pro...he set his mind to his job and DID IT!! He was quite the hero.

[SkyDancer]

~ Good Evening ~

~ Hai - Giving Pops His Yearly Doo ~

~ Good Evening ~

~ Welcome To My World ~

I’m Down There Somewhere

[Kathy in Alaska]

That he was, JJ, that he was!!

[SkyDancer]

My dad’s WW2 buddies (no, he’s not that old) who were in Italy said “It was the rain, the constant rain that drove them nutz”

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

Reading this just leaves one breathless.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...hope you and Tippy had a loverly stroll around the neighborhood, and she is doing well with her training.

[The Mayor]

June 20

Trustworthy Love

Bible in a Year:

• Esther 1–2
• Acts 5:1–21

Love does no harm.

Romans 13:10 Why can’t I stop thinking about it? My emotions were a tangled mess of sadness, guilt, anger, and confusion.

Years ago, I’d made the painful decision to cut ties with someone close to me, after attempts to address deeply hurtful behavior were merely met with dismissal and denial. Today, after hearing she was in town visiting, my thoughts had spiraled into hashing and rehashing the past.

As I struggled to calm my thoughts, I heard a song playing on the radio. The song expressed not just the anguish of betrayal, but also a profound longing for change and healing in the person who’d caused harm. Tears filled my eyes as I soaked in the haunting ballad giving voice to my own deepest longings.

“Love must be sincere,” the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:9, a reminder that not all that passes for love is genuine. Yet our heart’s deepest longing is to know real love—love that isn’t self-serving or manipulative, but compassionate and self-giving. Love that’s not a fear-driven need for control but a joyful commitment to each other’s well-being (vv. 10–13).

And that’s the good news, the gospel. Because of Jesus, we can finally know and share a love we can trust—a love that will never cause us harm (13:10). To live in His love is to be free.

Reflect & Pray Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced or seen a difference between sincere and self-serving love? How can a community of faith help us learn to love others wholeheartedly?

Loving God, help me to learn the difference between real and counterfeit love and to share Christ’s love with those around me.