Nelson was drafted into the U.S. Army on July 14, 1941, from Fort Cook, Nebraska, and entered World War II with Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd ID. During his time with his unit, Nelson took part in Operation Torch in Morocco. Following the intense fighting in Northern Africa, Nelson also took part in Operation Husky in Sicily and Operations Avalanche and Shingle in Italy. [snip] According to Nelson, he had run out of ammunition, ran a couple hundred yards under enemy fire, climbed on top of an abandoned German tank and fired the machine gun at the...