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Personal info

Full name
SCHNELL, Harold
Date of birth
3 February 1918
Age
26
Place of birth
Spring Valley, Rockland County, New York
Hometown
Dumont, Bergen County, New Jersey

Military service

Service number
12009021
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
B Company,
1st Engineer Combat Battalion,
1st Infantry Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
12 October 1944
Place of death
Northern outskirts of Aachen, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
B 12 15

Immediate family

Members
Charles E. Schnell Sr. (father)
Ethel M. (Smith) Schnell (mother)
Charles E. Schnell Jr. (brother)
Frank Schnell (brother)

More information

Pfc Harold Schnell joined the Regular Army in Passaic, New Jersey on 3 October 1940.

He was already a member of his unit since the North African campaign and saw also action in Italy, France and Belgium.

He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. The citation cited: For heroic achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the vicinity of El Guettar, Tunisia, 20-21 March 1943. When his flank patrol encountered a stubbornly defended machine gun emplacement, Pvt Schnell proceeded to an exposed vantage point and, with accurate mortar fire, destroyed the enemy installation. His heroic act eliminated a serious menace to his unit's security.

Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1920/1930/1940 Census / Headstone and Interment Record / New York State Birth Index / U.S. WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet / R.C.