WWII · Battle Death Record
George Peters
Private, U.S. Army · Rhode Island
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- George Peters
- Entered the Service From
- Rhode Island
- Rank
- Private
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- Company G, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- March 24, 1945
- Awards
- Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Netherlands
- Grave
- Plot G, Row 17, Grave 8
Their story
During Operation Varsity on March 24, 1945, Private Peters parachuted across the Rhine near Fluren (Wesel), Germany, and upon landing single-handedly charged a German machine-gun emplacement firing on his assembling group. Though knocked down and mortally wounded twice, he crawled forward and hurled grenades that destroyed the gun crew and dispersed supporting riflemen, saving the lives of his fellow paratroopers. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.