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name
SAPPINGTON, John H - Date of
birth
4 August 1924 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
San Francisco County, California -
Hometown
Cook County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36682085 -
Rank
Private -
Function
Machine Gunner -
Unit
I Company,
3rd Battalion,
393rd Infantry Regiment,
99th Infantry Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
17 December 1944 - Place of
death
Near Elsenborn Ridge, Belgium
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| F | 1 | 63 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Clarence O. Sappington (father)
Bertha (Radovich) Sappington (mother)
More information
John H. Sappington graduated from South Shore High School and took his training course at Louisiana State University.When Kampfgruppe Muller forced the 3rd Bn. to yield ground, two platoons of Company I, 393rd Infantry joined with Company M to regain the lost ground. They were unable to regain it and were barely able to hold their own in the face of enemy tanks. Four bazooka teams moved forward. A Panther closed on the Company M command post and shot up the Company M mess tent.
Staff Sergeant Chester E. Kroll, witnessed the clash with the Panther: ‘A Tiger [the Panther] tank crept up on us and fired point blank. One of our guns opened up on the tank and buttoned it up and knocked out some of the infantry that followed. The gun was manned by Private Sappington and Private Stallman. The tank scored a lucky hit on our machine gun, killing Sappington. Stallman survived without a scratch.’
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 Census / Birth Record, William C. C. Cavanagh, www.newspapers.com - Chicago Tribune
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, www.ancestry.com - South Shore High School Yearbook 1946