Memorial

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Pvt George J. Peters was employed at the US Rubber Company before he enlisted on 12 April 1943 in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Both his parents were born in the Azores, Portugal.

Pvt Peters was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. The citation cited: Pvt Peters, a platoon radio operator with Company G, made a descent into Germany near Fluren, east of the Rhine. With ten others, he landed in a field about 75 yards from a German machine-gun supported by riflemen, and was immediately pinned down by heavy, direct fire. The position of the small unit seemed hopeless with men struggling to free themselves of their parachutes in a hail of bullets that cut them off from their nearby equipment bundles, when Pvt Peters stood up without orders and began a one-man charge against the hostile emplacement, armed only with a rifle and grenades. His single-handed assault immediately drew the enemy fire away from his comrades. He had run halfway to his objective, pitting rifle fire against that of the machine-gun, when he was struck and knocked to the ground by a burst. Heroically, he regained his feet and struggled onward. Once more he was torn by bullets, and this time he was unable to rise. With gallant devotion to his self-imposed mission, he crawled directly into the fire that had mortally wounded him until close enough to hurl grenades which knocked out the machine-gun, killed two of its operators, and drove protecting riflemen from their positions into the safety of a woods. By his intrepidity and supreme sacrifice, Pvt Peters saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers and made it possible for them to reach their equipment, organize, and seize their first objective.

In May 1968, the city of Cranston, Rhode Island, dedicated the George J. Peters Memorial Square in his honor and erected a monument on the corner of Phenix Ave and Atwood Ave.

Pvt Peters is also remembered at Waldstrasse 17 in Wesel-Flüren, Germany with a Medal of Honor plaque for his actions during Operation Varsity. Made by Jos Bex, the plaque includes his image, Medal of Honor, and gravestone, with inscriptions in both English and German.

Additional biographical information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_J._Peters