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Eggers Alan Louis

Name:
Alan Louis Eggers
Rank:
Sergeant
Serial Number:
Unit:
107th Infantry Regiment, 27th Division
Date of Death:
1968-10-03
State:
New Jersey
Cemetery:
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
Plot:
Section 2, Lot 3387-A, Map Grid U/V 29
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, French Croix de Guerre w/bronze palm
Comments:

Born 2 Nov 2895 in Saranac Lake, NY, Eggers was a student at Cornell University before entering the service at Summit, New Jersey. He received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in combat near Le Catelet, France, on September 29, 1918, together with John C. Latham and Thomas E. O'Shea: Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Sergeant Eggers, Sergeant John C. Latham and Corporal Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the three soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank, under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Corporal O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted two wounded soldiers to cover in a sap of a nearby trench. Sergeant Eggers and Sergeant Latham then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were, keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it, with the wounded men, back to our lines under cover of darkness. Passed away at age 72 and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.