Salute to Service is a series where the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance shares the untold stories of veterans from the Mountain State. It is never too late to honor the sacrifice that Veterans have made for America, our way of life and our allies.
Walter C. Wetzel was born in Huntington on June 7, 1919. He joined the U.S. Army from Detroit, Michigan, where his family moved in search of the greater opportunities of Motor City in an economy recovering from the Great Depression. However, growing up in Appalachia likely influenced the development of a strong sense of community and patriotism in Wetzel.
His dedication to military service and his willingness to put others before himself were first evident when he enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 9, 1941, several months before the start of America’s involvement in World War II. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division, a unit that had been reactivated in 1940 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Wetzel joined the unit as they were completing large-scale training maneuvers along the coast of the Carolinas. As a newly reactivated unit, they needed significant training to become combat-ready. The unit completed training in Tennessee, underwent physical conditioning at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and received administrative preparation at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, before reporting to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for final preparations before deploying to Europe.
The unit arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on December 16, 1943, where they continued their training until they embarked for France, landing at Utah Beach on July 4, 1944, and joined the Normandy Campaign shortly after D-Day. Their first major combat operation was on July 9, when they cleared German resistance in La Hayne du Puits, and captured approximately one hundred prisoners.
Wetzel’s unit went on to participate in several notable operations, including the siege of Brest in September, where they engaged in intense urban combat. They took heavy casualties during the battle of Hürtgen Forest in November and December 1944, where they cleared key towns such as Hürtgen and Brandenburg of enemy forces.
The events for which Wetzel was awarded the Medal of Honor occurred after his unit had advanced into Germany. They crossed the Roer River on February 23, 1945, and advanced through Duren and the Erft Canal, reaching the Rhine near Rodenkirchen on March 7.
During the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 3, while standing guard outside a house at Birken, Germany that his platoon was using as a command post, Wetzel detected a strong enemy force approaching. He began defending the post after alerting his comrades in the command post. The defenders were taking heavy automatic weapons fire. Under the cover of darkness, German forces worked their way close enough to the building that they were able to throw grenades, two of which landed in the room where Wetzel and the others had taken up firing positions.
Shouting a warning, Wetzel threw himself on both grenades, taking the full force of both blasts, killing him. His sacrifice saved the other soldiers in the room, enabling them to continue fighting. His Medal of Honor citation credits his action for making it possible for the unit to break the energy counter thrust.
President Harry S. Truman posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor on February 26, 1946.
Wetzel is buried in the American Netherlands Cemetery, near Margraten. His medal is on display at the Michigan Heroes Museum in Frankenmuth, the state where his family settled. However, the magnitude of his sacrifice and heroism exemplified the ideals of honor, service, and sacrifice that we West Virginians hold dear. We revere Walter Wetzel as a hero and a proud example of what our state stands for.