Rueben Pepple

Pvt Rueben Pepple entered the Army at Fort Snelling, Minnesota on 8 June 1942. He was taken prisoner on 15 December 1944 when his unit was fighting in the vicinity of Kufferath, Germany. He suffered from burns in his face and both hands and a bullet in his left heel. He died of these wounds and of body weakness in the Reserve Hospital of Siegburg on 18 January 1945 and was buried at the North-Cemetery of this village on 26 January 1945 at 0900 hrs. He now is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial at Margraten. Name included on the All Veterans Memorial on State Capitol Grounds Bismarck North Dakota. Under Wells County. Register of North Dakota Veterans WWII and Korea page 1157: PEPPLE, RUEBEN SN 37 280 881; born Cathay, NDak 6 Jul 19; resident Wells County, NDak; entered AUS Ft Snelling, Minn 8 Jun 42; served European African Middle Eastern Theater; died in service 18 Jan 45 Germany; PVT; buried in Plot AAA, Row 9, Grave 215, US Military Cemetery, Margraten, Holland. From Fields of Honor Database PEPPLE, Rueben Servicenumber: 37280881 Age: 25 Born: 6 July 1919, Cathay, North Dakota Hometown: Germantown, Wells County, North Dakota Family: Christ Pepple (father) Sophie (Kandt) Pepple (mother) Loraine Pepple (sister) Adolph Pepple (brother) Alice Pepple (sister) Mylidia Pepple (sister) Harold Pepple (brother) Rank: Private Function: Gunner Regiment: - Battalion: 34th Tank Battalion Division €“ Transport: 5th Armored Division Company €“ Squadron: Not available Unit €“ Group: - Plane data: (Serialnumber, MACR, etc.) - Date of death: 18 January 1945 Status: DOW Place of death: Siegburg, Germany Spot: Michaelsberg Abbey Awards: Purple Heart Gravenumber: Plot H, Row 7, Grave 3 Cemetery: American War Cemetery Margraten Biography: - Other information: Pvt Rueben Pepple enlisted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota on 8 June 1942. Mrs Karen Stucky (according to US Army info) adds: 'Rueben was a gunner on a tank that was hit. He was wounded and told the rest of the crew to evacuate and he stayed with the tank and was captured.' He was taken prisoner on 15 December 1944 when his unit was fighting in the vicinity of Kufferath, Germany. He suffered from burns in his face and both hands and a bullet in his left heel. He died of these wounds and of body weakness in the Reserve Military Hospital of Siegburg on 18 January 1945 and was buried at the North-Cemetery of this village on 26 January 1944 at 0900 hrs. On the bottom picture he poses with hs family, back row: Sophie (mother), Harold, Adolph, Rueben, father Christ. Front row: Lorrine, Alice, Mylidia. Source of information: Raf Dyckmans, Peter Schouteten, Dean Johnson (Wells cty V.S.O.) www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov, www.5ad.org, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / 1930 census, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18238601 - page 67 Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Karen Stucky and Susan Wold, Charlotte Magin Find a Grave: Headstone Photo