Medal of Honor: Carl V. Sheridan – World War II – November 26, 1944

Name: Carl Vernon Sheridan
Rank: Private First Class
Organization: U.S. Army
Unit: Company K, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division
Place and Date: Frenzenberg Castle, Weisweiler, Germany – 26 November 1944
Entered Service At: Baltimore, Maryland
Born: January 30, 1925 – Baltimore, Maryland
Departed: Killed in Action, November 26, 1944
Accredited To: Maryland

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Summary of Action

On November 26, 1944, Company K attacked the medieval stronghold of Frenzenberg Castle through a storm of German artillery and mortar fire. Only 35 men survived the initial advance. Among them was PFC Carl V. Sheridan, a bazooka gunner who had already risked his life under fire to recover extra rockets from his wounded ammunition bearer.

Upon reaching the courtyard, Sheridan found his outnumbered company locked in a desperate fight against nearly seventy German paratroopers entrenched inside the stone gatehouse — a heavily built structure protected by a water-filled moat and a barricaded oak door. No weapon except a bazooka could breach the entrance.

Without hesitation, Sheridan left cover, running alone across the open courtyard under a relentless storm of rifles, machine guns, and grenades. Reaching the drawbridge, he fired two rockets into the massive door, weakening but not breaking it. With only one round left, he reloaded, aimed carefully, and blasted a final hole through the planks — creating the only path for an assault.

Turning back toward his company, he shouted, “Come on, let’s get them!” With his .45 pistol in hand, PFC Sheridan charged through the shattered doorway and was instantly cut down by concentrated enemy fire. His sacrifice opened the breach that allowed Company K to storm the castle and seize the objective.

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Medal of Honor Citation

Attached to the 2d Battalion of the 47th Infantry on 26 November 1944, for the attack on Frenzenberg Castle, in the vicinity of Weisweiler, Germany, Company K, after an advance of 1,000 yards through a shattering barrage of enemy artillery and mortar fire, had captured 2 buildings in the courtyard of the castle but was left with an effective fighting strength of only 35 men. During the advance, Pfc. Sheridan, acting as a bazooka gunner, had braved the enemy fire to stop and procure the additional rockets carried by his ammunition bearer who was wounded. Upon rejoining his company in the captured buildings, he found it in a furious fight with approximately 70 enemy paratroopers occupying the castle gate house. This was a solidly built stone structure surrounded by a deep water-filled moat 20 feet wide. The only approach to the heavily defended position was across the courtyard and over a drawbridge leading to a barricaded oaken door. Pfc. Sheridan, realizing that his bazooka was the only available weapon with sufficient power to penetrate the heavy oak planking, with complete disregard for his own safety left the protection of the buildings and in the face of heavy and intense small-arms and grenade fire, crossed the courtyard to the drawbridge entrance where he could bring direct fire to bear against the door. Although handicapped by the lack of an assistant, and a constant target for the enemy fire that burst around him, he skillfully and effectively handled his awkward weapon to place two well-aimed rockets into the structure. Observing that the door was only weakened, and realizing that a gap must be made for a successful assault, he loaded his last rocket, took careful aim, and blasted a hole through the heavy planks. Turning to his company he shouted, “Come on, let’s get them!” With his .45 pistol blazing, he charged into the gaping entrance and was killed by the withering fire that met him. The final assault on Frenzenberg Castle was made through the gap which Pfc. Sheridan gave his life to create.