PFC Neil Aberdeen Tuel

courtesy of Debbie J.

PFC Neil Aberdeen Tuel was born 29 Apr 1922 in Paden, West Virginia. He was the 2nd of 3 children and only son born to Clarence Herbert and Audrey Chloe (Wade) Tuel. His father worked in a glass factory to support his family but died at the age of 28 in 1928. His mother remarried a Mr. Freeman but also went to work as a cook. Neil did not attend high school, perhaps because he had to work to help support himself and his mother. He found work as a machinist and then at the Norfolk Navy Yard working for the U.S. government. 

Neil was drafted in December 1943. Beginning his service at Fort Hayes near Columbus, Ohio, he was sent to the European theater after completing his basic military training. PFC Tuel was transferred from the replacement depot to B Company 116th Infantry on 7 Jul 1944 to serve as a rifleman. PFC Tuel was struck by fragments from an artillery shell and killed in action on 12 Jul 1944 while the unit was trying to force German forces from Saint-Lo, France. 

PFC Tuel was repatriated and re-interred in Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.