Unbeknownst to its commanding general at the time, Maj. Gen. Walter E. Lauer, the division would play a strategic role in the war and would gain the honor of having the most decorated platoon of the US army during World War Two. The inexperienced troops of the division were lodged on the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Offensive on 16 December. And while the defense of the crossroads of hell was gallant to be sure, it was not the back breaker that most people assume it to have been. While the 99th was fully involved in this large mobilization, the headquarters moved to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. [16], Following the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, the 99th mobilized large numbers of Army Reserve Soldiers. The 38th Cavalry Squadron (led by Lt. Col. Robert E. O'Brien) was deployed to the north along the railroad track between Mutzenich and Konzen station. [18], As the battle ensued, small units, company and less in size, often acting independently, conducted fierce local counterattacks and mounted stubborn defenses, frustrating the German's plans for a rapid advance, and badly upsetting their timetable. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." This page was last edited on 11 March 2022, at 19:44. The real crusher to the German offensive plans in the Ardennes occurred 46 miles north east of Bastogne, in a small area consisting of a copse of small villages and a piece of high ground called Elsenborn Ridge. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. "Blue" was the code word for the 3rd battalion under Army infantry's triangular organization. The US Armys 99th Infantry Division, recently arrived in Europe and untested in combat, was assigned to the northern shoulder of the Allied front line in the Ardennes Forest. [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. [14] If the Germans penetrated Hfen, the U.S. soldiers would have to withdraw several miles to the next defensible position.[10]. Butler held a single platoon of 40 men from Company L in reserve. The breakout from Saint-L, France was accomplished far more rapidly than Allied planners had dared hope, and American units plunged through the French countryside with undreamed of rapidity, far in advance of operational plans. The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. The Germans planned to use massed infantry assaults to punch holes in the American lines, after which the feared German tanks, or panzers, would race through these gaps while the winter weather kept Allied planes grounded. The concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. Butler's regiment crossed the Erft Canal near the Rhine and enlarged the bridgehead, taking that town with a night attack without losing a single man. [17]:51, On another day, the 3rd Battalion took 50 Germans prisoner and killed or wounded more than 800 Germans, losing only five dead and seven wounded themselves. Any delay would jeopardize the plan to cross the Meuse River and advance on Antwerp before the skies cleared and the Allies regained their balance. The war was over six days later.[6]. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. Despite fatigue, constant enemy shelling, and ever-increasing enemy pressure, the Third Battalion guarded a 6,000 yards (5,500m)-long front and destroyed 75 percent of three German infantry regiments. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. Still, some German assaults penetrated American lines near the town of Hofen where they were eventually captured after retreating into houses in the town. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. Butler was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 21 March 1944, and remained in command of the 395th until 30 April 1945, when he collapsed from exhaustion. The 395th Infantry had mostly held their lines, and now with the battle hardened 2nd Infantry Division on the way to back them up, the lines of defense near Elsenborn appeared to be significantly harder to pierce. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. Not only did your command assist in effectively frustrating that particular part of the plan, but it also inflicted such heavy losses on the enemy that he was unable to carry out other contemplated missions in other sectors of the Allied front. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. [7]:3 American press reports from the European theater foretold the imminent fall of the Third Reich, and many men in Lt. Col. Butler's battalion thought that the war just might be over before they got there. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. The infantry at Hfen lay in a foxhole line along a 910 metres (2,990ft) front on the eastern side of the village, backed up by dug-out support positions. Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. The black background This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. Outnumbered five to one, they inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. Even the most hardened veteran occasionally thinks he hears twigs snap, boots crush snow or other odd noises that can cause nerves to fray. This quick infusion of personnel into the 99th Division occurred in March 1944, when more than 3000 joined the division. The blue and white checkerboard in the division's insignia is taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, for whom Pittsburgh is named. Motto VIGILANS ET CELER (Vigilant and Swift). : 33 On at least six occasions they called in . squares centered on a black shield. There Major Butler collapsed due to exhaustion on 30 April, and Lt. Col. J. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. That was not the case for the Americans near Elsenborn. On 3 November 1944, the 395th Regiment disembarked at Le Havre, France. EN. Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen. Unknown to the Allies, the Germans were preparing a surprise counter-offensive through the Ardennes with the goal of splitting the Allied armies and recapturing the Belgian port city of Antwerp. [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. Cemeteries & Memorials; Burial Search; About Us; Education; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501. 395 th Regiment Constituted 23 July 1918 in the National Army as the 395th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division Demobilized 30 November 1918 Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the. 2nd and 3rd Battalion cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes. The Ardennes area was chosen because of a lack of operational objectives for the Allies, the terrain offered good defensive positioning, roads were lacking, and the Germans were known to be using the area within Germany to the east as a rest and refit area for their troops. Staff Sergeant, Service Company, 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, ETO, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr Pocket, and the Occupation of Germany, recipient of the Bronze Star. I decided to stage the night attack at Bergheim because my troops would be going across an open area about 500 yards (460m) long and 400 yards (370m) wide. The 395th Infantry was in the woods east of the northernmost section of the 2d Division withdrawal route and would provide cover for the first stage of the tricky move parallel to and close. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 16 June 1931. It was redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. [1] During the Battle of the Bulge, the regimentat times virtually surrounded by Germanswas one of the few units that did not yield ground to the attacking Germans. Fourteen of the 18 platoon members were wounded, while only one soldier, a member of the artillery observation team, was killed. On at least six different occasions the battalion was forced to place artillery concentrations dangerously close to its own positions in order to repulse penetrations and restore its lines . The 394th Infantry Regiment was established on 23 July 1918 as the 394th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division as a member of the National Army. On 3-4 May, the division liberated two labor camps and a "forest camp" (Waldlager) related to the Mhldorf concentration camp, a sub-camp of Dachau. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. Crest The crest is that of the U.S. Army Reserve. Battle of the Bulge Those who survived the initial onslaught and did not manage to flee, had to eke out a living on a battleground ravaged by incessant bombardment and street fighting. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. commanders. Alexander John Mackenzie was born in New York City, 22 February 1895, the son of Alexina and Kenneth M. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. [8], That is three to four times wider than recommended by Army textbooks. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. Hfen-Monschau was vital to the operations success because the nearby road junctions would enable rapid movement of tanks. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. On 28 January 1945, after six weeks of the most intense and relentless combat of the war in the biggest battle of World War II, involving approximately 1.3million men, the Allies declared the Ardennes Offensive, or Battle of the Bulge, officially over. [20], After a short period off the line, the battalion conducted offensive operations in Germany, including the seizure of several German towns from 1 to 5 March. The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. The 395th received the following campaign streamers: The entire regiment was recognized with the following unit decorations: A silver color metal and enamel device .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}3732 inches (2.94cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Or. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. At the going down of the sun And in the morning We will remember them." 324th Engineer Combat Battalion Albertson Dale W Bass Robert D Brown Edwin C Busk Army policy does not allow for the lineage and honors of a TO&E organization, such as an infantry division, to be perpetuated by a TDA organization, such as an RSC. As the tanks neared Krinkelt, they plowed right through elements of the 2nd Infantry Division, many of whom had arrived literally moments earlier to reinforce their brothers who had earlier reinforced the 99ers. Put under the operational control of V Corps, First Army, it moved to Le Havre, France on 3 November and proceeded to Aubel, Belgium, to prepare to enter the front lines. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. This article contains content in the public domain from U.S. military sources. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. Most of the publicity for the American victory falls on the shoulders of the 101st Airborne and the map grid that centers on the town of Bastogne. American troops from the 290th Regiment near Amonines, Belgium. and the situation was desperate. On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. [16], In September 2007, in preparation for the transition to Fort Dix and establishment of the new 99th RSC, the 99th RRC assumed administrative responsibility for the former regions of the 77th and 94th RRCs, which had inactivated. On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. The platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. [16], The U.S. Army Center of Military History states that the 99th RSC does not perpetuate the lineage and honors of the 99th Infantry Division. 395 th Regiment Constituted 23 July 1918 in the National Army as the 395th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division Demobilized 30 November 1918 Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. More often than not, the noises thought to have been heard arent anything at all, and the forest resumes its eerie silence. During the Battle of the Bulge, the regimentat times virtually surrounded by Germanswas one of the few units that did not yield ground to the attacking Germans. . Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, MIGHTY NETWORKS, 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Artificial Intelligence just flew an F-16 Fighting Falcon for the US military, WWII vet finally receives Silver Star for heroism at Battle of the Bulge, This is the massive Nazi sneak attack at the Battle of the Bulge, Rarely seen footage from the Battle of the Bulge, The first tank to break into Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge was almost lost to history. The thick forest was tangled with rocky gorges, little streams, and sharp hills. During the Battle of the Bulge, the regimentat times virtually surrounded by Germanswas one of the few units that did not yield ground to the attacking Germans. The 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River.
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