Just south of Hfen, the lines of the 99th entered this forest, ran through a long belt of timber to the boundary between the V and VIII Corps at the Losheim Gap. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. The Battles for Elsenborn Ridge Part II | The National WWII Museum Two months later, when the 99th Division was transferred to VII Corps under Maj. Gen. Walter E. Lauer, the commanding officer of V Corps, Maj. Gen. Clarence R. Huebner, wrote him: The 99th Infantry Division arrived in this theater without previous combat experience early in November 1944. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Siegfried Line. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. Was the 5th infantry at the battle of the bulge? Honor Roll - 99th Infantry Division "They shall not grow old, As we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. Put under 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. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. The blue and white are taken from the coat of arms for William Pitt for whom Pittsburgh was named. The Germans threw wave after wave of infantry, and a unit of panzers, at the town. [5] The 99th boarded ships bound for England on 10 October 1944 and briefly stayed at Camp Marabout, Dorchester, England. While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. At the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington, DC, from December 24, 1941 to January 14, 1942, the Western Allies agreed to a Germany First policy to govern global strategy, but the question where to engage Germany, and when, remained unsettled. 99th Infantry Division used the relatively quiet period to prepare an extensive defensive system, including redundant lines of communication, precise positioning of weapons to provide interlocking grazing fire, and aggressive patrols that kept the Germans off guard. During the battle to come, if the Germans succeeded in taking Hfen, their ranks would be swelled rapidly, and the 99th and 2nd Infantry Divisions would be outflanked and could be attacked from the rear. The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. There Major Butler collapsed due to exhaustion on 30 April, and Lt. Col. J. The 3rd Battalion of the 395th Infantry Regiment (3/395), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, occupied the town of Hfen on the German border. Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen. 99th Infantry Division (United States) - Wikipedia On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. [16], On 23 Dec. 1996, the 99th RSC mobilized the first of six units for deployment to Operation Joint Endeavor in support of peacekeeping missions in Bosnia. Richard V. Horrell WW 2 Connections, Aug 6, 2010 #6 Buten42 Member Joined: Jun 27, 2009 Messages: 1,287 Likes Received: 210 Location: Washington State 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 It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." The unit's distinctive shoulder patch consisted of a five-sided shield of black on which is superimposed a horizontal band of white and blue squares. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. The 99th Infantry Division received recruits from the ASTP program (Army Specialized Training Program, to make up for the personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. Outnumbered five to one, they inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. . The 3rd Battalion of the 395th Infantry Regiment (3/395), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, occupied the town of Hfen on the German border. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. History | AMEDD Center of History & Heritage [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. The 99th RSC was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award on 9 May 2016 by the US Army Human Resources Command for its role in the relief support after Hurricane Sandy, from 29 October 2012 thru 31 March 2013. The 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing. 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. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. 99th Infantry Division Historical Society 99th Infantry Division Battle Babies The 99th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Battle Babies" and compromised of the 393rd, 394th, 395th Infantry Regiments and supporting units, spent approximately 151 days in combat during World War Two. But the infantry often bore worse casualties than the tanks did and had to be replaced and reinforced more quickly. On May 34, 1945, as the 99th moved deeper into Bavaria, it liberated one of a number of Dachau subcamps near the town of Mhldorf. The platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. Every member of the platoon was decorated, which included four Distinguished Service Crosses, five Silver Stars and ten Bronze Stars with "V" devices signifying awards for valor in combat.[10]. 394th Infantry Regiment (United States) - Wikipedia A U.S. Army World War II division was configured as a Triangular division, with three regimental maneuver elements. The 99th crossed the Ludwig Canal against stiff resistance and established a bridgehead over the Altmuhl River, 25 April. The 395th Regiment became an active unit as part of the 99th Infantry Division on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Missouri, along with its brother regiments, the 393rd and 394th. When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. 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. Despite mauling the Germans on their first attempt to take Hfen, 3/395s situation was grim. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. Told it was the 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, he said, "It must have been one of your best formations." The regiment arrived at Camp Van Dorn in early December. For four successive days the battalion held this sector against combined German tank and infantry attacks, launched with fanatical determination and supported by heavy artillery. Category: 395th Infantry Regiment Lt. Col. Henry B. Koon Sr. Special Troops 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. The 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River. 99th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia, Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953), Distinguished Service Cross (United States), "Battle of the Bulge: U.S. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at Elsenborn Crest. 2nd Infantry Division soldiers dig in on a road bank and prepare defensive positions on the end of the Elsenborn Ridge on December 20, 1944. The three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. Several photos from the private collection of, THE EARLY YEARS Joseph Richard Evans (Dick) was born on October 17, 1920 to Charles E. Evansand Wenonah (nee Muirhead/Miller)in, Source: family of Raymond J. Willaredt. 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 last stand of 3/395: how one US Army battalion helped win the More often than not, the noises thought to have been heard arent anything at all, and the forest resumes its eerie silence. The other two regiments of the 99th Division had been beaten to a pulp by the initial German assault, and for the most part had been rendered ineffective, thus leaving the 395th dangerously exposed to a flank assault. The division insignia is a three lined checkerboard design of blue and white
A written commendation was received from Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, V Corps Commander: I wish to express to you and the members of your command my appreciation and commendation for the fine job you did in preventing the enemy from carrying out his plans to break through the V Corps sector and push on to the Meuse River. 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. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. The black background
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. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. While the 99th was fully involved in this large mobilization, the headquarters moved to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The defense of Rocherath that had been held most of the day by infantry was decided in less than thirty minutes by 5 German tanks. General Eisenhower and his staff chose the Ardennes region, held by the First Army, as an area that could be held by as few troops as possible. A second road ran parallel to the division center and right wing, leaving the Hfen road at the small hamlet of Wahlerscheid, and continued south through two very small villages, the twin towns of Rocherath and Krinkelt. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. The stiff American defense prevented the Germans from reaching the vast array of supplies near the Belgian cities of Lige and Spa and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River.