395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division 395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division

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. Images of picturesque Ardennes landscapes before Christmas, conifers with branches drooping from heavy snowfall and beleaguered American forces doggedly defending against a last gasp attack by a defeated enemy all dot the mind when thinking of the Bulge. [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. The 3rd Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions around Hfen from 16 to 19 December. The situation became so dire that Butler deliberately called in artillery on his units own position to prevent them from being overrunone of six times this would occur at Hfen. . Peipers right flank had to be secured and the Americans in that region had to be destroyed. [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. The remainder of the battalion reached the Rhine River on that same day and crossed the Remagen Bridge which four days after being captured was still being shelled by German artillery. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. The Germans were operating under a tight timetable, however, and the assaults center of gravitythe 6th Panzer Armyhad only one day to breach the 99th IDs line. They killed Germans coming at them from the front, flanks and rear. 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. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. The German assault caught the 99ers off guard initially, due to the heavy artillery bombardment, but the infantrymen and their supporting mortar fire were able to repel the initial assault at a murderously close range due to the proximity of the opposing tree line from where the enemy advanced. [16], In 2005, the Army Reserve began its latest transformation under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) directive and lessons learned from eight years of deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Captain Ned Nelson, veteran of 3/395 and the battle at Hfen. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. After the battalion was inactivated on 29 September 1945, its colors remained folded for more than fifty years. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. 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. 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. 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. On 28 April the 14th Armored Division, commanded by MG Albert C. Smith, crossed the Danube River at Ingolstadt, and passed through the 86th Infantry Division, which had established a bridgehead on the previous day, with the mission of securing crossings of the Isar River at Moosburg and Landshut. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. Gen. von Manteuffel, commander of the 5th Panzer Army, stated in the address to his troops prior to the attack that "our ground mission must be continuous; otherwise we will not achieve our goal". The division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. 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. 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. 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. This required the corps commander to draw on an infantry battalion from another division, and because of the reputation the 395th had earned at Hfen, it was transferred often to various divisions, including the 9th Infantry Division, the 3rd Armored Division, and the 7th Armored Division. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! 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. It was demobilized on 30 November 1918, but was later reconstituted on 21 June 1921 as a member of the Organized Reserves just like the 99th Infantry Division. 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. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. Subscribe to 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division Footer menu. info@nationalww2museum.org Category: 395th Infantry Regiment Lt. Col. Henry B. Koon Sr. Special Troops Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen. They then crossed the Wied River, where they joined up with the 7th Infantry Division. It was redesignated for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide command and control and full-service support for assigned units and facility management. 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. During the first morning of the Battle of the Bulge, they defended a key road junction in the vicinity of the Losheim Gap. 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. 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. When the Germans finally broke through 3/395s lines and established a foothold in the town, the Americans recaptured the buildings by firing anti-tank guns through the walls. [5] After more than ten days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 The concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. Sgt Harold Rutz, 395th Infantry Regiment, M Company. This assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. [1] After defensive patrolling, the 99th probed the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on 13 December. Even the most hardened veteran occasionally thinks he hears twigs snap, boots crush snow or other odd noises that can cause nerves to fray. Eisenhower wrote, "the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."[3][4]. The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 395th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry . [19] The regiment's successful defense prevented the Germans, who had counted on surprise, numbers, and minimum hard fighting as their keys to success, from accessing the best routes into the Belgium interior, and seriously delayed their scheduled advance by more than 48 hours, allowing the Americans to move large numbers of units and bring up reserves. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. 449, U.S. ARMY 15 January 1945 SUBJECT: History of Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry Regiment, 1 December to 31 December 1944. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. Notable. The battalion also had its own Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, as well as medics and support personnel. When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. The unit was inactivated after World War II, then became a reserve unit, and was redesignated as the 395th Regiment in 1999. Hfen remained in American handsfor now. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. The combination of no ammunition and heavy German armor caused the American lines to fold, like a dam bursting. It was activated on 1 December 1939. . It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." 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. As the night grew darker, optimistic American officers in the 2nd Division relayed a message to headquarters, Action quieting; believe we can hold. This would prove to be a false hope. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. [1] Through their stories, we gain a glimpse into the challenges they faced, the horrors they endured, and the triumphs they achieved. . He began his career conducting oral histories and research for HBOs miniseries The Pacific and holds the distinction of being the first historian hired by the Museums Research Department. A group of photos from his wartime, unfortenately we have not been able to. [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. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 16 June 1931. Inactivated: 15 October 1945, Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 99th Infantry Division Artillery, 99th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized), Headquarters, Special Troops, 99th Infantry Division, Headquarters Company, 99th Infantry Division, 99th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment, 20 December 1944: Attached, with the entire First Army, to the, 7 January 1945: Relieved from attachment to the 2nd Infantry Division and assigned to V Corps, First Army (attached to the British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group, 18 January 1945: V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group, This page was last edited on 2 January 2023, at 13:21. The 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing. 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. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. . [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. The 393rd, 394th & 395th were the Infantry Regiments of the 99th Infantry Division. While an RSC is allowed to wear the insignia and use the same number as a previous infantry division, it is not entitled to its lineage and honors. The inexperienced troops of the division were lodged on the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Offensive on 16 December. Several photos from the private collection of the family of Dean F. THE EARLY YEARS Joseph Richard Evans (Dick) was born on October 17, 1920 to Charles E. Evansand Wenonah (nee Muirhead/Miller)in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was not just the lives of 3/395 at stake; a German breakthrough here would have enabled the Sixth Panzer Army to outflank the 2nd ID and 99th ID and achieve a direct route to the Meuse River. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge", "Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast to Become Heroes of Hofen", "The Battle for Lanzerath HillThe True Story16December1944", "A hero remembers the Battle of the Bulge", "The Heroic Stand of an Intelligence Platoon", "General Orders No. Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. A U.S. Army World War II division was configured as a Triangular division, with three regimental maneuver elements. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the unit moved southward into Bavaria, where it was located at the end of the war. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. But the infantry often bore worse casualties than the tanks did and had to be replaced and reinforced more quickly. Although 3/395 had only 600 men to defend a large area, they had been told that the German army, or Wehrmacht, was no longer capable of major offensive operations and that their winter in the Ardennes would be a quiet one. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at Elsenborn Crest. On 17 October 1999, the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment was reactivated as an Armor Training Support (TS) Battalion. Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry A. P. O. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. The 99th RSC continued to support operations in the Balkan Republics while providing refuge to those fleeing Kosovo as they sought temporary recovery in the United States. 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 In January 2003, the 99th RSC started mobilizing units for projected operations in Iraq. A few miles to the east lay the Siegfried Line, the enemys final defensive line guarding the German heartland. This was the most southern area of the Battle of the Bulge. The battalion was badly outnumbered and nearly surrounded. EN. These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II.It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. commanders. His World War II story. The regiment was organized with three battalions, each containing three rifle companies and a weapons company armed with .30 caliber and .50 caliber machine guns. The 395th Regiment's success earned it many difficult assignments. The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. 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. Asked why he thought so, he said, "Two reasons: one cold-bloodedness; two efficiency. The Germans would never take Hfen, nor most of their other ambitious objectives in the Ardennes, due in large part to the soldiers of 3/395 and the 99th ID as a whole. The 10 geographically-based RRCs, including the 99th, were inactivated and replaced with four regional base operations commands. [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. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot; German losses were much higher. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. It was redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. The division headquarters was organized in November 1921. Table of Contents. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Sgt. "[7]:24, Two Distinguished Service Crosses and several Silver Stars were awarded to members of the battalion for valorous actions against the enemy during this battle. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. The unit crossed the Altmuhl River on 25 April, the Danube River on 27 April, and the Isar River on 30 April. So I stayed in the village overnight. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. 26 (Unit Commendations)", The 99th Infantry Division During World War II, "Battle Babies: The Story of the 99th Infantry Division", Office of the Chief of Military History Department of the Army, http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cbtchron.html, Battle Babies: The Story of the 99th Infantry Division, Checkerboard, official publication of 99th Infantry Division Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=99th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)&oldid=1131083137, Infantry divisions of the United States Army, United States Army divisions during World War II, Military units and formations established in 1918, Infantry divisions of the United States Army in World War II, Military units and formations disestablished in 1945, United States Army divisions of World War I, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. [9], Because the unit's radios had been destroyed, the soldiers captured, and the rapid subsequent German advance, U.S. Army commanders did not know about the unit's success at slowing the German advance, or even if they had been captured or killed. The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. Akins, Thomas W. MAJ, "Operations of Company "E", 442nd Infantry Regiment, Attached to 92nd Division, at San Terenzo, Italy, 20-23 April 1945" (Po Valley Campaign) Albright, Barry E. CPT, "Operations of the 2nd Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, in the Invasion of Normandy, 5-13 June 1944" (Normandy Campaign. 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. After the war, the Division founded its own Association and for many years the veterans and their families got united at the many conventions that were held. represents the iron district of Pennsylvania. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), History, January 1945. I never dreamed that we would have a defensive position of this size without any backup or help from our division or regiment. 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 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. German assaults in the heavily wooded area in front of the villages pushed the 99ers out of the woods and caused them to flee, many in disarray, back through the twin villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath behind them. Score: 4.8/5 (10 votes) . In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Robert's regiment was on the front lines in the Losheim Gap. 504-528-1944, Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, Black Volunteer Infantry Platoons in World War II, Kasserine Pass: German Offensive, American Victory, The Top 5 Veteran Research Questions: Where to Go and What to Know, Gallantry against Great Odds: LTC George Marshall and Operation RESERVIST, Prelude to Liberation: Genesis of American Amphibious Assault in the ETO, Black Thursday October 14, 1943: The Second Schweinfurt Bombing Raid, An Exercise in Depravity: The Establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, Unsung Witnesses of the Battle of Stalingrad. [6], The regiment's (3rd Battalion) earned the sobriquet Butler's Battlin' Blue Bastards derived from the name of its single commander, its special fighting abilities, the battalion's color designation, and because the regiment was often lent out and belonged to no one. This northern shoulder of the American line where the 99th ID was entrenched would be the hinge on which the German assault would pivot northwest toward Antwerp. The 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River. [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. 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. 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 dusk on 16 December, after virtually no sleep during the preceding night and a full day of almost non-stop combat, with only a few rounds of ammunition remaining, about 50 German paratroopers finally flanked and captured the remaining 19 soldiers. 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 regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. On 1 November 1944, the 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, was put under operational control of V Corps, First Army. Formerly nicknamed the "Checkerboard Division," which referred to its shoulder patch, in late 1944 having not yet seen battle, the division was nicknamed the "Battle Babies. Forests, by nature, are eerily quiet at night. 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.