When told it was 3/395, the prisoner replied, It must be one of your best formations.. The German spearhead in the north, led by the 1st SS Panzer Division and Jochen Peipers Kampfgruppe plowed through jammed roads to the south of Elsenborn and the twin villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath hell bent on their ultimate destination of the Meuse River. Either short or completely devoid of ammunition, the defenders of Rocherath began to filter to the rear in the growing darkness that swallowed the battlefield. 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. The German armor, with SS Panzergrenadiers riding on their decks, clattered down the icy roads of Rocherath and headed for Krinkelt, only a stones throw away. The battalion also had its own Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, as well as medics and support personnel. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. info@nationalww2museum.org The 393rd, 394th, and 395th Regiments were put on line, each unit protecting approximately 11 kilometres (6.8mi) of front, roughly equivalent to one front-line infantry man every 91 metres (299ft). . Sgt. [citation needed]. The silver and bronze star medal of Col. Alexander John Mackenzie, Regimental Commandor of the 395th Infantry Regiment. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. A. Gallagher assumed command for the last few days of the war. Through their stories, we gain a glimpse into the challenges they faced, the horrors they endured, and the triumphs they achieved. On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. The division was also known as the "Battle Babies" during 1945, a sobriquet coined by a United Press correspondent when the division was first mentioned in press reports during the Battle of the Bulge. 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. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Siegfried Line. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. [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. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. [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. 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. The division insignia is a three lined checkerboard design of blue and white From 21 December 1944 to 30 January 1945, the unit was engaged in aggressive patrolling and reequipping. That was not the case for the Americans near Elsenborn. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker, (H.H.Kitson, sculptor), stands on the common in Lexington, Massachusetts. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. 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. Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. [13], To the north of Hfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. 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 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. 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. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. [12] The 99th Infantry's after action report stated they found 1,500 Jews "living under terrible conditions and approximately 600 required hospitalization due to starvation and disease. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. I never dreamed that we would have a defensive position of this size without any backup or help from our division or regiment. . The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. . [4], The 395th, entrenched along the "International Road" and Elsenborn Ridge, forced the Germans to commit and sacrifice many of their infantrymen and expose their armored formations to withering artillery fire. 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. 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. Encountering paltry resistance at first, the Germans launched an attack on the towns and initially met with success, pushing into Rocherath with a clear path beyond. 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. This quick infusion of personnel into the 99th Division occurred in March 1944, when more than 3000 joined the division. 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. The 395th Infantry Regiment was disposed defensively from north to south with the 3rd Battalion in the Hfen area in Germany, the 2nd Battalion was in the center at Kalterherberg, and the 1st Battalion remained on the regiment's right, southeast of Kalterherberg. At the end of the day, the veterans of the 26th Infantry still held their ground, and looked out on a battlefield strewn with destroyed German armor and scores . For their actions the battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation which read, in part: outnumbered 5 to 1, [3/395] inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to 1. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. The 1st Battalion was positioned on the right. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. The 395th were moved by train and truck, and finally by foot, to front line positions near the German town of Hfen a few kilometers west of the Siegfried Line and near the Belgium-German border. Some toppled directly into US foxholes as American troops engaged them at point-blank range. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), History, January 1945. provides support December 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. 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. The platoon members were not recognized for their courageous deeds for thirty-seven years. [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. 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. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. 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. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. Score: 4.8/5 (10 votes) . The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. After the Gulf War, the 99th ARCOM became the 99th Regional Support Command (RSC). In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Robert's regiment was on the front lines in the Losheim Gap. 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. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Richard Mills were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. 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. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. The platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. 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. The program was called the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), and it sought to give extra training and special skills to a select group of intelligent and able young men, most of whom were taken from America's colleges. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the unit moved southward into Bavaria, where it was located at the end of the war. and the situation was desperate. 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. The last drive began on 23 April. While the 99th ARCOM was allowed to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 99th Infantry Division and use its number, Department of the Army policy does not allow for the lineage of MTOE units, such as infantry divisions, to be perpetuated by TDA units, such as ARCOMs. The 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River. Outnumbered five to one, they inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. It was redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. 394th Infantry Regiment Co. A, first platoon This is my Dad's story. 3/395, soon to be nicknamed Butlers Blue Battlin Bastards, was one of the only US Army units that did not retreat in the opening days of the battle. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. 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". Ordered into active military service: 15 November 1942 Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. [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. The three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. The 99th was selected as one of these new regional support commands. 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. On 17 October 1999, the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment was reactivated as an Armor Training Support (TS) Battalion. The program never fulfilled its promise, and the large number of "ASTPers" were rapidly integrated into various divisions to make up for personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. [15], The 395th hit the attacking Germans with such terrific small arms and machine gun fire that the Germand couldn't even remove their dead and wounded in their rapid retreat. 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. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. In the northern portion of the American line, heavy artillery shells crashed around the positions of the un-tested 99th Infantry Division from Lanzerath in the south to the forested areas near Monschau in the north. Butler's father had been a major in the Illinois National Guard and urged his son to become a guardsman when he was 16 years old. This page was last edited on 11 March 2022, at 19:44. 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.
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