Those Germans who made it into the town itself were quickly mopped up. The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. The 99th Infantry's report stated that 1,500 Jews were "living under terrible conditions and approximately 600 required hospitalization due to starvation and disease.". Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. . It attacked toward the Monschau Forest, on 1 February, mopping up and patrolling until it was relieved for training and rehabilitation, on 13 February. 395th Infantry Regiment (United States) - Wikiwand The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. 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. At the end of the day, the veterans of the 26th Infantry still held their groundand looked out on a battlefield strewn with destroyed German armor and scores of enemy dead. [14] The first town they were tasked with capturing was Bergheim, "the door to the Rhine." This did not turn out to be true. 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 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. The 99th battled on to the bridge at Remagen that was taken on March 7th. Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. 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. Because of Major Butler's success in leading his battalion in successful night attacks during the war, which the U.S. Army handbook did not recommend, the French army later asked him to write a paper on battalion-size night attacks.[6]. 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 division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. The 197th Infantry Division (German: 197. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. Although cut up and surrounded in part, the 99th was one of the only divisions that did not yield to the German attack, and held their positions until reinforcements arrived. The 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, led by Lt. Col. McClernand Butler and 2nd Lt. Col. Roy S. Groffy, occupied the area around Hfen, Germany, on the border with Belgium during early December. Against light resistance, it crossed the Dill River and pushed on to Krofdorf-Gleiberg, taking Giessen 29 March. Butler's great-grandfather, General John Alexander McClernand, commanded infantry during the Civil War. WWII and Park Staff Connections - Eisenhower National Historic - NPS On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. There are nine white squares and nine blue ones, signifying the number 99. German losses were much higher. [5] The 99th boarded ships bound for England on 10 October 1944 and briefly stayed at Camp Marabout, Dorchester, England. 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. 3d Battalion (TS)(AR) 395th Regiment - GlobalSecurity.org Motto VIGILANS ET CELER (Vigilant and Swift). It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. A U.S. Army World War II division was configured as a Triangular division, with three regimental maneuver elements. [1] After defensive patrolling, the 99th probed the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on 13 December. Who were the soldiers of the 99th infrantry div? | WWII Forums 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 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen. [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. Seth Paridon was a staff historian at The National WWII Museumfrom2005 to 2020. 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. 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. On 17 October 1999, the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment was reactivated as an Armor Training Support (TS) Battalion. 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. Your organization gave ample proof of the fact that it is a good hard fighting division and one in which you and each and every member of your command can be justly proud[16], Major Butler was decorated with the Silver Star, the French Croix de Guerre, the Belgian Fourragre, the Belgian Order de la Couronne, and the Bronze Star Medal with the Oak leaf cluster. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. Category: 395thIR On this page, we honor the memory of the men of the 99th Infantry Division and pay tribute to their extraordinary contributions to the war effort. [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. 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). The lines were then moved back to form defensive positions east of Elsenborn Ridge on the 19th. Score: 4.8/5 (10 votes) . On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. The artillery barrage lasted for an hour, and shortly afterwards German infantry from the 277th Volksgrenadier Division burst through the forest and headed at the positions of the 99th Infantry Divisions 395th Infantry Regiment near the village of Rocherath. Subscribe to 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division Footer menu. Pennsylvania State College, and the Pennsylvania Military College. [7]:3, Col. Butler went ahead to look over the area they were assigned to defend. 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. 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. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. 99th Infantry Division (United States) | Military Wiki | Fandom In the pre-dawn hours of December 16th, Hitlers final major offensive began. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. 395th Infantry Regiment 99th Infantry Division Despite mauling the Germans on their first attempt to take Hfen, 3/395s situation was grim. The 3rd Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions around Hfen from 16 to 19 December. . His World War II story. 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. 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. The men carried out missions without orders when their positions were penetrated or infiltrated. The regiment arrived at Camp Van Dorn in early December. [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. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 provides support December 1944. When the Ardennes Offensive ended, Gen. Lauer received verbal commendations from Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, 21st Army Group Commander, and Gen. Courtney Hodges, First Army Commander, on the vigorous and effective defense contributed by the 99th. On 3 November 1944, the 395th Regiment disembarked at Le Havre, France. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. [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. 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.

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