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

It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Sgt. The rapid advance did not deter the men of the 38th Infantry Regiment, however, who put up a fierce defense. The 395th Infantry Regimentwas an infantryregimentof the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Divisionduring World War II. But the infantry often bore worse casualties than the tanks did and had to be replaced and reinforced more quickly. 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. [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 defense of Rocherath that had been held most of the day by infantry was decided in less than thirty minutes by 5 German tanks. 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. A U.S. Army World War II division was configured as a Triangular division, with three regimental maneuver elements. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. 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. EN RU CN DE ES. 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 RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The inexperienced troops of the division were lodged on the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Offensive on 16 December. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. 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. The division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. Here it held firmly against violent enemy attacks. Pennsylvania State College, and the Pennsylvania Military College. The 395th Regiment's success earned it many difficult assignments. 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. "[13] The division continued to attack without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen until VE-day. These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. The unit reported on May 4 that it had "liberated 3 labor camps and 1 concentration camp." 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. Byers, Carl F. MAJ, "Operations of Company G, 395th Infantry, 99th Division, in the Reduction of a Fortified Position of the Siegfried Line, West of Schleiden, Germany, 14-15 December 1944". 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. 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 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. [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. Plans called for the division to include the 393rd, 394th, 395th, and 396th Infantry Regiments. 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. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. [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. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. Many members of the 99th Infantry Division had participated in the Army Specialized Training Program or ASTP, derisively nicknamed "all safe 'till peace;" in February 1944, the program was drawn down, and the majority of its members were assigned to later-deploying divisions such as the 99th. Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry A. P. O. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. Despite fatigue, constant enemy shelling, and ever-increasing enemy pressure, [they] guarded a 6,000-yard front and destroyed 75 percent of three German infantry regiments.. [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. Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. Forests, by nature, are eerily quiet at night. By 17 December, German military planners knew that their objectives along the Elsenborn Ridge would not be taken as soon as planned. 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. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. [13], To the north of Hfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. 99th Infantry Division soldiers putting up a winterized squad hut. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. Delbert followed a communication training and became enlisted radio repairman. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. The 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment had acquitted itself with valor, having held its lines despite the harsh winter weather, the enemy's numerical superiority and greater numbers of armored units. 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. [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. [2]:33 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. 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. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. 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.". Hfen-Monschau was vital to the operations success because the nearby road junctions would enable rapid movement of tanks. 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. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. 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 concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Robert's regiment was on the front lines in the Losheim Gap. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, the unit suffered many casualties, yet tenaciously held its defensive position. [citation needed]. The 99th Division was constituted at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, on 23 July 1918. The enemy was moving through large gaps in the lines, and Americans were either being captured or killed in enormous numbers or retreating in disarray and panic. Sgt Harold Rutz, 395th Infantry Regiment, M Company. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. 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 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. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. 394th Infantry Regiment Co. A, first platoon This is my Dad's story. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. Allied forces were fighting their way across France, and fresh units were badly needed in autumn 1944 to continue to press the offensive. [2], Because of the success of the 395th and the 99th, the Americans maintained effective freedom to maneuver across the north flank of the German's line of advance and continually limited the success of the German offensive. 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. . Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. Accurate estimates of German wounded were not possible, but about 20 percent of the 326th Volksgrenadier Division were lost. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. 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. 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. 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. The division first saw action on 9 November, taking over the defense of the sector north of the Roer River between Schmidt and Monschau, a distance of nearly 19 miles. Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. 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. In January 2003, the 99th RSC started mobilizing units for projected operations in Iraq. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 This assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. 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. In the pre-dawn hours of December 16th, Hitlers final major offensive began. This was the most southern area of the Battle of the Bulge. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. Butler's uncle, General Edward J. McClernand, fought in the Indian Wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor. 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 Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. 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. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment The thick forest was tangled with rocky gorges, little streams, and sharp hills. 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. . In a long fight with about 500 men of the 1st Battalion, 9th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment, 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division, the 18 men of the platoon along with four artillery observers inflicted between 60[6][7] to more than 100[8] casualties on the Germans. From 21 December 1944 to 30 January 1945, the unit was engaged in aggressive patrolling and reequipping. 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. 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. Ordered into active military service: 15 November 1942 Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Army Reserve: From a wreath Argent and Azure, the Lexington Minute Man Proper. German Panzer tanks en route to the Ardennes. 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. Over 83,000 Americans were casualties during the battle which lasted from December 16, 1944 until January 25, 1945, and as a result, the battle occupies a prominent place in our collective minds. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. The 12th SS pushed through the woods and probed the villages at around 1100 hours. They then crossed the Wied River, where they joined up with the 7th Infantry Division. Notable. A captured Lt. Bemener, formerly commander of the 5th Company of the 753rd Volksgrenadier Regiment, asked his American interrogator about the unit that had defended Hfen. 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. 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 redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. [16], After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, 22 99th units deployed to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and other locations. 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. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. 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. On 17 September 2008, the 99th Regional Support Command was activated at Fort Dix, N.J. The regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. They continued to fight even as the American press trumpeted the rapid crumbling of German resistance. Richard Mills were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Butler's great-grandfather, General John Alexander McClernand, commanded infantry during the Civil War. In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. [8], That is three to four times wider than recommended by Army textbooks. 395th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry . 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. and the situation was desperate. 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. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. 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 buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. 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. Peipers right flank had to be secured and the Americans in that region had to be destroyed. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. The largest of the ghettos where Eastern European Jews were first confined and, later, deported to extermination camps by the Nazis was set up in Warsaw, Poland. The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. 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. It then intersected a main eastwest road at Bullingen. The Germans threw wave after wave of infantry, and a unit of panzers, at the town. American troops from the 290th Regiment near Amonines, Belgium. The camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. info@nationalww2museum.org [6][17]:vii. Hfen remained in American handsfor now. Some toppled directly into US foxholes as American troops engaged them at point-blank range. 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.