[1] 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. 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. 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 division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. Notable. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ 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. The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. "[9]:1738 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. EN. Good luck with your quest. 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 article contains content in the public domain from U.S. military sources. Earl Denzil Reese April 13th, 1945 - A combat engineer snapped this series of photos while riding on back of a truck during the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. Hfen-Monschau was vital to the operations success because the nearby road junctions would enable rapid movement of tanks. [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. T. E. Piersall and Pfc. The regiment helped to capture the Ruhr Pocket, where thousands of German troops and hundreds of German vehicles were captured. 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. The Battles for Elsenborn Ridge Part II | The National WWII Museum The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. The 99th battled on to the bridge at Remagen that was taken on March 7th. 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. The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. George Co 2/395-IR (99-ID) Schleiden - Germany December 1944 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. 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. The sudden infusion of new men caused some friction with the old hands in the short term, but the long-term effects were generally positive. Alexander John Mackenzie was born in New York City, 22 February 1895, the son of Alexina and Kenneth M. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. 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. American troops from the 290th Regiment near Amonines, Belgium. 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 Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ The concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. [14] The first town they were tasked with capturing was Bergheim, "the door to the Rhine." These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. Who were the soldiers of the 99th infrantry div? | WWII Forums 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. 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division | American Battle The regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. the horizontal band of white and blue squares was adopted from the coat of arms Their success in defending Hfen resulted in the 395th Infantry being repeatedly assigned to other divisions for difficult assignments during the remainder of the war, earning them the sobriquet, Butler's Blue Battlin' Bastards. Harold was . [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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Germans, moving across illuminated open ground without cover, fell by the hundreds against the murderous American fire. Accurate estimates of German wounded were not possible, but about 20 percent of the 326th Volksgrenadier Division were lost. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. 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 12th SS pushed through the woods and probed the villages at around 1100 hours. 197th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) - Wikipedia 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. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. The 1st Battalion was positioned on the right. With its sister battalions, the 1st, 395th Engineer and 2nd, 395th Field Artillery, the 3rd Battalion (TS) (AR) role is to train National Guard armor and infantry battalions across a three-state region and improve their combat readiness. The insignia was devised upon the 99th's formation in 1942 when the division was headquartered in the city of Pittsburgh. commanders. provides support December 1944. The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. Plans called for the division to include the 393rd, 394th, 395th, and 396th Infantry Regiments. The 38th Cavalry Squadron (led by Lt. Col. Robert E. O'Brien) was deployed to the north along the railroad track between Mutzenich and Konzen station. "Blue" was the code word for the 3rd battalion under Army infantry's triangular organization. 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. 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. 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. 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. In the event of an emergency, the battalion headquarters and company administrative personnel, including clerks and motor-pool staff, were to join the platoon, creating a small reserve force of about 100 men. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. 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. Through their stories, we gain a glimpse into the challenges they faced, the horrors they endured, and the triumphs they achieved. Cemeteries & Memorials; Burial Search; About Us; Education; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. [16], After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, 22 99th units deployed to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and other locations. 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. [2] Historian John S.D. The lines were then moved back to form defensive positions east of Elsenborn Ridge on the 19th. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. The three regiments of the 99th IDthe 393rd, 394th, & 395th Infantry Regimentswere thinly spread across this frigid but quiet portion of the front. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." [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. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. Soldiers who were in direct support of the relief efforts were also awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal as a personal award. The Legacy of the 99th Infantry Division: Our Artifacts Collection The 99th Infantry Division Historical Society is dedicated to preserving, Discovering the Legacy of a WW2 Soldier: Tips and Tricks Are you interested in learning more about a WW2 veteran, They shall not grow old, As we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, Nor the years, Dean F. Gilbert was a membert of 3rd Platoon, L Company,394th Infantry Regiment. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. A group Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. [2]:33 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. Led by 20-year-old Lieutenant Lyle Bouck Jr., they delayed the advance of the 1st SS Panzer Division, the spearhead of the entire German 6th Panzer Army, for nearly 20 hours. Fourteen of the 18 platoon members were wounded, while only one soldier, a member of the artillery observation team, was killed. [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. 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. 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. 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. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. Delbert followed a communication training and became enlisted radio repairman. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. 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. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. [6][17]:vii. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. Table of Contents. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. . It attacked toward the Monschau Forest, on 1 February, mopping up and patrolling until it was relieved for training and rehabilitation, on 13 February. 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. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. 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. These would later prove instrumental in defending themselves from the attacking Germans and in protecting themselves when their own artillery fired on or just in front of their own positions, which happened at least six times over the next few weeks. Richard Mills were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The 14th Armored Division and the Liberation of Stalag VIIA As the American defenders began to assess casualties and ammunition supplies, the 12th SS hit them again. The unit was inactivated after World War II, then became a reserve unit, and was redesignated as the 395th Regiment in 1999. 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. [7]:3, Col. Butler went ahead to look over the area they were assigned to defend. Grouping from Col. Alexander John Mackenzie, Regimental Commandor of [1] After defensive patrolling, the 99th probed the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on 13 December. The battalion also had its own Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, as well as medics and support personnel. 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. Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. On 5 March 1941, as the United States began to mobilize for the possibility of war, McClernand Butler became a second lieutenant in the Regular Army. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. . They then crossed the Wied River, where they joined up with the 7th Infantry Division. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. 449, U.S. ARMY 15 January 1945 SUBJECT: History of Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry Regiment, 1 December to 31 December 1944. 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 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. [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. The 395th Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States 99th Infantry Division.It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. 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 three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. 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 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.

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