Even the most hardened veteran occasionally thinks he hears twigs snap, boots crush snow or other odd noises that can cause nerves to fray. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. It was redesignated for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. A few miles to the east lay the Siegfried Line, the enemys final defensive line guarding the German heartland. Battle of the Bulge Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. Army policy does not allow for the lineage and honors of a TO&E organization, such as an infantry division, to be perpetuated by a TDA organization, such as an RSC. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. provides support December 1944. the horizontal band of white and blue squares was adopted from the coat of arms
The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. So I stayed in the village overnight. The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. 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. 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). 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. [1] It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. 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. So fierce in fact that the German commander pulled his tanks back for fear of running into a superior American force, deciding to hold his positions until the following morning. EN. 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. 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. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. 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 3rd Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions around Hfen from 16 to 19 December. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 [14], The 99th as a whole, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of eighteen to one. T. E. Piersall and Pfc. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. Most of the publicity for the American victory falls on the shoulders of the 101st Airborne and the map grid that centers on the town of Bastogne. This assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. 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. 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. 2nd and 3rd Battalion cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. [7]:3, Col. Butler went ahead to look over the area they were assigned to defend. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 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. 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. This was the most southern area of the Battle of the Bulge. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. [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 regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. 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. Notable. The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker, (H.H.Kitson, sculptor), stands on the common in Lexington, Massachusetts. 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. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. Peipers right flank had to be secured and the Americans in that region had to be destroyed. The 395th Infantry Regimentwas an infantryregimentof the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Divisionduring World War II. Despite mauling the Germans on their first attempt to take Hfen, 3/395s situation was grim. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. . Sgt. [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. American troops from the 290th Regiment near Amonines, Belgium. 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. 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. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. Gallagher (1 May 1945 29 September 1945), Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve, Relieved 29 October 1998 from assignment to the 99th Infantry Division, Redesignated 17 October 1999 as the 395th Regiment and reorganized to consist of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions, elements of the. 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. The 395th Infantry had mostly held their lines, and now with the battle hardened 2nd Infantry Division on the way to back them up, the lines of defense near Elsenborn appeared to be significantly harder to pierce. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. The blue and white are taken from the coat of arms for William Pitt for whom Pittsburgh was named. [16], On 23 Dec. 1996, the 99th RSC mobilized the first of six units for deployment to Operation Joint Endeavor in support of peacekeeping missions in Bosnia. . The citation read: During the German offensive in the Ardennes, the Third Battalion in the 395th Infantry, was assigned the mission of holding the Monschau-Eupen-Liege Road. The 393rd, 394th & 395th were the Infantry Regiments of the 99th Infantry Division. Soldiers who were in direct support of the relief efforts were also awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal as a personal award. squares centered on a black shield. . 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. 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. 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. Any delay would jeopardize the plan to cross the Meuse River and advance on Antwerp before the skies cleared and the Allies regained their balance. The war was over six days later.[6]. During the first morning of the Battle of the Bulge, they defended a key road junction in the vicinity of the Losheim Gap. 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. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. 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 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". of William Pitt for whom the city of Pittsburgh was named. 394th Infantry Regiment Co. A, first platoon This is my Dad's story. 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. They inflicted disproportionate casualties on the Germans, and were one of the only units that did not give ground during the Battle of the Bulge. [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. Captain Ned Nelson, veteran of 3/395 and the battle at Hfen. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. The 99th held lines stretching from Monschau, Germany to Losheimergraben, Belgium, totaling 35 kilometres (22mi). 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. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. The division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk-Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. 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]. A. Gallagher assumed command for the last few days of the war. 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. The 394th Infantry Regiment was established on 23 July 1918 as the 394th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division as a member of the National Army. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. 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. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. [1] After defensive patrolling, the 99th probed the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on 13 December. It was redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. The insignia was devised upon the 99th's formation in 1942 when the division was headquartered in the city of Pittsburgh. [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 German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. The silver and bronze star medal of Col. Alexander John Mackenzie, Regimental Commandor of the 395th Infantry Regiment. 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. The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. 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. Accurate estimates of German wounded were not possible, but about 20 percent of the 326th Volksgrenadier Division were lost. 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.". The blue and white checkerboard in the division's insignia is taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, for whom Pittsburgh is named. The men carried out missions without orders when their positions were penetrated or infiltrated. 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. Excited to share my latest group in the 99th Infantry Division collection. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge", "Bob Galloway, the Battle of the Bulge, and the 99th Infantry Division", "Heidelberg staff retraces historical Battle of the Bulge route", United States Army Center of Military History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=395th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)&oldid=1076569987, 395th Infantry Regiment: Lt. Col. Griffin, 3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. McClernand Butler (1 November 1942 30 April 1945) Lt. Col. J.A. 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. The 99th RSC was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award on 9 May 2016 by the US Army Human Resources Command for its role in the relief support after Hurricane Sandy, from 29 October 2012 thru 31 March 2013. The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. 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. [16], After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, 22 99th units deployed to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and other locations. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. While the 99th was fully involved in this large mobilization, the headquarters moved to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. 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. Yet, despite their successful defense and reinforcement from the 2nd Division, the 395th was in a precarious position on the morning of the December 17. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. 3/395 greeted the Volksgrenadiers with a punishing hail of bullets, mortars, and artillery. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. On 1 February 1944, Major Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment. The 99th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992. The combination of no ammunition and heavy German armor caused the American lines to fold, like a dam bursting. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Many of the 99th Division's best soldiers were products of the ill-fated ASTP program. 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.. 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. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. In January 2003, the 99th RSC started mobilizing units for projected operations in Iraq. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. Not so in the pre-dawn hours of December 16 in the Ardennes Forest. On 17 September 2008, the 99th Regional Support Command was activated at Fort Dix, N.J. 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 then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. The 395th was held in the United States until more room was available for the unit to enter Europe. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. [13], To the north of Hfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. 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. 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 12th SS pushed through the woods and probed the villages at around 1100 hours. The enemy artillery was so intense that communications were generally out. 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. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. The 10 geographically-based RRCs, including the 99th, were inactivated and replaced with four regional base operations commands. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. What was left of the 99ers in and around Rocherath appeared to be doomed, and like the calvary in Western movies, salvation appeared in the forms of infantry from the 2nd Division and incredibly heavy artillery fire that dropped onto the Germans like rain. 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. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. The 99th crossed the Ludwig Canal against stiff resistance and established a bridgehead over the Altmuhl River, 25 April. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. 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.