The 3rd Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions around Hfen from 16 to 19 December. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. 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. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. That was not the case for the Americans near Elsenborn. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. . [8], That is three to four times wider than recommended by Army textbooks. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. I never dreamed that we would have a defensive position of this size without any backup or help from our division or regiment. Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Army Reserve: From a wreath Argent and Azure, the Lexington Minute Man Proper. Sgt. Every member of the platoon was decorated, which included four Distinguished Service Crosses, five Silver Stars and ten Bronze Stars with "V" devices signifying awards for valor in combat.[10]. 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 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. On 28 April the 14th Armored Division, commanded by MG Albert C. Smith, crossed the Danube River at Ingolstadt, and passed through the 86th Infantry Division, which had established a bridgehead on the previous day, with the mission of securing crossings of the Isar River at Moosburg and Landshut. of William Pitt for whom the city of Pittsburgh was named. It attacked toward the Monschau Forest, on 1 February, mopping up and patrolling until it was relieved for training and rehabilitation, on 13 February. On 17 September 2008, the 99th Regional Support Command was activated at Fort Dix, N.J. info@nationalww2museum.org 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. The division headquarters was organized in November 1921. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. 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. The 395th was held in the United States until more room was available for the unit to enter Europe. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "[13] The division continued to attack without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen until VE-day. Butler's great-grandfather, General John Alexander McClernand, commanded infantry during the Civil War. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. 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. 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. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. . 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. Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry A. P. O. 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. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. "[9]:1738 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. After the Gulf War, the 99th ARCOM became the 99th Regional Support Command (RSC). In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. 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. Due to the dwindling attendance over the years, the decision was made to hold the final convention in 2011. 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. Crest The crest is that of the U.S. Army Reserve. Battle of the Bulge The division insignia is a three lined checkerboard design of blue and white EN RU CN DE ES. The Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Division was the most decorated platoon for a single action of World War II. Family lore, The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 [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. 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. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. . 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 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing. At dusk on 16 December, after virtually no sleep during the preceding night and a full day of almost non-stop combat, with only a few rounds of ammunition remaining, about 50 German paratroopers finally flanked and captured the remaining 19 soldiers. Sgt Harold Rutz, 395th Infantry Regiment, M Company. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. In January 2003, the 99th RSC started mobilizing units for projected operations in Iraq. While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. After the battalion was inactivated on 29 September 1945, its colors remained folded for more than fifty years. Butler said, "The biggest difficulty in carrying out a night attack is control, and having men who can coordinate well as a team in the dark. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. 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 sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. There are nine white squares and nine blue ones, signifying the number 99. On 28 January 1945, after six weeks of the most intense and relentless combat of the war in the biggest battle of World War II, involving approximately 1.3million men, the Allies declared the Ardennes Offensive, or Battle of the Bulge, officially over. The Germans, moving across illuminated open ground without cover, fell by the hundreds against the murderous American fire. 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 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. [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. [14] If the Germans penetrated Hfen, the U.S. soldiers would have to withdraw several miles to the next defensible position.[10]. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. . The regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. Category: 395th Infantry Regiment Lt. Col. Henry B. Koon Sr. Special Troops The blue and white are taken from the coat of arms for William Pitt for whom Pittsburgh was named. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. Lineage and Honors Information as of 12 January 2018, CHARLES R. BOWERY, JR.Chief of Military History, Constituted 23 July 1918 in the National Army as the 395th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division, Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as the 395th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division (later redesignated as the 99th Infantry Division), Organized in November 1921 with Headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, Ordered into active military service 15 November 1942 and reorganized at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, Inactivated 29 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, (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 75th Division (Training Support); 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions concurrently allotted to the Regular Army, Regiment reorganized 2 November 2008 as a parent regiment under the United States Army Regimental System; concurrently 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions relieved from assignment to the 75th Division (Training Support), Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Siegfried Line, Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at Elsenborn Crest, Army Superior Unit Award, Streamer embroidered 2008-2011, Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes, Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered ARDENNES. [18], As the battle ensued, small units, company and less in size, often acting independently, conducted fierce local counterattacks and mounted stubborn defenses, frustrating the German's plans for a rapid advance, and badly upsetting their timetable. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. 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. Alexander John Mackenzie was born in New York City, 22 February 1895, the son of Alexina and Kenneth M. squares centered on a black shield. The 197th Infantry Division (German: 197. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. 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. The war was over six days later.[6]. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. 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. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. The three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. [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. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. 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. The enemy artillery was so intense that communications were generally out. 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. The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. 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. [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. 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 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. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. [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. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. Fourteen of the 18 platoon members were wounded, while only one soldier, a member of the artillery observation team, was killed. 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.