In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. Captain Ned Nelson, veteran of 3/395 and the battle at Hfen. 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. Richard Mills were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. 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. There Major Butler collapsed due to exhaustion on 30 April, and Lt. Col. J. The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. On 17 October 1999, the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment was reactivated as an Armor Training Support (TS) Battalion. [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. Category: 395th Infantry Regiment Lt. Col. Henry B. Koon Sr. Special 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.". [5] After more than ten days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west. 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. 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 99th held lines stretching from Monschau, Germany to Losheimergraben, Belgium, totaling 35 kilometres (22mi). [16], Following the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, the 99th mobilized large numbers of Army Reserve Soldiers. 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 Medical Detachment (99th Infantry . The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. 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. 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 Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. [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. [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. [6][17]:vii. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. Through this eerie artificial moonlight, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division advanced on 3/395s position. 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. Some toppled directly into US foxholes as American troops engaged them at point-blank range. This article contains content in the public domain from U.S. military sources. [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. [7]:3, Col. Butler went ahead to look over the area they were assigned to defend. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. The regiment arrived at Camp Van Dorn in early December. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. Battle of the Bulge 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. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. 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. Put under 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. Peipers right flank had to be secured and the Americans in that region had to be destroyed. His World War II story. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. 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. The 395th Infantry Regiment was disposed defensively from north to south with the 3rd Battalion in the Hfen area in Germany, the 2nd Battalion was in the center at Kalterherberg, and the 1st Battalion remained on the regiment's right, southeast of Kalterherberg. 99th Infantry Division soldiers putting up a winterized squad hut. 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. 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. 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. The Medal of Honor was awarded T/Sgt Vernon McGarity, Company L, 393rd Infantry, 99th Infantry Division, for actions taken near Krinkelt, Belgium, on 16 December 1944 during the opening phases of the Ardennes Offensive. 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. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. 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. 2nd Infantry Division soldiers dig in on a road bank and prepare defensive positions on the end of the Elsenborn Ridge on December 20, 1944. 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. The camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. provides support December 1944. 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]. of William Pitt for whom the city of Pittsburgh was named. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 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 inexperienced troops of the division were lodged on the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Offensive on 16 December. With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Notable. American troops from the 290th Regiment near Amonines, Belgium. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. 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. 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. Butler's regiment crossed the Erft Canal near the Rhine and enlarged the bridgehead, taking that town with a night attack without losing a single man. 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. The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. From 21 December 1944 to 30 January 1945, the unit was engaged in aggressive patrolling and reequipping. The men carried out missions without orders when their positions were penetrated or infiltrated. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. 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. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. 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. The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. On at least six different occasions the battalion was forced to place artillery concentrations dangerously close to its own positions in order to repulse penetrations and restore its lines . When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The 12th SS pushed through the woods and probed the villages at around 1100 hours. represents the iron district of Pennsylvania. [2] Historian John S.D. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." 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. Several photos from the private collection of, THE EARLY YEARS Joseph Richard Evans (Dick) was born on October 17, 1920 to Charles E. Evansand Wenonah (nee Muirhead/Miller)in, Source: family of Raymond J. Willaredt. 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. 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. The 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing.
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