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. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 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. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. Against light resistance, it crossed the Dill River and pushed on to Krofdorf-Gleiberg, taking Giessen 29 March. 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. A member of the 395th Infantry Regiment , the photographer captured an amazing scene through the lens of this camera in these images. 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.". It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." I never dreamed that we would have a defensive position of this size without any backup or help from our division or regiment. [2]:33 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. In the 12 years he was Manager of Research Services, Seth and his team increased the oral history collection from 25 to nearly 5,000 oral histories. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. 394th Infantry Regiment Co. A, first platoon This is my Dad's story. 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 Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Division was the most decorated platoon for a single action of World War II. 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. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. While an RSC is allowed to wear the insignia and use the same number as a previous infantry division, it is not entitled to its lineage and honors. 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. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. Allied forces were fighting their way across France, and fresh units were badly needed in autumn 1944 to continue to press the offensive. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. [16], Following the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, the 99th mobilized large numbers of Army Reserve Soldiers. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. The 1st Battalion was positioned on the right. 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. 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. The 3rd Battalion received a Presidential Unit Citation for its actions around Hfen from 16 to 19 December. 99th Infantry Division used the relatively quiet period to prepare an extensive defensive system, including redundant lines of communication, precise positioning of weapons to provide interlocking grazing fire, and aggressive patrols that kept the Germans off guard. . 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. 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. Notable. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 It then intersected a main eastwest road at Bullingen. Ordered into active military service: 15 November 1942 Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. This was the most southern area of the Battle of the Bulge. In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Harold was . Butler held a single platoon of 40 men from Company L in reserve. 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. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. The war was over six days later.[6]. The three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. Through this eerie artificial moonlight, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division advanced on 3/395s position. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Many of the 99th Division's best soldiers were products of the ill-fated ASTP program. "[7]:24, Two Distinguished Service Crosses and several Silver Stars were awarded to members of the battalion for valorous actions against the enemy during this battle. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. Battle of the Bulge 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. 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. 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. The unit reported on May 4 that it had "liberated 3 labor camps and 1 concentration camp." With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. They killed Germans coming at them from the front, flanks and rear. At the end of the day, the veterans of the 26th Infantry still held their ground, and looked out on a battlefield strewn with destroyed German armor and scores . [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. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. From 21 December 1944 to 30 January 1945, the unit was engaged in aggressive patrolling and reequipping. [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 last drive began on 23 April. 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 defense of Rocherath that had been held most of the day by infantry was decided in less than thirty minutes by 5 German tanks. American artillery fired at pre-registered locations along the German route of advance, and along with support from in the knick of time arriving American armor halted and turned the German advance into a retreat. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. "Blue" was the code word for the 3rd battalion under Army infantry's triangular organization. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Soldiers who were in direct support of the relief efforts were also awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal as a personal award. 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 Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. 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. Sgt Harold Rutz, 395th Infantry Regiment, M Company. 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.. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. The 395th Infantry Regimentwas an infantryregimentof the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Divisionduring World War II. [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. 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. 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 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. Formerly nicknamed the "Checkerboard Division," which referred to its shoulder patch, in late 1944 having not yet seen battle, the division was nicknamed the "Battle Babies. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. The 99th battled on to the bridge at Remagen that was taken on March 7th. The town of Kuckhof cost the battalion dearly, with more than fifty casualties inflicted on one company alone (I Company). 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. While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. Crest The crest is that of the U.S. Army Reserve. Sgt. [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. It was redesignated with description updated, for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. 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). In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. [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. 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 thick forest was tangled with rocky gorges, little streams, and sharp hills. 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. [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. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. The Germans were operating under a tight timetable, however, and the assaults center of gravitythe 6th Panzer Armyhad only one day to breach the 99th IDs line. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. The 99th held lines stretching from Monschau, Germany to Losheimergraben, Belgium, totaling 35 kilometres (22mi). The battalion was badly outnumbered and nearly surrounded. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. 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 division insignia is a three lined checkerboard design of blue and white squares centered on a black shield. It attacked toward the Monschau Forest, on 1 February, mopping up and patrolling until it was relieved for training and rehabilitation, on 13 February. and the situation was desperate. So I stayed in the village overnight. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. 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 division insignia is a three lined checkerboard design of blue and white 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 buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound.
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