395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division

Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. 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 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. The thick forest was tangled with rocky gorges, little streams, and sharp hills. The regiment arrived at Camp Van Dorn in early December. 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. [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. 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. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. 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. The 395th were moved by train and truck, and finally by foot, to front line positions near the German town of Hfen a few kilometers west of the Siegfried Line and near the Belgium-German border. Chapter 6-THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE 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. More often than not, the noises thought to have been heard arent anything at all, and the forest resumes its eerie silence. The remainder of the battalion reached the Rhine River on that same day and crossed the Remagen Bridge which four days after being captured was still being shelled by German artillery. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. They continued to fight even as the American press trumpeted the rapid crumbling of German resistance. The platoon members were not recognized for their courageous deeds for thirty-seven years. 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division | American Battle The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. As the American defenders began to assess casualties and ammunition supplies, the 12th SS hit them again. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. 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. 395thIR - 99th Infantry Division It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. Many of the 99th Division's best soldiers were products of the ill-fated ASTP program. The unit was inactivated after World War II, then became a reserve unit, and was redesignated as the 395th Regiment in 1999. 3/395 greeted the Volksgrenadiers with a punishing hail of bullets, mortars, and artillery. 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. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. Allied forces were fighting their way across France, and fresh units were badly needed in autumn 1944 to continue to press the offensive. [16], In September 2007, in preparation for the transition to Fort Dix and establishment of the new 99th RSC, the 99th RRC assumed administrative responsibility for the former regions of the 77th and 94th RRCs, which had inactivated. 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. 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. 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. Battle of the Bulge The program never fulfilled its promise, and the large number of "ASTPers" were rapidly integrated into various divisions to make up for personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. They then crossed the Wied River, where they joined up with the 7th Infantry Division. The regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. 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. 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. 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. When told it was 3/395, the prisoner replied, It must be one of your best formations.. When the Ardennes Offensive ended, Gen. Lauer received verbal commendations from Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, 21st Army Group Commander, and Gen. Courtney Hodges, First Army Commander, on the vigorous and effective defense contributed by the 99th. [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. 3d Battalion (TS)(AR) 395th Regiment - GlobalSecurity.org The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. 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. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." As they did so, another German assault hit them, this time with support from 5 MKV Panther tanks. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. [4], Distinguished Service Cross (United States), "Lineage And Honors Information, 395th Regiment Lineage", "World War II: Interview with Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler", "The Operations of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry (99th Infantry Division) Prior to and During the German Counter-Offensive, 10November 24 December 1944 (Ardennes Campaign) (Personal Experience of a Company Commander and Battalion Operations Officer)", "Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast to Become Heroes of Hofen", "The Battle of the Bulge Part II Holding the Line (review)", "Chapter 5: The Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge", "Battle of the Bulge: U.S. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. EN RU CN DE ES. Plans called for the division to include the 393rd, 394th, 395th, and 396th Infantry Regiments. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. Hfen remained in American handsfor now. 394th Infantry Regiment (United States) - Wikipedia 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). 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". This was the most southern area of the 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. 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 . 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. 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 were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Pennsylvania State College, and the Pennsylvania Military College. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. This article contains content in the public domain from U.S. military sources. The 99th Infantry Division received recruits from the ASTP program (Army Specialized Training Program, to make up for the personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. 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. The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. A 105mm artillery piece from the 2nd Infantry Div. 395th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry . After the battalion was inactivated on 29 September 1945, its colors remained folded for more than fifty years. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. Ordered into active military service: 15 November 1942 Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. German losses were much higher. 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 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. The 395th Regiment's success earned it many difficult assignments. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 . [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. [2] Historian John S.D. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. General Eisenhower and his staff chose the Ardennes region, held by the First Army, as an area that could be held by as few troops as possible. During the first morning of the Battle of the Bulge, they defended a key road junction in the vicinity of the Losheim Gap. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. German Panzer tanks en route to the Ardennes. Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. [19] The regiment's successful defense prevented the Germans, who had counted on surprise, numbers, and minimum hard fighting as their keys to success, from accessing the best routes into the Belgium interior, and seriously delayed their scheduled advance by more than 48 hours, allowing the Americans to move large numbers of units and bring up reserves. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. Table of Contents. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide command and control and full-service support for assigned units and facility management. They killed Germans coming at them from the front, flanks and rear. Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After the Gulf War, the 99th ARCOM became the 99th Regional Support Command (RSC). The insignia was devised upon the 99th's formation in 1942 when the division was headquartered in the city of Pittsburgh. 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. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. 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. No reserves were available . 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. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ 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. 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. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. 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. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Siegfried Line. represents the iron district of Pennsylvania. 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. Battle of Elsenborn Ridge - Wikipedia Was the 5th infantry at the battle of the bulge? The battalion was badly outnumbered and nearly surrounded. Grouping from Col. Alexander John Mackenzie, Regimental Commandor of commanders. 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. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. 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 . Notable. 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. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 16 June 1931. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. 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]. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Who were the soldiers of the 99th infrantry div? | WWII Forums 99th Infantry Division (United States) | Military Wiki | Fandom [16], After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, 22 99th units deployed to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and other locations. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The 10 geographically-based RRCs, including the 99th, were inactivated and replaced with four regional base operations commands. The Battles for Elsenborn Ridge Part II | The National WWII Museum : 33 On at least six occasions they called in . The Germans threw wave after wave of infantry, and a unit of panzers, at the town. Although 3/395 had only 600 men to defend a large area, they had been told that the German army, or Wehrmacht, was no longer capable of major offensive operations and that their winter in the Ardennes would be a quiet one. The 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing. Wendell Clark - 99th Infantry Division 394th Infantry Regiment Co. A, first platoon This is my Dad's story. Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. 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. In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. 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. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. 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. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. "Blue" was the code word for the 3rd battalion under Army infantry's triangular organization. [13], To the north of Hfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. TO: Division Surgeon, 99th Infantry Division I. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns. EN. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry A. P. O. [16], The U.S. Army Center of Military History states that the 99th RSC does not perpetuate the lineage and honors of the 99th Infantry Division. 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. 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. WWII and Park Staff Connections - Eisenhower National Historic - NPS 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division | American Battle The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. The 99th battled on to the bridge at Remagen that was taken on March 7th.