An overwhelming majority of them were women and children. "[9]:1738 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. Score: 4.8/5 (10 votes) . It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. 449, U.S. ARMY 15 January 1945 SUBJECT: History of Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry Regiment, 1 December to 31 December 1944. On 17 October 1999, the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment was reactivated as an Armor Training Support (TS) Battalion. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. The 99th Infantry Division, on December 12, . 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. . [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. Subscribe to 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division Footer menu. Pennsylvania State College, and the Pennsylvania Military College. The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. 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. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. "[13] The division continued to attack without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen until VE-day. 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. A 105mm artillery piece from the 2nd Infantry Div. 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 did not turn out to be true. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. 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. Hfen remained in American handsfor now. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. 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. 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. 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. Family lore, The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. During the first morning of the Battle of the Bulge, they defended a key road junction in the vicinity of the Losheim Gap. info@nationalww2museum.org of William Pitt for whom the city of Pittsburgh was named. 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. [8], That is three to four times wider than recommended by Army textbooks. 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. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. . [16], In 2005, the Army Reserve began its latest transformation under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) directive and lessons learned from eight years of deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Told it was the 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, he said, "It must have been one of your best formations." 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. [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. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), History, January 1945. [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. [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. 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. squares centered on a black shield. The thick forest was tangled with rocky gorges, little streams, and sharp hills. [11], The area around Hfen and Monschau were critical because of the road network that lay behind them. A group of photos from his wartime, unfortenately we have not been able to. In the event of an emergency, the battalion headquarters and company administrative personnel, including clerks and motor-pool staff, were to join the platoon, creating a small reserve force of about 100 men. This assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. [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 war was over six days later.[6]. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. 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 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 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. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. 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. The battalion also had its own Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, as well as medics and support personnel. [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. The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. While the 99th was fully involved in this large mobilization, the headquarters moved to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Harold was . The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. Many of the 99th Division's best soldiers were products of the ill-fated ASTP program. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. The concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. 3/395, soon to be nicknamed Butlers Blue Battlin Bastards, was one of the only US Army units that did not retreat in the opening days of the battle. Some toppled directly into US foxholes as American troops engaged them at point-blank range. 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 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. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. commanders. Your organization gave ample proof of the fact that it is a good hard fighting division and one in which you and each and every member of your command can be justly proud[16], Major Butler was decorated with the Silver Star, the French Croix de Guerre, the Belgian Fourragre, the Belgian Order de la Couronne, and the Bronze Star Medal with the Oak leaf cluster. 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. [14], The 99th as a whole, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of eighteen to one. Still, some German assaults penetrated American lines near the town of Hofen where they were eventually captured after retreating into houses in the town. 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.
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