395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division

2nd and 3rd Battalion cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes. 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. Family lore, The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. The 395th Infantry Regimentwas an infantryregimentof the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Divisionduring World War II. 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. They then crossed the Wied River, where they joined up with the 7th Infantry Division. 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. [6] On more than one occasion, BAR gunners would allow Germans to get within feet of their positions before opening fire, with the objective of increasing the odds of killing the attacking Germans. The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." 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. The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. 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. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. The Germans, moving across illuminated open ground without cover, fell by the hundreds against the murderous American fire. 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. In March 1945, the 99th advanced into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen on March 11. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. Even the most hardened veteran occasionally thinks he hears twigs snap, boots crush snow or other odd noises that can cause nerves to fray. When the Germans finally broke through 3/395s lines and established a foothold in the town, the Americans recaptured the buildings by firing anti-tank guns through the walls. 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. Location of the 99th ID sector (red box) on a map of the Bulge. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. 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. 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. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. Asked why he thought so, he said, "Two reasons: one cold-bloodedness; two efficiency. [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. 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. Akins, Thomas W. MAJ, "Operations of Company "E", 442nd Infantry Regiment, Attached to 92nd Division, at San Terenzo, Italy, 20-23 April 1945" (Po Valley Campaign) Albright, Barry E. CPT, "Operations of the 2nd Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, in the Invasion of Normandy, 5-13 June 1944" (Normandy Campaign. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. The retreat turned into a route as the German tanks, two less due to a duel with two American Shermans, rolled unmolested down the street in the village. The rapid advance did not deter the men of the 38th Infantry Regiment, however, who put up a fierce defense. . A group of photos from his wartime, unfortenately we have not been able to. The camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. In the pre-dawn hours of December 16th, Hitlers final major offensive began. 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. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Ruhr pocket collapsed with the fall of Iserlohn, on 16 April. 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. What was left of the 99ers in and around Rocherath appeared to be doomed, and like the calvary in Western movies, salvation appeared in the forms of infantry from the 2nd Division and incredibly heavy artillery fire that dropped onto the Germans like rain. As they did so, another German assault hit them, this time with support from 5 MKV Panther tanks. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. [14] The first town they were tasked with capturing was Bergheim, "the door to the Rhine." The 197th Infantry Division (German: 197. Plans called for the division to include the 393rd, 394th, 395th, and 396th Infantry Regiments. [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. [9], Because the unit's radios had been destroyed, the soldiers captured, and the rapid subsequent German advance, U.S. Army commanders did not know about the unit's success at slowing the German advance, or even if they had been captured or killed. [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. 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. In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. [14], The 99th as a whole, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of eighteen to one. [1] It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. [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. 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. 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. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. 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. Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. TO: Division Surgeon, 99th Infantry Division I. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. German losses were much higher. The failure to breach the 99th IDs sector stalled the entire German advance and a decisive breakthrough was never achieved. The 395th was held in the United States until more room was available for the unit to enter Europe. The unit's distinctive shoulder patch consisted of a five-sided shield of black on which is superimposed a horizontal band of white and blue squares. [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. [1] After defensive patrolling, the 99th probed the Siegfried Line against heavy resistance on 13 December. 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. Category: 395thIR On this page, we honor the memory of the men of the 99th Infantry Division and pay tribute to their extraordinary contributions to the war effort. 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. EN RU CN DE ES. "[13] The division continued to attack without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen until VE-day. ", The 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted estimated casualties on the Germans in the ratio of eighteen to one. Forests, by nature, are eerily quiet at night. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. [16], Following the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, the 99th mobilized large numbers of Army Reserve Soldiers. Staff Sergeant, Service Company, 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, ETO, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr Pocket, and the Occupation of Germany, recipient of the Bronze Star. [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. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. No reserves were available . 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. 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. Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. 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. 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 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. represents the iron district of Pennsylvania. Excited to share my latest group in the 99th Infantry Division collection. 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. Unbeknownst to its commanding general at the time, Maj. Gen. Walter E. Lauer, the division would play a strategic role in the war and would gain the honor of having the most decorated platoon of the US army during World War Two. Sgt. Despite fatigue, constant enemy shelling, and ever-increasing enemy pressure, the Third Battalion guarded a 6,000 yards (5,500m)-long front and destroyed 75 percent of three German infantry regiments. Several photos from the private collection of the family of Dean F. THE EARLY YEARS Joseph Richard Evans (Dick) was born on October 17, 1920 to Charles E. Evansand Wenonah (nee Muirhead/Miller)in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment 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. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 The ferocious assault caught the Allies off-guard and the rapid German advance famously caused a bulge on Allied maps. Not so in the pre-dawn hours of December 16 in the Ardennes Forest. 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 assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. 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. It was activated on 1 December 1939. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. The Ardennes area was chosen because of a lack of operational objectives for the Allies, the terrain offered good defensive positioning, roads were lacking, and the Germans were known to be using the area within Germany to the east as a rest and refit area for their troops. While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. The 99th Infantry Division, on December 12, . [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. Through their stories, we gain a glimpse into the challenges they faced, the horrors they endured, and the triumphs they achieved. The success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied.

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