At the going down of the sun And in the morning We will remember them." 324th Engineer Combat Battalion Albertson Dale W Bass Robert D Brown Edwin C Busk The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker, (H.H.Kitson, sculptor), stands on the common in Lexington, Massachusetts. 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 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. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. "[16][17]:75 Another German officer who was captured said, "I have fought two years on the Russian front, but never have I engaged in such a fierce and bloody battle. Not so in the pre-dawn hours of December 16 in the Ardennes Forest. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. The Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in the European Theater was one of Americas bloodiest campaigns. 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. 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. As the tanks neared Krinkelt, they plowed right through elements of the 2nd Infantry Division, many of whom had arrived literally moments earlier to reinforce their brothers who had earlier reinforced the 99ers. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. Honor Roll - 99th Infantry Division "They shall not grow old, As we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. Motto VIGILANS ET CELER (Vigilant and Swift). A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. Excited to share my latest group in the 99th Infantry Division collection. 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. Score: 4.8/5 (10 votes) . While the 99th ARCOM was allowed to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 99th Infantry Division and use its number, Department of the Army policy does not allow for the lineage of MTOE units, such as infantry divisions, to be perpetuated by TDA units, such as ARCOMs. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. 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. I decided to stage the night attack at Bergheim because my troops would be going across an open area about 500 yards (460m) long and 400 yards (370m) wide. 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. Battle of the Bulge The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. 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 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. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. [16], On 16 July 2003, the command was redesignated as the 99th Regional Readiness Command, placing additional emphasis on training, readiness, and mobilization. The 395th Infantry Regimentwas an infantryregimentof the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Divisionduring World War II. Army policy does not allow for the lineage and honors of a TO&E organization, such as an infantry division, to be perpetuated by a TDA organization, such as an RSC. Alexander John Mackenzie was born in New York City, 22 February 1895, the son of Alexina and Kenneth M. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. This required the corps commander to draw on an infantry battalion from another division, and because of the reputation the 395th had earned at Hfen, it was transferred often to various divisions, including the 9th Infantry Division, the 3rd Armored Division, and the 7th Armored Division. On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen. 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 camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. Richard V. Horrell WW 2 Connections, Aug 6, 2010 #6 Buten42 Member Joined: Jun 27, 2009 Messages: 1,287 Likes Received: 210 Location: Washington State [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. Either short or completely devoid of ammunition, the defenders of Rocherath began to filter to the rear in the growing darkness that swallowed the battlefield. 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 enemy artillery was so intense that communications were generally out. With its sister battalions, the 1st, 395th Engineer and 2nd, 395th Field Artillery, the 3rd Battalion (TS) (AR) role is to train National Guard armor and infantry battalions across a three-state region and improve their combat readiness. But the infantry often bore worse casualties than the tanks did and had to be replaced and reinforced more quickly. [14] The first town they were tasked with capturing was Bergheim, "the door to the Rhine." and the situation was desperate. 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. 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. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. The platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Siegfried Line. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. 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. squares centered on a black shield. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. 2nd and 3rd Battalion cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes. Through their stories, we gain a glimpse into the challenges they faced, the horrors they endured, and the triumphs they achieved. 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 campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. The 395th received the following campaign streamers: The entire regiment was recognized with the following unit decorations: A silver color metal and enamel device .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}3732 inches (2.94cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Or. The three regiments of the 99th IDthe 393rd, 394th, & 395th Infantry Regimentswere thinly spread across this frigid but quiet portion of the front. 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 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. 26 (Unit Commendations)", The 99th Infantry Division During World War II, "Battle Babies: The Story of the 99th Infantry Division", Office of the Chief of Military History Department of the Army, http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cbtchron.html, Battle Babies: The Story of the 99th Infantry Division, Checkerboard, official publication of 99th Infantry Division Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=99th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)&oldid=1131083137, Infantry divisions of the United States Army, United States Army divisions during World War II, Military units and formations established in 1918, Infantry divisions of the United States Army in World War II, Military units and formations disestablished in 1945, United States Army divisions of World War I, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. 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. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. . In 1975, the 99th ARCOM moved its headquarters to Oakdale, Pennsylvania. [6][17]:vii. It was redesignated for the 395th Regiment on 7 June 1999. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. From 21 December 1944 to 30 January 1945, the unit was engaged in aggressive patrolling and reequipping. [11], The area around Hfen and Monschau were critical because of the road network that lay behind them. 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. The Legacy of the 99th Infantry Division: Our Artifacts Collection The 99th Infantry Division Historical Society is dedicated to preserving, Discovering the Legacy of a WW2 Soldier: Tips and Tricks Are you interested in learning more about a WW2 veteran, They shall not grow old, As we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, Nor the years, Dean F. Gilbert was a membert of 3rd Platoon, L Company,394th Infantry Regiment. 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. EN. The 99th was selected as one of these new regional support commands. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. A U.S. Army World War II division was configured as a Triangular division, with three regimental maneuver elements. The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. The regiment helped to capture the Ruhr Pocket, where thousands of German troops and hundreds of German vehicles were captured. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. An overwhelming majority of them were women and children. The blue and white are taken from the coat of arms for William Pitt for whom Pittsburgh was named. After the Gulf War, the 99th ARCOM became the 99th Regional Support Command (RSC). Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. 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. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. Unknown to the Allies, the Germans were preparing a surprise counter-offensive through the Ardennes with the goal of splitting the Allied armies and recapturing the Belgian port city of Antwerp. 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 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. [7]:3, Col. Butler went ahead to look over the area they were assigned to defend. 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 99th crossed the Ludwig Canal against stiff resistance and established a bridgehead over the Altmuhl River, 25 April. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The insignia was devised upon the 99th's formation in 1942 when the division was headquartered in the city of Pittsburgh. 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. To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. Soldiers who were in direct support of the relief efforts were also awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal as a personal award. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. Hfen remained in American handsfor now. Over 83,000 Americans were casualties during the battle which lasted from December 16, 1944 until January 25, 1945, and as a result, the battle occupies a prominent place in our collective minds. 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. 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. 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. The battalion also had its own Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, as well as medics and support personnel. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944.

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