395th infantry regiment 99th infantry divisioncorbin redhounds football state championship
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 battalion was badly outnumbered and nearly surrounded. History | AMEDD Center of History & Heritage - United States Army The division headquarters was organized in November 1921. About: 395th Infantry Regiment (United States) - dbpedia.org The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. The situation became so dire that Butler deliberately called in artillery on his units own position to prevent them from being overrunone of six times this would occur at Hfen. [6][17]:vii. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Captain Ned Nelson, veteran of 3/395 and the battle at Hfen. These two German divisions directed their fury against the 395th early on the morning of the December 17. The 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River. The Battles for Elsenborn Ridge Part II | The National WWII Museum There Major Butler collapsed due to exhaustion on 30 April, and Lt. Col. J. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. On 22 December 1967, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was activated. Table of Contents. 395th Infantry Regiment (united States) - Encyclopedia Information The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. Battle of the Bulge 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. Many members of the 99th Infantry Division had participated in the Army Specialized Training Program or ASTP, derisively nicknamed "all safe 'till peace;" in February 1944, the program was drawn down, and the majority of its members were assigned to later-deploying divisions such as the 99th. Soldiers who were in direct support of the relief efforts were also awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal as a personal award. [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. 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. 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division | American Battle A written commendation was received from Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, V Corps Commander: I wish to express to you and the members of your command my appreciation and commendation for the fine job you did in preventing the enemy from carrying out his plans to break through the V Corps sector and push on to the Meuse River. 2nd Infantry Division soldiers dig in on a road bank and prepare defensive positions on the end of the Elsenborn Ridge on December 20, 1944. . Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. He returned to Illinois and in 1933 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the National Guard. German troops pass burning American equipment during the Ardennes offensive. [2]:33 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. This page was last edited on 11 March 2022, at 19:44. The rapid advance did not deter the men of the 38th Infantry Regiment, however, who put up a fierce defense. 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. [1] 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. This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. 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. [14], The 99th as a whole, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of eighteen to one. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. 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 regiment arrived at Camp Van Dorn in early December. 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. 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. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. The German pre-dawn artillery bombardment on December 16th destroyed 3/395s communication wires at Hfen, but the stunned soldiers soon witnessed an even more ominous sight: enemy searchlights, reflecting off the dense clouds, illuminated the snowy open ground east of Hfen. Notable. 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. 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. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. On 1 November 1944, the 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, was put under operational control of V Corps, First Army. Through this eerie artificial moonlight, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division advanced on 3/395s position. The 99th crossed the Ludwig Canal against stiff resistance and established a bridgehead over the Altmuhl River, 25 April. [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. 395th Infantry Regiment (United States) | Detailed Pedia He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. The regiment was organized with three battalions, each containing three rifle companies and a weapons company armed with .30 caliber and .50 caliber machine guns. The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. and the situation was desperate. The Germans would never take Hfen, nor most of their other ambitious objectives in the Ardennes, due in large part to the soldiers of 3/395 and the 99th ID as a whole. Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, commander of 3/395. For four successive days the battalion held this sector against combined German tank and infantry attacks, launched with fanatical determination and supported by heavy artillery. Fort Benning | Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries | MCoE HQ Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. 395th Infantry Regiment (United States) - Wikipedia The 393rd, 394th & 395th were the Infantry Regiments of the 99th Infantry Division. 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 held a single platoon of 40 men from Company L in reserve. The platoon members were not recognized for their courageous deeds for thirty-seven years. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. So I stayed in the village overnight. In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Robert's regiment was on the front lines in the Losheim Gap. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment Richard Mills were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. 99th Infantry Division vehicles en route to the battle zone. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. Below are the top five veteran research questions, where to go for further resources, and how to begin your search. 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.. They killed Germans coming at them from the front, flanks and rear. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. The 3rd Battalion of the 395th Infantry Regiment (3/395), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, occupied the town of Hfen on the German border. Against light resistance, it crossed the Dill River and pushed on to Krofdorf-Gleiberg, taking Giessen 29 March. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the unit moved southward into Bavaria, where it was located at the end of the war. 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. Due in part to the 99th Infantry Division, this ground mission has not been continuous, and he will not achieve his goal[15]. 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. A captured Lt. Bemener, formerly commander of the 5th Company of the 753rd Volksgrenadier Regiment, asked his American interrogator about the unit that had defended Hfen. 18 Dec 44-7 Jan 45 Attached to 2d Infantry Division, Blandford (Longton Long, Dorset Barracks), 370th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer), 371st Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer), 924th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer), 372d Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Howitzer). Was the 5th infantry at the battle of the bulge? 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. 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. Every member of the platoon was decorated, which included four Distinguished Service Crosses, five Silver Stars and ten Bronze Stars with "V" devices signifying awards for valor in combat.[10]. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. Some toppled directly into US foxholes as American troops engaged them at point-blank range. [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. EN RU CN DE ES. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), Medical History, December 1944. 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 success of the defense of the twin villages would be short-lived if ammunition was not resupplied. Asked why he thought so, he said, "Two reasons: one cold-bloodedness; two efficiency. info@nationalww2museum.org 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. 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. 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. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. As they did so, another German assault hit them, this time with support from 5 MKV Panther tanks. 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. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. The 395th Regiment became an active unit as part of the 99th Infantry Division on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Missouri, along with its brother regiments, the 393rd and 394th. While the 99th was fully involved in this large mobilization, the headquarters moved to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Here it held firmly against violent enemy attacks. A popular historical anecdote is the design of the famous M1 carbine by convicted murderer David Marshall Williams. 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. 394th Infantry Regiment (United States) - Wikipedia Wendell Clark - 99th Infantry Division The US Armys 99th Infantry Division, recently arrived in Europe and untested in combat, was assigned to the northern shoulder of the Allied front line in the Ardennes Forest. So fierce in fact that the German commander pulled his tanks back for fear of running into a superior American force, deciding to hold his positions until the following morning. The 99th battled on to the bridge at Remagen that was taken on March 7th. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. 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. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. The last drive began on 23 April. [citation needed]. The program was called the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), and it sought to give extra training and special skills to a select group of intelligent and able young men, most of whom were taken from America's colleges. The town of Kuckhof cost the battalion dearly, with more than fifty casualties inflicted on one company alone (I Company). The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. [10], Around Hfen, which the 395th defended, the ground was marked with open hills. 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. "[13] The division continued to attack without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen until VE-day. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach. [13], To the north of Hfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. The silver and bronze star medal of Col. Alexander John Mackenzie, Regimental Commandor of the 395th Infantry Regiment. The lines were then moved back to form defensive positions east of Elsenborn Ridge on the 19th. This did not turn out to be true. 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. Ordered into active military service: 15 November 1942 Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. ", The 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted estimated casualties on the Germans in the ratio of eighteen to one. With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. Category: 395th Infantry Regiment Lt. Col. Henry B. Koon Sr. Special Troops From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. [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. Butler's uncle, General Edward J. McClernand, fought in the Indian Wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor. The 99th then moved to Schwarzenau, on 3 April, and attacked the southeast sector of the Ruhr Pocket on the 5th. Eisenhower wrote, "the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."[3][4]. They inflicted disproportionate casualties on the Germans, and were one of the only units that did not give ground during the Battle of the Bulge. 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. squares centered on a black shield. 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. T. E. Piersall and Pfc. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide base operations functions for the assigned 13-state Northeast Region. Allied forces were fighting their way across France, and fresh units were badly needed in autumn 1944 to continue to press the offensive. [14] If the Germans penetrated Hfen, the U.S. soldiers would have to withdraw several miles to the next defensible position.[10]. 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 inexperienced troops of the division were lodged on the northern shoulder of the Ardennes Offensive on 16 December. By 17 December, German military planners knew that their objectives along the Elsenborn Ridge would not be taken as soon as planned. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. [16] The accurate fire from the 12 3-inch guns of A Company, 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, was instrumental in keeping German tanks from advancing.