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. [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. From Camp Maxey they took a train to Camp Myles Standish outside Boston. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, MIGHTY NETWORKS, 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Artificial Intelligence just flew an F-16 Fighting Falcon for the US military, WWII vet finally receives Silver Star for heroism at Battle of the Bulge, This is the massive Nazi sneak attack at the Battle of the Bulge, Rarely seen footage from the Battle of the Bulge, The first tank to break into Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge was almost lost to history. I never dreamed that we would have a defensive position of this size without any backup or help from our division or regiment. 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. The 99th Infantry's report stated that 1,500 Jews were "living under terrible conditions and approximately 600 required hospitalization due to starvation and disease.". In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. 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. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. Good luck with your quest. Harold was . [4] Lt. Col. Butler retired from the Army on 14 January 1946 and worked for the phone company for the rest of his career. [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. The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker, (H.H.Kitson, sculptor), stands on the common in Lexington, Massachusetts. 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. info@nationalww2museum.org It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. The 99th Infantry Division, on December 12, . Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. 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. 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. 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. A. Gallagher assumed command for the last few days of the war. Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, commander of 3/395. A group 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 99th held lines stretching from Monschau, Germany to Losheimergraben, Belgium, totaling 35 kilometres (22mi). 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. Alexander John Mackenzie was born in New York City, 22 February 1895, the son of Alexina and Kenneth M. 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 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. The Germans were counting on something else, toothey knew that this sector was thinly manned by untested troops. Here it held firmly against violent enemy attacks. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment Accurate estimates of German wounded were not possible, but about 20 percent of the 326th Volksgrenadier Division were lost. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. Field Artillery Battalions were the 370th, 371st, 372nd & the 924th. Cemeteries & Memorials; Burial Search; About Us; Education; Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501. [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. Shield The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. 449, U.S. ARMY 15 January 1945 SUBJECT: History of Medical Detachment, 395th Infantry Regiment, 1 December to 31 December 1944. 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. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. So I stayed in the village overnight. [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. [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. Organization and training began in October but were not complete by the time the war ended in November 1918, so the division was demobilized in early 1919. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. Butler's uncle, General Edward J. McClernand, fought in the Indian Wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. 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. When hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, the regiment had during six months of fighting experienced 300 percent turnover due to casualties. It was credited with destroying "seventy-five percent of three German infantry regiments." Butler held a single platoon of 40 men from Company L in reserve. 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. 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.. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. 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. Sgt Harold Rutz, 395th Infantry Regiment, M Company. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. The regiment assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Brckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945. ", The 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted estimated casualties on the Germans in the ratio of eighteen to one. Later that night, another enemy assault was similarly unsuccessful. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. The three regiments of the 99th IDthe 393rd, 394th, & 395th Infantry Regimentswere thinly spread across this frigid but quiet portion of the front. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. It is believed that Delbert was transferred to the 395th Infantry Regiment at some point. 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 platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. 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. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. 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. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. 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. Not so in the pre-dawn hours of December 16 in the Ardennes Forest. 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 said, "The biggest difficulty in carrying out a night attack is control, and having men who can coordinate well as a team in the dark. 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. 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. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[8]. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. Formerly nicknamed the "Checkerboard Division," which referred to its shoulder patch, in late 1944 having not yet seen battle, the division was nicknamed the "Battle Babies. [16], After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, 22 99th units deployed to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and other locations. The last drive began on 23 April. Crest The crest is that of the U.S. Army Reserve. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. [citation needed]. The rapid advance did not deter the men of the 38th Infantry Regiment, however, who put up a fierce defense. Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! Butler attended, but did not graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 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 lines were then moved back to form defensive positions east of Elsenborn Ridge on the 19th. 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 5th replaced the 4 th Infantry Division on December 23 rd, and pushed the Germans back to the Sauer River. 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. Gen. von Manteuffel, commander of the 5th Panzer Army, stated in the address to his troops prior to the attack that "our ground mission must be continuous; otherwise we will not achieve our goal". Dad proudly told that the 99th was the first complete unit cross the Remagen Bridge on March 9th or 10th. [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.