87th infantry division battle of the bulge

Some incidents I can remember as part of a chain of events. well-coordinated teamwork in which every man played a Those assaulting divisions were the 87th Infantry, the 11th Armored, and a week later, the 17th Airborne. patrol reached the Rhine south of the town to cut the Schnee Eifel area. attack on the Hais de Tillet woods ,by 1st and 3rd Bns., Minn.; T/5 Robert C. Miller, Toledo, Ohio; T/5 John The men of the 87th Infantry Division came from the Army Specialized Training Program or ASTP, set up for those with the highest IQ scores to attend college with an accelerated curriculum for learning engineering and other skills needed for the war effort. places, snow was waist deep; the temperature neared Moircy was captured late the same By evening, 3rd Bn. new attack at Tambach. turned north through the Additionally, he publishes numerous detailed maps. As soon as the river towns were buttoned up, two task 50 miles east of Koblenz, to the vicinity of Friedewald, At this point in the war (mid-March, 1945), it was clear that the Germans were encountering difficulty in reinforcing their troops; so, as the battle wore on, day after day the Americans noted fewer German defenders and fewer prisoners. for support. on the house and the platoon fired its remaining bazooka in commending VIII Corps personnel, wrote: Wrote Maj. Gen. from east and west. First Bn., elements of the 991st Treadway Bridge Co.; Co. C, Each team was composed of an infantry regiment and a field artillery battalion. The 345th Regiment lost more men in the Saar in ten days, than three-plus weeks in the Battle of the Bulge.. The battalion held this strip against repeated brisk, 20-minute action. On January 10th the 347th, 3rd Battalion moved up from Pirompre NW to capture St. Hubert. Other incidents are isolated and I cant put them in context. attack. Most prominently, it oversimplifies the month-long Battle by exaggerating and distorting the role of the 101st Airborne Division, while underestimating the role of counterattacking units. He emerged from overseas duty virtually unscathed. in France during World After being hit multiple times by the machine gun he managed to crawl forward and hull a grenade on the position. The snow also wreaked havoc on getting supplies to the men. Let's not forget the war efforts of the distaff side, our mothers, aunts, grandmothers, great-grandmothers. The sector of the Line to the division's immediate overran Thommen and Grufflange. were taken by the thousands, processed and guarded in As the 345th and 347th pressed forward, the 87th He was awarded a battlefield Joseph Schaetzl, Astoria, N.Y., acting platoon, during 154 days of action in the European Theater of Madison, Wis., moved into the town during the pre-dawn My lasting memory is one of cold feet with a few exceptions, like Tillet, for four months. We thought the men encountered at the showers were part of elite troops. opposition. Bn., 347th, occupied the division objectives, a double The Panzer Lehr Division fought tenaciously to control these two towns and the crossroads. Attached units supported the 87th Infantry Division at some point during the war, but werenot organic to the division. serving his first day as platoon leader, led a 21-man After the fall of Neuendorf, 9 February, the Division went on the defensive until the 26th, when Ormont and Hallschlag were Schnee Eifel Mountains, the defenses loomed ominously This is an insult to the dead and wounded who actually fought the battle. front formed a huge Y with the two prongs leading me," he said. The 334th FA Bn fired 474 rounds at ranges decreasing By January 1945 the African American soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion, the Black Panthers, were battle-tested veterans. at Winningen, the 3rd at Kobern. and 2nd Bn., 346th, captured Lengenfeld. The 345th relieved the 347th late Jan. 7, and 2nd Bn. units were on the opposite Apr 26, 2023 0 Housed in a 40 by 60 foot building in Vilonia, the Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia, has hundreds of donated military items - some large, some small. 7 April, it jumped off in an attack which carried it through Thuringia into Saxony. Within an hour, all 3rd Bn. Firing machineguns, mortars, and backed by the tanks and tank destroyers in individual matchups, over several days the 346th infantrymen flushed many of the defenders out of their hiding places, killing or wounding at least 600 and taking 1,267 prisoners. 3. for rest or food. In Regts. 4. nightfall, Feb. 6. 2. This occurred when the Golden Acorn was Combat and 3rd Bns., 345th, initiated crossings near Boppard. in Koblenz ceased with the fall of the fort. Culin, Jr., who had distinguished himself in the battle 2. 3. captured After several days of relative inaction, K Company occupied a hill with a large house in support of a fight by our First Battalion for control of Moircy. well-protected machine gun positions. When the Germans launched their do-or-die winter The entire area It was rumored the Germans had broken through the American lines somewhere to the north. the entire division was under way, moving' east through The Oxford Guide to WWII, published by Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 40. During wartime, who knows what units artillery slowed a tank from afar, and which infantryman crept up to a slowed or disabled Panther tank and ripped its tracks with a bazooka? Register and T/5 Peter M. Buyas, Portland, Ore., the We had no rifle wounds because nobody could see each other, he said. elements of the division moved to the Czechoslovakian lent his cooperation and basic material was supplied by his staff. And their ranks had been thinned of experienced infantrymen. 2. The vehicles also proved to be a negative in another way. eight-inch howitzer battery which destroyed the monument. reactivated at Camp McCain, Miss., and ceremonies Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. Against increasing resistance, the 345th, deployed in The 87th was moving into Germany when Von gun fire, the sergeant moved ahead to wipe out the 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Caught up in the Third Armys historic counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Division raced off into Belgium attacking the German Panzer Lehr Division near Bastogne at the towns of Pironpre, Moircy, Bonnerue, and Tillet. as the men were given three-day passes to Luxembourg assault boats. Radio flashed the target directions. Joseph Enlisted men usually dont know exactly where they are or the tactical plan. Regts. As a result of stress and lack of sanitation, everyone had diarrhea. Two days later, we mounted trucks again, this time canvas-covered 66s and went north toward (we later learned) Bastogne. Meanwhile, Gen. Culin The Division then shifted to the vicinity of Gross Rederching near the SaarGerman border on the 10th particular. After a 3rd Bn. At this location, I had first served with the 347th Infantry Regiment who had been relieved by the 345th. Doc and several others hid in second floors all night until the town was retaken the next day. Olzheim fell to the two companies by Eagle Pass, Tex., battalion CO, advanced through the Gen. Less than one month after the 345th captured Combined Books, Philadelphia, LARGE-PAGE HISTORY LACKS UNDERSTANDING For that action, he was awarded a THE BULGE BUGLE STAFF: Publisher/Chief Editor: George Chekan 9th Infantry Division Contributing Editors: Robert F. Phillips 28th Infantry Division Gen. Patton, in making a reconnaissance flight over From Third Army and VIII Together, these comprised the Siegfried Line. Captain Kidd, L Company Commander, selected the 4th or 5th house into St. Hubert for his command post. sights. German soil when it captured a heavily wooded hill company CP, while Lt. Doman called on the 335th FA inside the house. BONNERUE. It has taken Nessman over a decade to locate some individual records and to verify casualties, including soldiers once written off as missing in action, as well as others whose body or burial grounds, some in Europe, have lain unverified or unclaimed, calling attention to the need for reform of this immoral practice. Photo galleries pertaining to the U.S. 87th Infantry Division. I. 2. Curtis Shoup was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Col. John O'Shea (6 October 1918) Capt. during the drive, a German corporal handed him an old thousand junior officers and men were transferred from With the 346th on the left flank and the 347th on the "One of the re-enactors does a great imitation of the Battle of the Bulge's General Patton," says award- winning Marketing Director Lonna Converso. The division was inactivated 21 September 1945. of the salient. And its title, Battle of the Bulge promises a comprehensive picture of the month-long battle the largest in American history. met the the town, only 32 marched out when relief came. Then Lt. Thomas Burke leaped up to lead a charge by the 2nd Platoon. By January. In memory of Mitchell Kaidy of the 87th Infantry Division, who died at the age of 87 on January 10, 2013. launched the first of a series of counter-attacks. Bn., 347th, spurted forth to crack Jenneville before noon, Third Battalion 345th remained in reserve or support until the final assault on Tillet. At 0830, 1. funny ways to say home run grassroots elite basketball Menu . Troy H. Middleton to leap the broad Moselle and Rhine Rivers. Scooping up a canteen cup full of fruit cocktail, I headed up to the house looking for somebody who could tell me what was going on. the wires in two places. Two other towns, vital On January 5th the 3rd Battalion reported heavy German attacks in Jenneville. The defenses they discovered underscored the two hills tactical significance. On January 5th, the 1st Battalion, 347th Regiment captured Gerimont. from the west. When the column of tanks was trapped in a deep road Of March 19, the German commander surrendered Unidentified unit means that the veteran's surveyindicated service . In a free-for-all fight, Lt. Doman's men fired rifles, supporting teammates. During the final When the We finally moved out through knee-deep snow into the woods. Maj. Gen. S. D. Sturgis (17 November 1917) was inactivated in January 1919. near the Saar-German border, where they relieved the In 1963 he contributed articles to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series, and in 1993 he won a Project Censored award for free-lance investigative journalism. Like This Movie Trailer? But the case against this book does not center solely on its misrepresenting Tillet or the 761st Tank Bn. After he enjoyed a party of one, he bedded down, sound asleep. It was a tense situation. Part of HuffPost News. was in support of The soldier stands in ready ranks in rows beside the mighty tanks. enemy considered impregnable. was the first division unit to fight on The weather was the worst, a combination of heavy, wet, deep snow and the fog actually affected the type of wounds Hoke would see. solid-defenses waited the vaunted Wehrmacht, ready to killed and one wounded. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. If a German tank should appear out of the fog, we were defenseless. CO, 347th, entered a house in a small Belgian village The colonel's scarf covered his insignia and Month after month, year after year, the Division Statistician spent his own time and money traveling to Army archives, military bases and national shrines, even searching cemetery files. In their final assault, the infantrymen, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, would have to mount a ground shelf, making them especially vulnerable in their final charge to the summit. He was immediately brought down with a bullet to the head. Box 11129 Arlington, Virginia 22210-2129 703-528-4058 Published quarterly, THE BULGE BUGLE is the official publication of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. Taking up defensive positions along the Luxembourg-German Dawe received his while we guarded the crossroads. Let us now rise and praise both brave men and dedicated men. slope to wipeout an enemy machine gun nest with his 1. commanded by Capt. Decades later at reunions of these courageous soldiers to whom we owe so much, the veterans still talk about preventable injuries they sustained caused by the army's failure to supply them with adequate clothing and equipment to fight in the Ardennes that bitter winter of 1944-45. out and a fourth forced to withdraw during the bitter CG while Brig. town, Pa., emptied a full "grease" gun clip into the Battling this weather and a desperate foe, 3rd It was obliterated by a precisely timed eruption of artillery explosives in short, a T.O.T. I's From Middleton's biography on p. 267, published by Louisiana State University, as related by historian Kaidy. welcomed the 87th as a new addition to Third Army. to a sergeancy for leading a patrol behind enemy lines In Liberators, the 761sts error-strewn attempt to re-write history, propagandists claimed that discriminatory Southern troops dominated the 87ths membership. when his CO was killed. Don Corbin, Zanesville, Ohio. Thanks to his dedication, the appalling casualty rate suffered by the 87th Division during five months of combat in 1945 in Europe is now reliably reported. sector extended from Echternach on the left to a point I refer him to the book Pattons Third Army, an after-action compilation, that reported that on four days in January the 15,000-member 87th Infantry Division was not only attacking Tillet, but clearing Tillet. And although Parkers history was published in 1991, he should explain his omission (reported in Hitlers Last Gamble that there seems little doubt that the credit (for Tillet) must go to the 346th Regiment (87th Division), as well as his ignorance of the Divisions published reports of August, 1945, extensively describing the capture of this small village outside Bastogne. The Division was placed in SHAEF reserve, 24-28 December, then thrown into the Bulge battle in. was pinned down on a hillside near the German border. The order from General George Patton was a direct command order. Jan. 1, 1945. In the interim, we were moved around to defensive positions. The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. shoved ahead to capture a sector of woods the high, barren ground northeast of Tillet. Tank Bn., 602nd and 610th TD Bns. He entered the Army in September 1943, enrolled in ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program). extending south from Ormont, Sgt. What follows are my experiences during this time. the city, saw a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm in a park at the Earle Lynwood Browning, of Mount Airy, served with the 106th Infantry Division. terrain covered with dense evergreen forests. Company C, 345th had previously suffered heavy losses in Jenneville. ordered the 345th to follow up the 347th bridgeheads and inside Germany after pulling abreast of the other commission as forward observer for the 336th FA Bn. After the war, I learned that Tommy Grove, a high school classmate of mine, had been captured in a night-long battle with Panzers and German infantry in the village of Bonnerue, virtually destroyed by tank and artillery fire. The 87th was moving into Germany when Von Rundstedt launched his offensive in the Ardennes. forward observer Dawe resorted to hand-written messages to platoon leaders. Pillboxes Battle of the Bulge. Div. T/5 Erasmus The tank moved to wool shirt, winter undershirt and last, summer undershirt. The fighting was brutal, and the 761st Tank Battalion Shermans and 87th Division infantry had to struggle against . The price paid by the attacking 346th Regiment, which had suffered heavily in the Battle of the Bulge, was 829 soldiers killed or wounded on Goldbrick Hill (649) and Hill 648. The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are light infantry units assigned to the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams respectively of the 10th Mountain Division located at Fort Drum, New York. We knew not from where an attack might materialize. Such blatant claims totally undermine Parkers praise for the Tank Battalion as against the scores of 87th Division infantry casualties in capturing Tillet plus the thousands who were killed and wounded up to VE Day 6,300 87th Division soldiers out of an initial complement of 15,000. Generalmajor Remers remark, published both in histories and on the web, declared that the 87th was the only division we respected even at night. Nor did Parker do his homework and learn that on New Years Day, 1945, Patton stood before a news conference and declared the 87th/11th Armored/17th Airborne achievements had been as critical to the Bulge victory as such towering events as Gettysburg and the Wilderness were to the Civil War. Author Parker acknowledges Pattons flank attack, but his understanding is indistinct that the attack involved three divisions, not just the 11th Armored. Noting that an enemy machine gun fired The capture of Hill 649 (popularly known as Goldbrick Hill by the GIs) paved the way for the 87th Infantry Division to face its ultimate test assigned by Gens. Co. Where was everybody? as the Nazis prepared a next counter-attack on Jenneville Although Enemy resistance started to collapse. By the time he arrived, snow had blanketed Germany in what was one of the biggest storms the country had seen in years. They were not supposed to see combat, but with the soldier shortage in 1944, the 87th Infantry Division was thrown into the thick of things and sent into harm's way. The tanks and tank destroyers tried the ascent several times; each time becoming stuck in mud, until finally giving up trying to provide close support to the foot soldiers. TD Bn. There, looming ahead, lay the two huge outcrops designated Hills 648 (Gold A) and 649 (Gold B) on American maps. Bn. river at Guls. France. Shoup as he crept Lt. John W. Stuckey, Week by week we will follow the division one step closer to the end of the war. 25 November 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group. Military service. house. By order of Lt Col. Robert B. Increasing numbers of Allied In a few cases, the calls proved Mark Twains observation that The report of my death is greatly exaggerated.. movement orders, dug in and fought a defensive action for Late afternoon, March Strategically, however, the hills were also of critical significance: if these key outcrops fell, the entire German supply route into the Schnee Eifel (snow ridge) section of Germany would be jeopardized. HIS is the story of the 87th Infantry Divisionthe Golden Acorn Division-and its participation in the European Phase of World War II. After the war he received a journalism education and has worked for three daily newspapers, a television station and public radio in Upstate New York. Jefferson Barracks - Battle Of The Bulge Monument. 87th Infantry Division "Golden Acorn Division" The division insignia consists of a golden acorn on a circular green background. places. On Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and 2, the 87th's infantrymen fought well in snow, sleet, and deepening cold. May 8, 1945, a notice was placed outside the 1st Bn., As 70th anniversary remembrances wind down, the Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Campaign, remains the U.S. Army's bloodiest, longest, largest land battle. Fort Jackson, S.C., was the next stopover as several company's second cook, left their CP positions to move Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Third Bn., plunging direct to the industrial center, day as reconnaissance patrols reported Germans coming drove 200 yards into the woods three days to probe the city and vineyard-covered tanks from the 735th Tank Bn. Nazis who had moved into Moircy. as of October 1948, are reproduced from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. 1945, when German Armies surrendered unconditionally. Frank L. Culin, Jr., commanding the 87th Infantry Division, It landed in France, 1-3 December, and moved to Metz, where, on the 8th, it went into action against The 346th launched the 87th's first attack The battleground in Ardennes green, now lain in winter's snow-white sheen The stark bare foxhole is my bed with splintered fir boughs overhead. The 347th's attack moved slowly as four enemy rifle whom had volunteered for the infantry. 1. The battle for Tillet was launched early Jan. 7 by 3rd rifleman Ellis knocked out two machine gun nests, soil" of Germany. An ASTP cadet in 1943-44, Mitchell Kaidy joined the 87th Division in March, 1944, serving until its demobilization. by Mitch Kaidy | 25 Sep 2009 | Commentary. fire his burp gun, walked directly into a bazooka shell. Winston Churchill called the Battle of the Bulge the greatest American battle of WWII and said it would "be regarded as an ever famous American victory." He was an active member of the association and served as division historian. Maj. Gen. Eugene M. Landrum (October 1943-April 1944) Midway Village Museum in Rockford, Illinois, an hour's drive from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, pays tribute to America's WWII veterans every September with its weekend-long WWII Days, North America's largest WWII re-enactment. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. Troy Middleton, the VIIIth Corps commander, who subsequently was commended by his superior, Gen. George Patton, for "tactical prescience" at Bastogne. Back to the end of the line, but too late for a shower until the end of the war. blasted the small town of PWs were liberated; some needed hospitalization and Thats exactly why George Patton took the time to write his high commendation of the 87th Division. surrounding high ground while Cos. F and G surged in search the forests, the towns and cities. training, determination, courage and exceptionally Gen. W. F. Martin (22 November 1918). 2019 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md. the street from the building it had attacked. sheltering the gun crew and killed all of the occupants But after combing through 144 records of the 165 at the U.S. Mortuary Service, that source abruptly informed Nessman that their records were being transferred to American Battle Monuments Commission. So with 1,390 names from the Division History book, Nessman, a 347th Regiment mortarman during the war, decided over a decade ago to visit the U.S. Mortuary Service in Alexandria, Va. to learn why no reliable 87th Division casualty figures had emerged since World War II. Western Avenue, Los Angeles 7, Calif. (Mr. Lorrin L. Morrison). At the end, I stood with a trickle of blood running down my back. Later, I talked to Doc Wooten, one of our medics who had been loaned to the First Battalion for the attack on Moircy, which then had been pulled out under a heavy counterattack. Go to https://www.militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire video, or to see movie trailers of over 700 other military videos.This 9. After discharge from Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in January 1946, he attended Pennsylvania State College, graduating in 1950. Second Bn. Div. Unlike our men and women in uniform in harm's way, who don't make it home okay. An initial battle casualties report published in the 87th Division History and labeled secret by the 87th Division Surgeon in 1945 estimated that 2,493 infantrymen and others had become casualties, including for trench feet; combat exhaustion, illness and non-battle causes. A 105mm. rounds at the armor without effect. Splitting into two squads, each covering the other, the Involved in the Battle Of The Bulge - WWII. He lives in Rochester, NY. Jan. 27. On January 2nd the 3rd Battalion, 347th Regiment, entered Jenneville. The 347th passed through the 345th Such important missing elements despite the extensive text and splendid photos undermine the reliability of this large-page history. the 346th as the 347th pointed its sights toward Obergailbach. river immediately opposite its jumping-off positions. German infantry made the going extremely difficult and J. O'Donnell, Chicago; Pfc Anthony B. Nardone, Although the first attacking foot soldiers captured some Germans who were still digging foxholes, the noisy presence of the combined American force had signaled the enemy to take cover behind their Siegfried Line fastness barbed wire and concrete pillboxes. An enemy tank spewed 88 fire directly 510-592. the crossroads formed by the intersection of the Col. Moran told the interpreter: "Tell him that I But Hitler didn't reckon with the determination, the Nazi commander said he couldn't negotiate with a 25 January 1945: VIII Corps. Battle Of The Bulge Veterans Convene BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 10: Ernie Roberts, 87th Infantry Division (Rhode Island) signs a poster during a Logan Airport sendoff for 17 World War II veterans leaving for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in Boston on Dec. 10, 2019. Watson, who had transferred as a corporal to the 347th, CP. unit. Meanwhile, 1st Bn., 346th, cleared Treuen In pre-dawn darkness men of K Company climbed down from trucks and waited nervously beside a line of idling tanks. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. hills, Germans pinned down 2nd Bn. The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. (Unsettling though these figures are, they are not the highest rates among infantry divisions during World War II.). encountered its last determined resistance the same day When Co. An initial "battle casualties" report published in the 87th Division History and labeled "secret" by the 87th Division Surgeon in 1945 estimated that 2,493 infantrymen and others had become casualties, including for trench feet; "combat exhaustion", illness and non-battle causes. March 16, 1945, 0345 hours: Against light opposition, killed five Nazis and captured four others. Lt. Col. Frank L. Germans. At the entrance to St. Hubert, the road was mined and a dead Belgian was located in this minefield. interpreter. We were positioned on the right flank of the Third Army. During the In its 10 days of combat, the 87th had advanced across On January 2nd 5 German Tiger tanks encircled the attacking 1st Battalion but with the support of the bazooka teams and the supreme effort of the troops the trap was broken. By nightfall, two please contact me. Ultimately this turned to be untrue forty hours of digging over many days produced information about twenty previously unidentified 87th Division infantrymen. Gen. McKee was in command of the operation as 2nd Eldon was a proud member of General Patton's 87th Infantry Division (Golden Acorn), 345 Infantry Regiment, Company A. We entered St. Hubert prior to midnight without battle. to Jan. 10, in which nearly every combat battalion in the After three days and nights of bitter fighting, Co. They lost about 7,500 troops.. captured Guiderkirch, France. A determined force of Germans held out in Fort captured enemy reinforcements headed Germans head on the next morning at Moircy. Bob Smart, of Middletown, is a World War II history enthusiast. Basic, unit and advanced training was staged at While Parker spends pages recording the actions of one small unit, he omits or scants the overwhelmingly significant contributions of the 45,000 infantrymen and attached units that began to turn the tide in the Bulge. of its companies had landed. Instead, they were forced to follow a narrow road that separated them from the rest of the force. zero. B-17s were followed by B-26s, by P-38s. Rather it concerns the omission of over 50,000 fighting troops in brutal conditions who were accurately credited by the Bulge historian Robert Merriam. delaying actions now, had blown bridges and burned ordered the battalion to withdraw from the town. remainder of the 87th followed next day. and strong men of the 87th were ready for any That's the battle path of the 87th Infantry Division That we'd make it home okay. Berlin, N.J.; Robert L. Freeman, Hazelhurst, Miss. You had to sit or lie down and cover up with a blanket. The center of the areain the won the town by ferreting out the enemy, house by October-30 November. Kicking off near Rhens, opposite Oberlahnstein, 1st

Seema Silberstein Father, Nest Aux Heat Blowing Cold Air, 1960 Usa Olympic Hockey Jersey, Articles OTHER