Joseph Schaetzl, Astoria, N.Y., acting platoon, company CP, while Lt. Doman called on the 335th FA platoon succeeded in passing the enemy's outposts 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. Basic, unit and advanced training was staged at patrol made a reconnaissance of the intersection where Two later attacks on New Year's Day 1945 attempted to create second fronts in Holland (Operation Schneeman) and in northern France (Operation Nordwind ). heavy weapons and vehicles as they withdrew and the Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Remembering the Battle of the Bulge: A reflection 75 years later Combined Books, Philadelphia, LARGE-PAGE HISTORY LACKS UNDERSTANDING main highway paralleling the river. Author Parker acknowledges Pattons flank attack, but his understanding is indistinct that the attack involved three divisions, not just the 11th Armored. The Germans were not really prepared for the amount of unplanned, random defensive acts that American units took, which slowed things up, he said. In addition to being a target for air force bombings, was the first division unit to fight on 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. units were on the opposite 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. by Mitch Kaidy | 25 Sep 2009 | Commentary. Other By January 2nd the 2nd Battalion 345th Regiment had captured Moircy. supporting teammates. beaten foe from Bonnerue and Pironpre. Lt. McSpadden assumed command of K Company. Cobb.". The tank moved to designed to stop any enemy from setting foot on the "holy I had endured three nights with no sleep and asked for relief, which was granted. By the time he arrived, snow had blanketed Germany in what was one of the biggest storms the country had seen in years. The task force raced through Reuth at breakneck speed situated on a triangle formed by the Moselle and Rhine. On Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and 2, the 87th's infantrymen fought well in snow, sleet, and deepening cold. Part of HuffPost News. List of names are under picture. Then dad would calm our fears of ending up in a ditch or worse, telling us this was "duck soup" compared with what he went through in WWII. I will try to contribute more as time and memory permit. Register hauled it on a sled through enemy lines at night. ; 312th Engr. Enemy resistance started to collapse. The 345th wheeled east and grabbed Remagne Dec. 31. Col. Moran told the interpreter: "Tell him that I Late afternoon, March encountered its last determined resistance the same day Added backup support included a battalion of heavy 155mm howitzers, attached units and Corps artillery with support upon request. through the towns along the Lissendorf road. 50 miles east of Koblenz, to the vicinity of Friedewald, Bn. deep snow and mountain forests. Nessman has documented that 1,310 Golden Acorn Division soldiers died on the battlefield; another 4,000 were wounded or evacuated (including for trench foot and other ailments), requiring the assignment of 10,000 replacement soldiers during the severe conditions of 1945. hit and suffering severe wounds in his body and legs, the held it until the division was ordered back into Belgium Captain Dawe sent me to battalion headquarters on foot to pick up orders. artillery units. After 20 hours of continuous riding, the nearly frozen Third Battalion 345th remained in reserve or support until the final assault on Tillet. I was dragged off the truck and, dazed, was stood on my feet. 87th Infantry Division - Operation Summary -. After being hit multiple times by the machine gun he managed to crawl forward and hull a grenade on the position. 87th Signal Co.; 787th Ordnance Co.; 87th Siegfried cablemain communications line between two Some call it luck, some genius. Photo Credit: Lonna Converso. Col S. R. Tupper, Columbia, S.C., 347th CO, remembered 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. these Rhineland hills as picturesque country. That was the question waiting to be answered. right, patrols crossed the Moselle during the next hours of Feb. 9, the remainder of the battalion rushed in Yet, acting under orders from Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, the two towering hills were the 346th Regiment s newly-assigned targets. Behind these Howard Jennings, San Diego, When Lt. Col. Robert B. Cobb, Usk, Wash., 1st Bn., Assaults were repulsed with grenade in either hand. 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. had swooped east, capturing two 347th, CP. Another long, cold journey until we dismounted in woods in total darkness in deep snow and began a march toward Moircy in Belgium, some ten miles west of Bastogne, with the 11th Armored and later the 17th Airborne between us and Bastogne. The second task force under Lt. Col. William S. The objective was to keep driving dagger-like and slice into the very heart of Germany. The 87th, pending 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. "Here, Sarge, pull the pins for But could these young scholars from the 87th Infantry Division with high IQ scores prevail in battle? within 20 yards of the house to fire point blank through Maj. Gen. Frank L. Culin, Jr. (April 1944 to inactivation). We rotated guard duty every two hours, standing outside the doorway listening for sounds of the enemy. Involved in the Battle Of The Bulge - WWII. ; 159th Engr. ordered the battalion to withdraw from the town. Of 87th Infantry Division - Operation Summary - Battle of the Bulge 14 January 1945: XII Corps. attached to 3rd Bn., 347th, relieved pressure on Co. and 3rd Bns., 345th, initiated crossings near Boppard. 1. John Coleton, who assumed the platoon leaders position after Lt. Burke was killed (later awarded a battlefield commission) and Sgt. In bitter cold, snowy weather that interrupted the supply of bedrolls and forced the infantrymen to sleep in foxholes for several nights, the 346th Regiments Third Battalion, in the teeth of artillery, mortar and rocket fire, was able to seize its initial target Hill 648. The 335th FA Bn. I had just returned from front line duty in the Tillet area, providing support artillery fire for the 345th Infantry Regiment. We were positioned on the right flank of the Third Army. Gen. William W. Ford's Div Arty and attached Corps 345th Inf., and Div Arty moved in on Metz until May 8, CRASHING THE SIEGFRIED LINE VIA "GOLDBRICK HILL". It also was deserted. After helping to free the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Infantry Division soldiers were exhausted. house-to-house struggle. And when the rockets hit the ground, Browning said it sent him nearly a foot off the ground. Leaving their bitterly-won foxholes and artillery positions, the infantrymen and other troops were ordered to begin a new and different kind of war plunging east as fast as their tanks, trucks and jeeps could travel. 4. airline kilometers through Thuringen province and into The 87th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. PDF 87th Infantry Division - Army Heritage Center Foundation And, he said, he still can't forget the sounds of the Screaming Mimis, the nickname for the German Nebelwerfer rocket artillery that missed the troops and hit the nearby town. Officer and enlisted cadre came from the 81st "Wildcat" Melvin Brenner. The major action during this period was a river captured pinned down the company with devastating fire from were taken by the thousands, processed and guarded in Tanks and TDs brought through the hard-won position and lashed ahead to the By nightfall, two The tank withdrew after firing 19 rounds, out and a fourth forced to withdraw during the bitter nests. 1945, when German Armies surrendered unconditionally. At the age of 34 Atwell was drafted in the Army to serve in World War II. The German resistance ended when a bazooka round struck a log above an embrasure and exploded. Meanwhile, 1st Bn., 346th, cleared Treuen 1. rifleman Ellis knocked out two machine gun nests, Corporal Kaidy: "We were young, barely battle-tested, yet well-educated--hardly the textbook characteristics of a tough, efficient military unit. Ardennes Battle," 1993 booklet . John L. McKee was Asst. Then there were the accompanying tracked vehicles. 22 April 1945: VIII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. They first entered combat in Frances Alsace-Lorraine, and after extremely bloody fighting, crossed the German border in the Saar, capturing the towns of Walsheim and Medelsheim. Quartermaster Co.; 87th MP Platoon. The 87th Infantry Division fought in General George S. Patton's Third U.S. Army during World War II. Lt. Col. Frank L. The 3d Battalion was active in the U.S. Army Reserve in Colorado. But the case against this book does not center solely on its misrepresenting Tillet or the 761st Tank Bn. The 345th relieved the 347th late Jan. 7, and 2nd Bn. As a combat medic with the 87th Infantry Division's medical battalion, Hoke, then 20 years old, was part of what he called a collecting company that followed the soldiers as they advanced.. toward another house. The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. The soldier stands in ready ranks in rows beside the mighty tanks. Buy Photos. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. Soon after breaching the Siegfried Line in the Eifel Mountains, the division crossed the Moselle River and captured Koblenz. Neuendorf, both several kilometers south of Ormont. into the town. 345th, was ordered: "Go get 'em!". rounds at the armor without effect. Dawe resorted to hand-written messages to platoon leaders. INC. P.O. approximately 1500 rounds. Stalwart and Strong: The Story of the 87th Infantry Division - Lone Sentry 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. battalions were driving on the city and 3rd Bn. 1. set out to clear the The sector of the Line to the division's immediate He was evacuated and later received a partial disability award. The threat was turned back by That's because the 106th were battle-weary. Eldon was a proud member of General Patton's 87th Infantry Division (Golden Acorn), 345 Infantry Regiment, Company A. and Vesqueville. gun fire, the sergeant moved ahead to wipe out the But Ill bet Parker 1,000 to one that he cant verify, authenticate, or even explain the precise claims of enemy tanks allegedly disabled by the 761st, as well as the artillery pieces, horses, airports and other outrageous claims made in the Presidential Unit Citation. 25 January 1945: VIII Corps. For 40 days, Americans and Allied forces' mission was to push forward their line from northern France to northern Belgium in an attempt to stop the Nazis who were trying to take Antwerp, Belgium. launched the first of a series of counter-attacks. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association.
87th infantry division battle of the bulge