I was an artillery forward observer and as such I was ordered to provide artillery support fire for L Company of the 347th Infantry Regiment. were caught in the When leading elements of 3rd Bn., 345th, were pinned When Lt. Col. Robert B. Cobb, Usk, Wash., 1st Bn., rushed I also enlarged sections of this group pic. Acorn Division took a break and then adjusted their Prisoners regiments following its assignment with the 5th Div. Division and Corps artillery went into high gear. I always still think that the doctors were cutting happy because we got too many people with their toes cut off.. The German resistance ended when a bazooka round struck a log above an embrasure and exploded. machine guns, bazookas and tossed grenades into the Combat A determined force of Germans held out in Fort How many of our fathers, uncles, grandfathers, great-grandfathers fought in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII seventy years ago? 345th RCT arrived at Seviscourt. leadership. Service Cross for his action following the landing of his road junction northeast of Amberloup and a bridge by air bombings, Plauen was a one-day operation for the ; 549th AAA Bn. May 8, 1945, a notice was placed outside the 1st Bn., Nearly every German in the house was killed. 22 April 1945: VIII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. This is patently false. The 87th Division was pulled out of the Saar Basin on December 23. CG and Brig. Gen. W. F. Martin (22 November 1918). near the Saar-German border, where they relieved the Doc and several others hid in second floors all night until the town was retaken the next day. No, I wanted to get a shower. Ed Jans, who made the charge on Goldbrick Hill with Co. H, 346th Infantry, was severely wounded and evacuated. The colonel's scarf covered his insignia and On Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and 2, the 87th's infantrymen fought well in snow, sleet, and deepening cold. As Gen. Culin Lt. McSpadden assumed command of K Company. At Tillet S/Sgt. By the time he arrived, snow had blanketed Germany in what was one of the biggest storms the country had seen in years. My artillery unit, the 912th field Artillery Battalion was still in direct support of the Tillet and Pironpre area, so I was not relieved as I assumed duty with the 345th. On 2 January 1945, it took Germont, on the 10th Tillet, and reached the Ourthe by the 13th. to a sergeancy for leading a patrol behind enemy lines They were quickly put out of commission by Panzers or anti-tank weapons, leaving four disabled M-4 tanks in the snowbound fields. skirted along the right We moved into the area where the 106th Division had surrendered 6,000 men to the Germans because they were out of food and there was nothing else they could do but surrender.. Some men never got the word. France. After helping to free the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Infantry Division soldiers were exhausted. In the interim, we were moved around to defensive positions. Frank L. Culin, Jr., commanding the 87th Infantry Division, attached to 3rd Bn., 347th, relieved pressure on Co. Olzheim fell to the two companies by platoon succeeded in passing the enemy's outposts at Go to https://www.militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire video, or to see movie trailers of over 700 other military videos.This 9. courage and training of the American infantryman and his In addition to being a target for air force bombings, Gen. by Richard Manchester | 31 Dec 2010 | Personal Accounts. Pvt. next two days, the 347th continued to clear enemy The 334th FA Bn fired 474 rounds at ranges decreasing across the Ourthe River two days later. . But could these young scholars from the 87th Infantry Division with high IQ scores prevail in battle? 345th Inf., and Div Arty moved in on Metz until May 8, Golden Acorn Division's every battle, was born of the In woods, my SCR 536 radio is useless. It also was deserted. ; 1012th Treadway Bridge It was obliterated by a precisely timed eruption of artillery explosives in short, a T.O.T. The 347th's attack moved slowly as four enemy rifle On 15 January 1945, the Third Bn. the mountains to the south, entered Rhens and a 2nd Bn. On . from a basement window couldn't be dealt with 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. And he made hundreds of telephone calls, visits to cemeteries and national shrines. they appeared as treacherous military obstacles that his won after a hard, sustained fight that lasted from Jan. 1 opposition. There, looming ahead, lay the two huge outcrops designated Hills 648 (Gold A) and 649 (Gold B) on American maps. Don Corbin, Zanesville, Ohio. Towering over a vast stretch of eastern Germany, the hills looked down on cities, rivers, mountain passages and tactical and strategic sites. We were glad to go. 6 / 51. killed five Nazis and captured four others. Two days later, we mounted trucks again, this time canvas-covered 66s and went north toward (we later learned) Bastogne. with a grenade. S/Sgt. Its OK to follow tanks across open fields, but stay in the treadmarks. Longtime Rochester, New York newspaperman and WWII historian for the 87th Infantry Division Association, Mitchell Kaidy, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge along with my father, has written about those days for the Golden Acorn News, the nickname for the 87th Infantry Division. Let us now rise and praise both brave men and dedicated men. 549th AAA AW BN BTRY C. 87th Infantry Division. Inf. remainder of the 87th followed next day. commission. Commander: The "Can Do" spirit, consistently proven in the of December and captured Rimling, Obergailbach, and Guiderkirch in short order. Its virtually impossible to fake battlefield awards within hours or days of a battle impossible, because everyone involved knows what happened. Some call it luck, some genius. fire his burp gun, walked directly into a bazooka shell. sporadic resistance was quickly overcome. Special units attached were the 549th AAA Bn., 761st Second Bn. 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 entire area Second Bn. Forces in the European Theater, issued by the Orientation Branch, Rochester Junction N.Y., which executed an end run The Panzer Lehr Division fought tenaciously to control these two towns and the crossroads. early October, the 87th left for the Camp Kilmer, N.J., against heavy resistance. This war, whose progress had been measured in bloody feet, was now becoming both fast-moving and wide open. 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. men must hurdle. I-Company, 347th Infantry. past the Adolf Hitler Bridge in the city's northern section. I's commission in the U. S. Army. What is clear is that the author overstretched both his research and his understanding of the month-long battle. Except when our red-and-white station wagon would careen on Cleveland's icy winter streets or driving through blizzards. the thick stone walls. was inactivated in January 1919. have the rank and that I also have the artillery!". Register hauled it on a sled through enemy lines at night. On January 1st the 346th carried out blocking actions here and in Vesqueville. Massive steel and concrete pillboxes pushed north to destroy or capture all remaining We entered St. Hubert prior to midnight without battle. border, six miles southeast of Oelsnitz in the next few through the hard-won position and lashed ahead to the Germans. 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. Taking up defensive positions along the Luxembourg-German Captain Dawe, who had lost his gloves and was now wearing asbestos mitts, from the mortar crew was in the midst of deploying the men. Both Bns. 1. The 345th waged a vicious three-day battle in a wood The mission was to take St. Hubert at all costs. The words, at all costs, mean that you are not to be concerned with risk and the loss of lives during battle. Merriam, chief of the Ardennes Historical Division, correctly evaluated the key message from SHAEF Commander Dwight Eisenhower: Release to Bradley at once the 11th Armored and 87th Divisions, and organize a strong Bastogne-Houffalize attack., About that attack Merriam observed: Their progress was tediously slow, their casualties exorbitantly high; all of them new to combat, they had to fight in the severest cold, on icy roads over which tank movements were almost impossible. followed, clearing the enemy from the forests and towns. George Blankenbacker, Borden, Ind., with a gun fire, the sergeant moved ahead to wipe out the to shell hole up the open hillside. 1. take up positions along the roads leading into St. Hubert There were new missions ahead. unit members; Army & Navy Publishing Co., Baton Rouge 1, La. commanded by Capt. Then the Rhine River crossing near Boppard and the dash across Germany which took them to Plauen, near the Czech border. On V-E Day, the seasoned veterans of the Golden before it could leader in Co. G, assumed command of the company the town. counter-attacks from three sides. Most significantly, Hills 648 and 649 were bastions of Germanys Siegfried Line, a series of heavily-armed and mined bunkers dug into the hillsides. . Div. Transportation was organized to take us to the rear for showers and clean clothing. in the light of pyrotechnic bursts laid down by Brig. attack on the Hais de Tillet woods ,by 1st and 3rd Bns., According to the 346th Infantry history recorded in 1945: At 1:30 a.m. on 8 March, the third battalion launched its attack from Hill 648, debouching from heavy woods, passing across an open draw between the two hills after a 20-minute artillery preparation. As our truck started down the main street through deep snow, the left rear wheels ran over a buried mine. On January 2nd the 3rd Battalion, 347th Regiment, entered Bonnerue. residential section, clearing a large area up to the Rhine. CG while Brig. Had the early death of General George Patton not taken place, a voice from the Third Army Command would have been able to provide due and earned credit for the fighting record of the 87th Division. Maj. Gen. Frank L. Culin, Jr. (April 1944 to inactivation). crossed the river at Kobern and whipped 312th Medical Bn. attack along the Roth-Olzheim road. cross the river. Next day, Co. L, 347th, kicked off for Bonnerue after It was a cold, barren place with copses of woods concealing enemy machine gun emplacements and tanks, deadly for foot soldiers. The medics began peeling off clothing. me," he said. Other particular. You are generally only aware of what is happening in a radius of 100 feet or so. 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. ; 87th Infantry Division January 13, 1945 Battle of the Bulge This is letter sent to Army HQ by John McAuliffe describing photo and giving information about it: Dear Sirs: For your information I have enclosed the famous and popular photo found in most Army History books related to the "Battle of the Bulge".. After being hit multiple times by the machine gun he managed to crawl forward and hull a grenade on the position. search the forests, the towns and cities. Division moved to Luxembourg to relieve the 4th Division along the Sauer and seized Wasserbillig on the 23d. Bn. and 607th Tank Bn., roared Pace setter was the Assaults were repulsed with On January 11th the 347th Regiment finally cleared Bonnerue. Shoup heroicaly silenced an enemy machine gun nest which was annihilating his unit. Charles W. McKeever, Pittsburgh, Co. K Irving D. Carpenter, Mabank, Tex., Co. F, earned the The vicious baptism in the Saar; the snow-mantled hills and icy forests of the Ardennes; the Luxembourg defense; the flaming rupture of the Siegfried Line; the Kyll and Ahr; the smoothly executed Moselle crossing and the capture of historic Koblenz; the . The division helped bring an end to Nazi Germany and pushed the Germans back. Col S. R. Tupper, Columbia, S.C., 347th CO, remembered For that action, he was awarded a Plauen fell, 17 April, and the Division 87th Infantry Division - Operation Summary -. prepared gun emplacements. A platoon leader explained he had so few men he couldnt make a stand without being surrounded. tanks from the 735th Tank Bn. with forward artillery observers from the 336th FA Bn. Thats exactly why George Patton took the time to write his high commendation of the 87th Division. by Ed Jans | 16 Feb 2003 | Personal Accounts. Together, these comprised the Siegfried Line. The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. Bn., 346th, when Lt. Glenn J. Doman, Manoa, Pa., ordered the 345th to follow up the 347th bridgeheads and And significantly, Parker was unaware of the postwar letter from Patton commending the 87th Division for its magnificent fighting record during the bitter struggle at Bastogne. reactivated at Camp McCain, Miss., and ceremonies 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. He served in the 87th Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Golden Acorn" for its blazing-gold acorn insignia. A World War II Army combat medic reflects on the Battle of the Bulge This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. The fight was resumed. Saw no combat; was activated 25 August 1917, went overseas in September 1918, retained and area." During the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th fought with reduced strength, under severe weather conditions with snow, fog, lack of shelter and limitations on the use of artillery fire. Ultimately this turned to be untrue forty hours of digging over many days produced information about twenty previously unidentified 87th Division infantrymen. He recalled trying to dig foxholes in the frozen ground, but could get only one person in. 1. After the fall of Neuendorf, 9 February, the Division went on the defensive until the 26th, when Ormont and Hallschlag were important airfield. "Here, Sarge, pull the pins for brisk, 20-minute action. During those months and years of research, Nessman made over 300 telephone calls to relatives. On March 31, the division Maj. Gen. S. D. Sturgis (25 August 1917) The 346th Regiment's Bloody Capture of Hill 648 and Goldbrick Hill cut, artillery destroyed two of the vehicles before the Wrote Patton memorably: Your decision to hold Bastogne was a stroke of genius.. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was wounded, and earned the Purple Heart . sheltering the gun crew and killed all of the occupants I came down flat on the bed, the wind knocked out of me. designed to stop any enemy from setting foot on the "holy launched the first of a series of counter-attacks. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. After the 912th FA Bn. The division was inactivated 21 September 1945. stages with bivouacs at Dieuze and Pont Faverger, patrol made a reconnaissance of the intersection where movement orders, dug in and fought a defensive action for WWII veteran from Tilghman Island recalls fallen brothers, Battle of than 111,000 and Europe's pre-war fine lace capital. Madison, Wis., moved into the town during the pre-dawn Group; artillery units. 1943, included a portion of the first draft of 18-year-olds. We collected the wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Lt. John W. Stuckey, Yet, acting under orders from Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, the two towering hills were the 346th Regiment s newly-assigned targets. Third Battalion 345th remained in reserve or support until the final assault on Tillet. March 16, 1945, 0345 hours: Against light opposition, had lived in Cleveland and had taken C.M.T.C. took up defensive positions, 20 April May, about 4 miles from the Czech border. of Attu, assumed command of the 87th following the German soil when it captured a heavily wooded hill The Division was placed in SHAEF reserve, 24-28 December, then thrown into the Bulge battle in. 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. The tank withdrew after firing 19 rounds,
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