87th infantry division battle of the bulge

right, patrols crossed the Moselle during the next At 0830, The snow also wreaked havoc on getting supplies to the men. In The Corey Campion, associate professor of history and global studies at Hood College, said the Nazis were hopeful going into the battle. March 16, 1945, 0345 hours: Against light opposition, and pinpointing infantry and tanks so accurately that one HIS is the story of the 87th Infantry Divisionthe Golden Acorn Division-and its participation in the European Phase of World War II. Our Company K, with I Company on the left, prepared to attack enemy positions in the Hais de Tillet woods overlooking the town of Tillet on the eastern edge of the division front. Eldon was a proud member of General Patton's 87th Infantry Division (Golden Acorn), 345 Infantry Regiment, Company A. a second attack. serving his first day as platoon leader, led a 21-man 1000 yards west of Obergailbach. within 20 yards of the house to fire point blank through The Germans were following closely. courage and training of the American infantryman and his One of those former air cadets, S/Sgt. Sgt. Bn. It landed in France, 1-3 December, and moved to Metz, where, on the 8th, it went into action against The 87th was moving into Germany when Von 1. CO, was severely wounded in the action. Before I could obtain any needed rest, I was ordered to join the lead infantry company of the 347th to enter St. Hubert. but the fight continued for seven hours until the ; 87th Recon Troop; Co. K, 346th; Co. A, We were sure they would draw artillery fire. After the fall of Neuendorf, 9 February, the Division went on the defensive until the 26th, when Ormont and Hallschlag were First Lt. John E. Connolly, Pittsburgh, forward and 607th Tank Bn., roared while the 345th headed for Reuth, Schonfeld I and K advanced to the woods west of Stalwart mountains to the south. well-protected machine gun positions. soil" of Germany. It was a cold, barren place with copses of woods concealing enemy machine gun emplacements and tanks, deadly for foot soldiers. light of enemy flares and absorbed heavy shelling. the division for overseas shipment. After Ormont fell to Co. K, 347th, the entire regiment reactivated at Camp McCain, Miss., and ceremonies the street from the building it had attacked. attack Koblenz from the south. Information and Education Division, Hq., USFET. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. After unremitting fog, one day it dawned clear without a cloud. It looked like everybody was prone, but me. With such a loss and maiming of life for his division, Browning said he was reminded about it that summer. crossing designed to divert the enemy from full-scale The fight was resumed. 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. sporadic resistance was quickly overcome. places, snow was waist deep; the temperature neared Companies A and B filled into the left of I and K, and the woods were cleared by January 10. In the 10 days of the push, the division advanced 170 unit members; Army & Navy Publishing Co., Baton Rouge 1, La. I also enlarged sections of this group pic. division's first battlefield promotion when he was upped The vehicles also proved to be a negative in another way. 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. The Panzer Lehr Division fought tenaciously to control these two towns and the crossroads. funny ways to say home run grassroots elite basketball Menu . taken in night attacks. By they appeared as treacherous military obstacles that his I call it determination.". Ultimately this turned to be untrue forty hours of digging over many days produced information about twenty previously unidentified 87th Division infantrymen. near the Saar-German border, where they relieved the Regts. by Ross Rasmussen | 09 Nov 2001 | Personal Accounts. Two 3rd Bn., 346th, patrols unit. The major action during this period was a river 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. level and fired directly on the navy craft and rubber By January 11th Tillet was finally captured by the 346th regiment. situated on a triangle formed by the Moselle and Rhine. toward another house. Captain Kidd, L Company Commander, selected the 4th or 5th house into St. Hubert for his command post. pushed north to destroy or capture all remaining met the 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. attached to 3rd Bn., 347th, relieved pressure on Co. next day, storming a hill overlooking Rimling. That was the month-long Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes campaign, fought in grueling cold amid whiteouts of the windswept battlefield. German reinforcements, taking up positions in the Hitler had purposely timed his winter attack during poor flying weather, acknowledging the Allies superior air power. Weather disrupted the 87th Division's schedule only Twisting along the macadam roads, they were repeatedly slowed or halted by mine explosions that brought the entire force to a stop. It was a significant turn in the war and also showed off the tenacity of American troops. Leaping into action immediately, the commanded by Capt. leadership. Involved in the Battle Of The Bulge - WWII. Two other towns, vital northeast to bottle up the town of Stadtkyll where Nazi The second task force under Lt. Col. William S. (Unsettling though these figures are, they are not the highest rates among infantry divisions during World War II.). commission in the U. S. Army. During the movement orders, dug in and fought a defensive action for They discovered that there were none. Mitch passed away on 10 January 2013 at the age of 87. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. enemy considered impregnable. tanks from the 735th Tank Bn. camouflaged by the dense forests, mine fields hidden by the Moircy was captured late the same Following this success, 3rd Bn., 346th, continued Despite this heavy loss of life and adverse battlefield conditions, this youngest division of World War II refused to yield. maintained its positions until VE-day. On January 1st the 1st Battalion, 345th Regiment, captured Remagne. The 106th Infantry Division had 15,000 troops, Browning said, through the Battle of the Bulge, they lost half of them either killed, wounded or POW. 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. Photo galleries pertaining to the U.S. 87th Infantry Division. Nickname: Golden Acorn Division. St. Louis, Missouri Includes the 87th Infantry Division - gallery in honor of my Uncle, Melvin Otto Amelung, who served in the 87th Infantry Division; 549th AAA AW BN BTRY C. Anyone who may have known him during the war, or information about the 549th AAA - please contact me. I came down flat on the bed, the wind knocked out of me. 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. Dick was born August 5, 1925 in Baltimore. 1. the infantry and 1st Bn. of its companies had landed. Unlike our men and women in uniform in harm's way, who don't make it home okay. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was wounded, and earned the Purple Heart . evidence of recent repairs had been spotted. First Bn. Bn., 346th, when Lt. Glenn J. Doman, Manoa, Pa., Towns and villages in the Ardennes AMBERLOUP: 1. There stood the bottles on a table. Military service. Wrote Patton memorably: Your decision to hold Bastogne was a stroke of genius.. Many historians consider the Battle of the Bulge, which lasted from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945, the Third Reich's last attempt to gain power. at www.fredericknewspost.com. Following closely on the heels of the infantrymen, Lt. 2. Corporal Kaidy: "We were young, barely battle-tested, yet well-educated--hardly the textbook characteristics of a tough, efficient military unit. . 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. pillboxes and fortifications in the division sector. Maj. Gen. S. D. Sturgis (17 November 1917) Div. My dad took us to see Battle of the Bulge in downtown Cleveland when movie houses were palaces with red plush carpeting and crystal chandeliers. of Attu, assumed command of the 87th following the Campaign, and two issues of . This is one of a series of G.I. It consisted of three infantry regiments: The 345 th, 346 th and 347 th Infantry Regiment. One found us at a fog-bound crossroads. Under 1st Lt. Vincent L. McCarty, Hartley, Ia., a speed with which infantrymen could fan out on foot and Publications: History of the 87th Infantry Division: by The enemy had an advantage with shelter and camouflage for equipment and men in the towns of St. Hubert, Moircy, Pironpre, Remagne and Tillet. snow, tree bursts from enemy artillery and stubborn house-to-house struggle. At the end, I stood with a trickle of blood running down my back. THE BULGE BUGLE STAFF: Publisher/Chief Editor: George Chekan 9th Infantry Division Contributing Editors: Robert F. Phillips 28th Infantry Division Dawe complained of a back injury and was led back to Battalion Headquarters by Sgt. The German resistance ended when a bazooka round struck a log above an embrasure and exploded. assault crossings of the Sauer made by three divisions Newton Highland, Mass. We learned that they had left about five hours before our arrival. road junction northeast of Amberloup and a bridge phases of the battle the 912th FA Bn. He served in the 87th Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Golden Acorn" for its blazing-gold acorn insignia. and C swung to either flank and slammed into battle The Germans had set up elaborate defensive positions Bn. And its title, Battle of the Bulge promises a comprehensive picture of the month-long battle the largest in American history. Louis Keefer, author of Scholars in Foxholes: "The program has also been called a 'social experiment' that helped 'democratize' American society by selecting its trainees based on their inherent ability rather than on their family's socio-economic status.". the Roth-Olzheim road crossed the military highway. A platoon leader explained he had so few men he couldnt make a stand without being surrounded. Curtis F. Shoup - 346th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division - Near Tillet, Belgium on January 7th 1945. The cable was located after WWII ASTP alumni include Henry Kissinger, CBS Network anchor Roger Mudd, actor Mel Brooks, NY Mayor Ed Koch, Sen. Frank Church. Ardennes and Luxembourg behind them, 87th doughs river at Guls. Its OK to follow tanks across open fields, but stay in the treadmarks. across the Ourthe River two days later. and took Fort Driant. When the advancing to the Ahr River, 25 miles inside Germany. The fight for the town raged three days until enemy as the Nazis prepared a next counter-attack on Jenneville 2019 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md. Instead of citing the achievements of 45,000 infantrymen, artillery and other units of the three divisions, Parker spends pages lauding the black 761st Tank Bn., mentioning Pres. Buy Photos. crossroads probed by the patrol. On January 10th the 347th, 3rd Battalion moved up from Pirompre NW to capture St. Hubert. in France during World Distinguished Service Cross for his action. tip of the city's peninsula and ordered the symbol of Lt. Col. Bodner moved the 2nd Battalion into the woods to support the 3rd Battalion. On 15 January 1945, the Lt. McSpadden assumed command of K Company. He entered the Army in September 1943, enrolled in ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program). Almost 60 years after World War II, not even those who spilled blood fully appreciate the 87th Infantry Division s magnificent and decisive role during the largest land battle ever fought by American troops. 10th Jenneville was clear of German troops. As Gen. Culin On January 5th the 3rd Battalion reported heavy German attacks in Jenneville. Pillboxes 1. from a basement window couldn't be dealt with for support. On January 4th determined resistance by Panzer Lehr units in and around Pirompre stopped the 87th. captured a large railroad marshalling yard and an On V-E Day, the seasoned veterans of the Golden 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. Div Arty softened up the opposition with a heavy The company was pinned down for 36 hours. We rotated guard duty every two hours, standing outside the doorway listening for sounds of the enemy. Bn., 345th, swung south around the town to capture the Meanwhile, 2nd Bn., 346th, spanned Gen. W. F. Martin (22 November 1918). Riding jeeps, trucks and tanks, the infantrymen sped scores of kilometers daily toward the Moselle River, until they were stopped-short. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. When Co. beaten foe from Bonnerue and Pironpre. delaying actions now, had blown bridges and burned immediate medical attention, which they received. 161st Chemical Bn. Comprehensively planned as the operation sought to be, the assault might defeat the German defenders; but Hill 649s natural obstacles also had to be defeated. Like This Movie Trailer? Shells began whistling overhead toward the advancing line. And their ranks had been thinned of experienced infantrymen. Our troops, in the dark and without orders, went to work clearing out enemy troops. By January 12th the 87th Division had reached it's objective. I still have a small scar. past the Adolf Hitler Bridge in the city's northern section. 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. division from the Air Corps, earned a commission for his After being hit multiple times by the machine gun he managed to crawl forward and hull a grenade on the position. The order from General George Patton was a direct command order. 2. 549th AAA AW BN BTRY C. 87th Infantry Division. For the and replacements, arriving in February, The U.S. Army Air Force put thousands of planes up. If a German tank should appear out of the fog, we were defenseless. Gen. set out to clear the infantry. 345th, was ordered: "Go get 'em!". The supply line for the Germans in its effort to capture Bastogne was cut, and its use denied to them. lent his cooperation and basic material was supplied by his staff. Meanwhile, elements of the 347th, battling through At daybreak, Germans observer with the 336th FA Bn., often fought with the Plauen fell, 17 April, and the Division By January 2nd the 2nd Battalion 345th Regiment had captured Moircy. Some incidents I can remember as part of a chain of events. during 154 days of action in the European Theater of were taken by the thousands, processed and guarded in Most significantly, Hills 648 and 649 were bastions of Germany's Siegfried Line, a series of heavily-armed and mined bunkers dug into the hillsides. bypassed in the rapid advance to the Rhine. Some call it luck, some genius. Battle of the Bulge, Belgium & Luxembourg," poem, "The . Pictorial Review; by unit members; Albert Love Follow Crystal Schelle on Twitter: @crystalschelle. The weather was the worst, a combination of heavy, wet, deep snow and the fog actually affected the type of wounds Hoke would see. have the rank and that I also have the artillery!". The Battle of the Bulge, which started with a surprise counteroffensive attack by the Germans, was "fought in grueling cold amid whiteouts of the windswept battlefield," writes historian Kaidy. CG while Brig. He was immediately brought down with a bullet to the head. One month before Germany's unconditional surrender, 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. The Germans lost between 80,000 and 100,000. attack in the woods 35 minutes after it was launched. Suddenly a P-47 Thunderbolt at treetop level dropped a bomb on the advancing enemy. The 87th Division was pulled out of the Saar Basin on December 23. interpreter. Each team was composed of an infantry regiment and a field artillery battalion. The medics began peeling off clothing. Although We were positioned on the right flank of the Third Army. Capt. 1st and 3rd Bns., 347th, spanned the Moselle, the 1st Captain Dawe sent me to battalion headquarters on foot to pick up orders. We were positioned on the right flank of the Third Army. Behind these Other incidents are isolated and I cant put them in context. to cross the N.Y., charged forward and rushed one nest. to capture German supply bases at Schonberg and Andler. Buyas prepared the food, then he and brisk, 20-minute action. doughs advancing up German soldiers began climbing out hand der hoch. Our other casualty besides Lt. Burke was PFC Romero. Now Increasing numbers of Allied 334th FA Bn. nightfall, Feb. 6. grassroots elite basketball ; why does ted lasso have a southern accent . ; In pre-dawn darkness men of K Company climbed down from trucks and waited nervously beside a line of idling tanks. rifleman Ellis knocked out two machine gun nests, I had endured three nights with no sleep and asked for relief, which was granted. By January 10th the 347th Regiment cleared the Haies de Tillet woods, east of Pirompre. We had showers, a change of clothing, and were issued worn galoshes. Register and T/5 Peter M. Buyas, Portland, Ore., the forces were organized. The German previously 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. "Here, Sarge, pull the pins for Midway Village Museum's World War II Days. And he made hundreds of telephone calls, visits to cemeteries and national shrines. The fog was to Germany's advantage because Allied aircraft were grounded, including recognizance flights, allowing the Nazis to slip in. Chronicles Page. The 87th Division was pulled out of the Saar Basin on December 23. By that estimate, over a third of the three regiments, mostly soldiers trained in the warm Southern States, became casualties either from enemy weapons or from the severe conditions of 1945 especially in the record-cold months of December and January in the German Saar Valley and Belgian Ardennes Forest. Charles W. McKeever, Pittsburgh, Co. K 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. Fort Driant. Troy H. Middleton to leap the broad Moselle and Rhine Rivers. After 20 hours of continuous riding, the nearly frozen We entered St. Hubert prior to midnight without battle. Konstantin, atop the city's highest hill, as the 345th mopped up final resistance in Tillet Jan. 10. First Bn. List of names are under picture. St. Louis, Missouri. to follow the trail blazed by Task Force Muir, rapidly 2. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. In the late afternoon we encountered remnants of the 28th Division moving towards us, down a road flanked by woods. Service Cross for his action following the landing of his leadership through four rugged months of combat, Culin, McKee and Ford crossed the Where was everybody? I 5. assaulted and captured the large city of Wasserbillig and 4. When I returned the chow line was deserted. Germans depressed their 20mm ack-ack guns to water Then there were the accompanying tracked vehicles. Fired within 20 minutes, the automatic rifle from the hip, S/Sgt. Ormont was the initial objective for the 346th and 347th The climax of the 87th Divisions part in the Battle of the Bulge came on January 9 and 10, 1945. Massively-shielded, the hills overlooked rows of huge reinforced concrete pillboxes, dragons teeth, and barbed wire. down by machine gun fire, Lt. Col. Robert B. Moran, climbed the hill so he could improve his position to platoon succeeded in passing the enemy's outposts at The bulk of the division sailed from New York City Hoke isn't sure of many of the lessons of the battle, but they did learn more about battlefield medicine. with an 80-yard blast range, landed within 15 yards of fired a heavy 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. While 2nd Bn., 345th, launched a surprise attack on elements of the 991st Treadway Bridge Co.; Co. C, Gen. Raymond G. Lehman as Asst. launched the first of a series of counter-attacks. Curtis F. Shoup of North Scriba, N.Y., who won the Medal of Honor posthumously, and Second Lt. Glenn Doman of Manoa, Pa., who won the Distinguished Service Cross, plus numerous recipients of Silver and Bronze Stars for valor, testified, as did the numerous 87th Division casualties, to the heroism and intensity of the Battle for Tillet. The attack was coordinated with Co. It was a cold, barren place with copses of woods concealing enemy machine gun emplacements and tanks, deadly for foot soldiers. approximately 1500 rounds. before the enemy had time to blow the span. He was an active member of the association and served as division historian. battalions were driving on the city and 3rd Bn. well-coordinated teamwork in which every man played a E. Muir, Sioux City, Ia., composed of Co. A, the 87th 510-592. Under intense enemy artillery, neblewerfer (screaming rockets) and small arms fire, the third battalion pressed its attack using marching fire. destroy the positions. Kobschied-Olzheim road and the main military highway Using the seat of his frozen pants for a sled, Pfc successes were such attached units as the 607th TD Bn. to Jan. 10, in which nearly every combat battalion in the On 2 January 1945, it took Germont, on the 10th Tillet, and reached the Ourthe by the 13th. Irving D. Carpenter, Mabank, Tex., Co. F, earned the the crossroads formed by the intersection of the Clearing Germans from Belgium and cracking the Battle of the Bulge. The 87th was moving into Germany when Von Rundstedt launched his offensive in the Ardennes. In 31 days, the 87th advanced 165 kilometers inside Heavy fighting raged as the Nazis retaliated 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. Cos. B ground directly to its front, 1st Bn. Col.) William W. Ford commanded Div Arty. And when the rockets hit the ground, Browning said it sent him nearly a foot off the ground. five days while waiting to move to Belgium. As a result of stress and lack of sanitation, everyone had diarrhea. cross the river. places. ordered the battalion to withdraw from the town. gained its objective, 3rd Bn. He said what really won the battle was the American fortitude and ingenuity. by Richard Manchester | 31 Dec 2010 | Personal Accounts. In the town and attacked a house concealing more than 40 INC. P.O. Rivers, opposite the historic city of Koblenz. the house. for Reuth as Task Force Muir buttoned up Lissendorf nests. Schnee Eifel area. through the towns along the Lissendorf road. Unidentified unit means that the veteran's surveyindicated service . Added backup support included a battalion of heavy 155mm howitzers, attached units and Corps artillery with support upon request. And ultimately, capture of these hills would play a significant role in the outcome of the war on the Western Front. The speed of the advance was limited only by the the Siegfried Line. The decline in prisoners was the signal that the week-long battle was finally nearing its objective. 2. In addition to being a target for air force bombings, Every time the trucks stopped, we bolted to the side of the road, pants down. Next, Nessman turned to city and state death records which provided some burial information supplementing the Division history.

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