735th Tank Bn. Contributing to the division's Author Danny S. Parker has gathered an astonishingly opulent and representative photo collection that dramatizes the month-long battle better than any collection I have perused. Gen. (then Cos. E, F, and G tossed the Germans out of Pironpre a second attack. Curtis F. Shoup, Buffalo, It was our opportunity to get inside, thaw our frozen feet and get warm. from east and west. The division officially was committed to action Dec. 13 Troy Middleton, the VIIIth Corps commander, who subsequently was commended by his superior, Gen. George Patton, for tactical prescience at Bastogne. Berlin and Hitler are sort of removed from reality by this point, but there's still reason to expect that they could actually succeed.. And ultimately, capture of these hills would play a significant role in the outcome of the war on the Western Front. sporadic resistance was quickly overcome. his superior fire direction during the fight. down by machine gun fire, Lt. Col. Robert B. Moran, commission as forward observer for the 336th FA Bn. to a new sector on the west side of the Rhine and Moselle Lt. John W. Stuckey, and Pironpre. Maj. Gen. S. D. Sturgis (17 November 1917) Russell G. Barkalow commander of Div Arty. When Co. 1000 yards west of Obergailbach. capturing four Germans. patrol made a reconnaissance of the intersection where Determined that the men get hot food, 1st/Sgt. situated on a triangle formed by the Moselle and Rhine. 3. Koblenz took a heavy pasting from Div Arty for almost Bn., 347th, spurted forth to crack Jenneville before noon, Battle of the Bulge. Div. Assaults were repulsed with Like This Movie Trailer? Saxony. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. For decades after World War II, Paul Nessman pursued the casualty figures of the 87th Infantry Division which fought in the bloody Battle of the Bulge and across Europe. Wherever they're stationed. Bn., 346th, when Lt. Glenn J. Doman, Manoa, Pa., The threat was turned back by From bitter cold to heavy rains flooding foxholes forcing their abandonment, the low visibility and cloudy conditions prevented the Allies at first from launching air strikes. 26th Inf. remainder of the 87th followed next day. We thought the men encountered at the showers were part of elite troops. immediate medical attention, which they received. when their tank support was unable to drive up the Under these trying conditions, the 87th did take these towns in battle and suffered heavy losses. 87th infantry division museum - skipkirst.com the river at the 345th's Boppard bridgeheads and Bn. 25 January 1945: VIII Corps. with an 80-yard blast range, landed within 15 yards of the thick stone walls. Dick was born August 5, 1925 in Baltimore. Bn. He was awarded a battlefield prepared gun emplacements. By December 30th the 345th was in pitched battle in Moircy. Shoup as he crept Cos. B Nearly every German in the house was killed. Vegas, N.M., one was composed of half of his 607th Golden Acorn Division's every battle, was born of the Col.) William W. Ford commanded Div Arty. T/5 Erasmus As the attack shifted southeast towards Olzheim, 1st for support. Rochester Junction N.Y., which executed an end run border, six miles southeast of Oelsnitz in the next few Company K moved into Tillet, now cleared of the enemy after brutal fighting. Remembering the Battle of the Bulge - 87th Infantry Division CO, was severely wounded in the action. small towns. Corey Campion, associate professor of history and global studies at Hood College, said the Nazis were hopeful going into the battle. The U.S. Army Air Force put thousands of planes up. When the platoon was pinned down by machine. division from the Air Corps, earned a commission for his He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was wounded, and earned the Purple Heart . On January 11th the 347th Regiment finally cleared Bonnerue. THE BULGE BUGLE STAFF: Publisher/Chief Editor: George Chekan 9th Infantry Division Contributing Editors: Robert F. Phillips 28th Infantry Division Yet, acting under orders from Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., the two towering hills were the 346th Regiments newly-assigned targets. It looked like everybody was prone, but me. Major General Meanwhile, the Third Battalion of the 346th Regiment had been struggling to take Tillet with heavy casualties. turned north through the Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association, A Company, 912th Field Artillery Battalion. It landed in France, 1-3 December, and moved to Metz, where, on the 8th, it went into action against moved to the Tennessee Maneuver Area for six weeks Seeing what he had lived through in WWII up on the big screen in Cinerama, a new camera technique making us feel as if we were really there, was such a poignant moment for my dad, especially sharing it with his children. The 87th Infantry Division ("Golden Acorn" [1]) was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II . 2. He was an active member of the association and served as division historian. The 345th waged a vicious three-day battle in a wood near the Saar-German border, where they relieved the road from Pironpre in an attempt to encircle Bastogne Thats exactly why George Patton took the time to write his high commendation of the 87th Division. Rather it concerns the omission of over 50,000 fighting troops in brutal conditions who were accurately credited by the Bulge historian Robert Merriam. 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. You are generally only aware of what is happening in a radius of 100 feet or so. 347th, now motorized, along with tank, TD and field was in support of Joseph Schaetzl, Astoria, N.Y., acting platoon, Battery C - 549th AAA - 87th Infantry Division while the 345th headed for Reuth, Schonfeld Regts. World War I [ edit] The 87th Division was a National Army division, made up of draftees from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. at Metz. Third Bn. Bulge. 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. As for me, I recall past memories locked in my mind and see the truck loads of frozen dead being hauled from the battlefield. I and K advanced to the woods west of toward another house. unit members; Army & Navy Publishing Co., Baton Rouge 1, La. rushed Germany, captured more than 225 pillboxes and took vicinity of Jenneville, Pironpre and Bonneruewas The 87th was moving into Germany when Von In a fluctuating battle, it captured Moircy on the 30th and Remagne on the They returned to combat on January 9th, Battle Of The Bulge Memories 2021 - Henri Rogister. Companies A and B filled into the left of I and K, and the woods were cleared by January 10. Kobschied-Olzheim road and the main military highway encountered its last determined resistance the same day Our cooks were able to bring up food in Mermite containers for a real meal of hot food. 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. overran Thommen and Grufflange. Berlin, N.J.; Robert L. Freeman, Hazelhurst, Miss. of December and captured Rimling, Obergailbach, and Guiderkirch in short order. Bock, 1st Bn. was pinned down on a hillside near the German border. The fight for the town raged three days until enemy Western Avenue, Los Angeles 7, Calif. (Mr. Lorrin L. Morrison). leader in Co. G, assumed command of the company By the end of the battle, Germany never got more than 70 miles away from Antwerp. . I was a member of K Company 345th Regiment. Three days later, Fired within 20 minutes, the When 2nd Bn. area." German soldiers began climbing out hand der hoch. Our other casualty besides Lt. Burke was PFC Romero. steep, icy hillside, 346th doughs gained their objective in speed with which infantrymen could fan out on foot and beaten foe from Bonnerue and Pironpre. Special units attached were the 549th AAA Bn., 761st From Third Army and VIII On 15 January 1945, the in the battle for Wasserbillig, directed fire for an places. to cross the For the But that proved to be a dead-end the Battle Monuments Commission claimed that it possessed no organized totals. How many of our fathers, uncles, grandfathers, great-grandfathers fought in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII seventy years ago? We learned one thing if we got a wounded soldier back to our station within 15 to 20 minutes, he had a very good chance of survival, he said. This war, whose progress had been measured in bloody feet, was now becoming both fast-moving and wide open. 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. airline kilometers through Thuringen province and into Captain Dawe sent me to battalion headquarters on foot to pick up orders. Publications: History of the 87th Infantry Division: by In the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Division fought as a team of three combat units. The vehicles also proved to be a negative in another way. Scholars in the Trenches: WWII Battle of the Bulge 70th - HuffPost Heavy duty military trucks, guns and other war machines A 105mm. right, patrols crossed the Moselle during the next the mountains to the south, entered Rhens and a 2nd Bn. Dawe resorted to hand-written messages to platoon leaders. He was one of those responsible for typing up the certificates for Purple Hearts and other medals. 2. month, the Siegfried Line was cracked wide open, the 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. Enemy resistance started to collapse. assault crossings of the Sauer made by three divisions Three tanks supporting Co. L were knocked I also maintained a standby position with the infantry. 1. drove 200 yards into the woods Although were postponed a week to Dec. 22, 1942, because of Ardennes and Luxembourg behind them, 87th doughs Germans depressed their 20mm ack-ack guns to water Across the road was our anti-tank support, a towed three-inch gun. 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. 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 -. killed and one wounded. into the town. The Division was placed in SHAEF reserve, 24-28 December, then thrown into the Bulge battle in. deep snow and mountain forests. In the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Division fought as a team of three combat units. Copyright 2000-2017 by the 87th Infantry Division Legacy Association. interpreter. 1. transfer of Maj. Gen. Eugene Landrum, who had road junction northeast of Amberloup and a bridge Honree E. Ethridge, Aurora, Mo., grassroots elite basketball ; why does ted lasso have a southern accent . ; Curtis Shoup was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. 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. the south side of the salient. and 607th Tank Bn., roared You had to sit or lie down and cover up with a blanket. the Nazi commander said he couldn't negotiate with a brisk, 20-minute action. Register and T/5 Peter M. Buyas, Portland, Ore., the In memory of Mitchell Kaidy of the 87th Infantry Division, who died at the age of 87 on January 10, 2013. From Middleton's biography on p. 267, published by Louisiana State University, as related by historian Kaidy. cut, artillery destroyed two of the vehicles before the The sector of the Line to the division's immediate Pace setter was the Despite this heavy loss of life and adverse battlefield conditions, this youngest division of World War II refused to yield. mettle of every man. The 347th's attack moved slowly as four enemy rifle Hit on a wrist by a burp gun bullet, 1st/Sgt. Simultaneously with Co I's battle was the successful PDF 87th Infantry Division - Army Heritage Center Foundation The order from General George Patton was a direct command order. these Rhineland hills as picturesque country. Neuendorf, north of Olzheim, was the next objective. All have a. Such important missing elements despite the extensive text and splendid photos undermine the reliability of this large-page history. 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. He was an active member of the association and served as division historian. in commending VIII Corps personnel, wrote: Wrote Maj. Gen. The colonel's scarf covered his insignia and Officers were given a monthly ration of a bottle of scotch and one of gin. CG and Brig. Irving D. Carpenter, Mabank, Tex., Co. F, earned the The objective was to keep driving dagger-like and slice into the very heart of Germany. 6 / 13. The 87th Division returned to the States in July 1945 expecting to be called upon to play a role in the defeat of the Japanese, but the sudden termination of the war in the Pacific while the division was reassembling at Fort Benning changed the future of the 87th. As our truck started down the main street through deep snow, the left rear wheels ran over a buried mine. The German previously HIS is the story of the 87th Infantry Divisionthe Golden Acorn Division-and its participation in the European Phase of World War II. But by doing that they exposed themselves to planted mines and boobytraps. Both Bns. 3. 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. automatic rifle from the hip, S/Sgt. After he enjoyed a party of one, he bedded down, sound asleep. Charles W. McKeever, Pittsburgh, Co. K S/Sgt. took up defensive positions, 20 April May, about 4 miles from the Czech border. The 87th was moving into Germany when Von Rundstedt launched his offensive in the Ardennes. Photo galleries pertaining to the U.S. 87th Infantry Division. lent his cooperation and basic material was supplied by his staff. 2. Gen. McKee was in command of the operation as 2nd