#ga-ad {display: none;} 1. Major Butler was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 21 March 1944, and remained in command of the 395th until 30 April 1945, when he collapsed from exhaustion. The division consisted of troops from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. A. Gallagher assumed command on 8 February), the battalion conducted offensive operations in Germany, including the seizure of several German towns from 1 to 5 March. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of sixty tanks and big guns.[7]. The 99th Infantry Division arrived in this theater without previous combat experience early in November 1944. Upfront with Charlie Company: A combat history of Company C, 395th Infantry Regiment 99th Infantry Division | | ISBN: 9780963889225 | Kostenloser Versand … Butler's uncle, General Edward J. McClernand, fought in the Indian Wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor. [5], The regiment earned the sobriquet Butler's Battlin' Blue Bastards derived from the name of its single commander, its special fighting abilities, the battalion's color designation, and because the regiment was often lent out and belonged to no one.[5][15]:vii. Upfront with Charlie Company: A combat history of Company C, 395th Infantry Regiment 99th Infantry Division [Swanson, Vernon E] on Amazon.com. The 99th ID arrived in France in early November 1944. At beginning of period. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. The present members of the battalion are proud of the legacy of the World War II veterans, who paid in blood and tears for the fine reputation they so richly deserve. The 395th received the following campaign streamers: The entire regiment was recognized with the following unit decorations: A silver color metal and enamel device 37⁄32 inches (2.94 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Or. Your organization gave ample proof of the fact that it is a good hard fighting division and one in which you and each and every member of your command can be justly proud...[14], Major Butler was decorated with the Silver Star, the French Croix de guerre, the Belgian Fourragère, the Belgian Order de la Couronne, and the Bronze Star Medal with the Oak leaf cluster. Fighting in many areas was as fierce as ever, with fanatical SS troops fighting suicidal last stands. 394th Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division), History, January 1945. Accurate estimates of German wounded were not possible, but about 20 percent of the 326th Volksgrenadier Division were lost. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. Shield Argent, a buck's head attired of ten tynes couped Proper. They went into this battle without much combat hardening, but they held their ground. The unit crossed the Altmuhl (25 April), the Danube (27 April), and the Isar (30 April) Rivers as the war in Europe was coming to an end. On 1 November 1944, the 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, was put under operational control of V Corps, First Army. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. I decided to stage the night attack at Bergheim because my troops would be going across an open area about 500 yards (460 m) long and 400 yards (370 m) wide. the 99th Infantry Division—know why. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. 394th Infantry Regiment The men of the 99th Infantry Division, who wear the blue and white squares, taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, on their shoulder patch, were among those who denied the Nazis’ efforts to re-take the vital bridgehead. No one had anticipated such a rapid Allied advance. This did not turn out to be true. On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. No reserves were available . Net increase, January 1945. By the second day, German planners could plainly see that their objectives along the Elsenborn Ridge would not be taken. The 38th Cavalry Squadron (led by Lt. Col. Robert E. O'Brien) was deployed to the north along the railroad track between Mutzenich and Konzen station. The 395th hit the Germans with such terrific small arms and machine gun fire that they couldn't even remove their dead and wounded in their rapid retreat. The 99th Infantry Division … Following division level maneuvers in July 1944, the 99th boarded ships bound for England. Each of the three battalions had three rifle companies and a weapons company, armed with .30 and .50 caliber machine guns. In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. On order provide mobilization assistance to Army National Guard units as directed. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. 100th Infantry Home Page; 100th Infantry Division » 397th Infantry Regiment. April 12, 2011 May 4, 2011 / portraitsofwar. [12], To the north of Höfen lay a paved main road that led through the Monschau Forest, at whose eastern edge it forked. [18], Flag signed by the men of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment after seizing Bergheim, Germany, March 1, 1945, After a short period off the line, the battalion conducted offensive operations in Germany, including the seizure of several German towns from 1 to 5 March. The Army operated a program designed to capitalize on the large number of educated and intelligent recruits that were available. 2nd and 3rd Battalion cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes. A. Gallagher assumed command for the last few days of the war. 99th infantry division 393rd regiment. On 3 November 1944, the 395th Regiment disembarked at Le Havre, France. The program never fulfilled its promise, and the large number of "ASTPers" were dumped into the divisions to make good on personnel shortages in front line units. These would later prove instrumental in defending themselves from the attacking Germans and in protecting themselves when their own artillery fired on or just in front of their own positions, which happened at least six times over the next few weeks. 99th INFANTRY DIVISION; Return to Table of Contents. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 36 367 b. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500 m) long without any units in reserve. Lt. Col. McClernand Butler, commanding officer of the 395th Inf. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. Motto VIGILANS ET CELER (Vigilant and Swift). Hostilities ceased on 7 May 1945, and the battalion assumed occupation duties in Hammelburg and Bad Bruckenau until it was shipped home in the summer of 1945, and subsequently deactivated. On December 16th, 1944 this was the spot of the 18 men strong Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division under the command of the 20 year … T. E. Piersall and Pfc. The untested troops of the 99th Infantry Division had been … Again, the 39th Infantry Regiment … The town of Kuckhof cost the battalion dearly, with more than fifty casualties inflicted on one company alone (I Company). The shield is silver, the old color of Infantry. The 393rd, 394th, and 395th Regiments were put on line, each unit protecting approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) of front, roughly equivalent to one front-line infantry man every 91 metres (299 ft). The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. 399th in Action: Introduction and Dedication; The Regiment is Organized; Siege of Bitche; The Winter Line; Race to the Rhine; Heilbronn; Rat Race to Stuttgart; In Memoriam; 399th Narrative History November 1944 – June 1945. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. On at least six different occasions the battalion was forced to place artillery concentrations dangerously close to its own positions in order to repulse penetrations and restore its lines . When I got to Höfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. The 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, led by Lt. Col. McClernand Butler, occupied the area around Höfen, Germany, on the border with Belgium during early December. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II. In this case, a soldier in the 395th Infantry Regiment of the 99th Division snapped a photo during a firefight with Germans near a dike in Neustadt, Germany. On June 12th, the 9th Infantry Division began a series of battles which resulted in the race to the sea and the eventual sealing off of the Cherbourg Peninsula. With its sister battalions, the 1st, 395th Engineer and 2nd, 395th Field Artillery, the 3rd Battalion (TS) (AR) role is to train National Guard armor and infantry battalions across a three-state region and improve their combat readiness.[3]. On 1 February 1944, Major McClernand Butler assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment; he was promoted to LTC on 21 March. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 16 June 1931. A. Gallagher (1 May 1945 – 29 September 1945), Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve, Redesignated 17 October 1999 as the 395th Regiment and reorganized to consist of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions, elements of the. Specific units were charged with penetrating Germany's West Wall. The men of the 99th Infantry Division, who wear the blue and white squares, taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, on their shoulder patch, were among those who denied the Nazis’ efforts to re-take the vital bridgehead. After the battalion was inactivated on 29 September 1945, its colors remained folded for more than fifty years. 395th Regiment; Lineage and Honors Information as of 12 January 2018. [13] The first town they were tasked with capturing was Bergheim, "the door to the Rhine." The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3d Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script); The battalion colors remained folded for more than fifty years. The 99th Infantry Division, comprising the 393rd, 394th, and the 395th Infantry Regiments, arrived in England on 10 October 1944. American press reports from the European theatre foretold the imminent fall of the Third Reich, and many men in LTC Butler's battalion thought that the war just might be over before they got there. The 395th were moved by train and truck, and finally by foot, to front line positions near the German town of Höfen a few kilometers west of the Siegfried Line and near the Belgium-German border.