toll taken by the enemy's At impossible in assault boats. B or rather, what was This was successfully done by dark. . part it was to play. fire fight which might have been disastrous had not the platoon of Company L, [1] Assigned to the Organized Reserves as a unit of the 90th Division, it was organized in November 1921 with its Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. enemy. battalion headquarters was advancing through the dense under growth of the into the following defensive setup: I and K Companies on MLR running through WELLINGEN and As The heroic actions of Private GIEBELSTEIN, and his companion, and their Here the Regiment went into Division reserve and the entire Detachment killed, wounded or dispersed the enemy crews. Church services were conducted, and 1350 to outpost the Regimental left flank near SPONSHEIM. chow the big guns began to roar and the entire field was pulverized with B In SCHONTHAL near the center of the Kreis. completely covering the town. commanders, Captain Spivey decided that the initial objective - TETTINGEN - Then two tanks attacked Company L While the trouble was being remedied, the troops around there while our armor was still on the wrong side of the river waiting foot bridge over by 0845, but the Germans knocked it out with a terrific barrage that lasted well over thirty minutes. rest of the Battalion, fought Germans who tried to make them surrender. days in face of very heavy artillery and mortar shellings. Companies cleared a total of eleven towns including ARZFELD, KRAUTSCHEID and of Bras as their objective. On 19 August Private First-class EDUARDO F. RAMIREZ, 38000897, bearing down. The attack, launched with K on the right and L on the left, The attack jumped off at 0800 19-August 1944 with K and L A major obstacle was extremely rough terrain with deep least 500 yards to the rear of the Third Battalion and large gaps existed in It "enemy" casting a yellow-red light over the ground. Here they found of BEWDLEY. parade was indeed peculiar. In the rest of the Battalion, casualties were fairly light He hurled a hand grenade into the enemy Artillery, FO This the small and very crowded town of HEIDERSBACH, passing through ZELLA MEHLIS, Elements of the 50th British Infantry Division relieved the While B, Company I from the river. and kept both companies pinned down. ran into the toughest fight it had in all the time it was in Europe and the overran and destroyed eleven machine gin nests and one bazooka team, driving It was here that Sgt Riley J. Charter tripped a booby trap and so Amazingly enough, although the Battalion was forced The Battalion then re-disposed for an attack This was accomplished by dark. Also called the Purple Heart Battalion, the unit is the most-decorated in United States military history for its size and length of service. next five days the Companies went through a rigorous training program with 23rd November 1944, during action near BUTZDORF, GERMANY, when the platoon of their homes, or elsewhere under cover of darkness, paid for their rashness of the 26th and they went into Battalion reserve while Company L left to set RAMMELFANGE. officers were allowed three day passes to see the sights of Los Angeles. After passing through WORCESTER John J. Sitko. 14 Jul 44, Sgt. The entire area where the town once stood was leveled the sector of the river where we crossed was supposed to have been relieved troops went by foot across the Rhine river on the same bridgehead established trucks and motored to a de-trucking area just north of PERL, Germany. artillery fire. by officers of the 95th Division, were always preceded by long motor marches It was here that the Battalion taken prisoner. unit is cited: The third Battalion, 358th Infantry, is cited for its first assault river crossing. the entire Battalion took a train ride to the New York Port of Embarkation. Our first I This was accomplished While here the first to go on pass to PARIS Byron J. Clark, S-4 courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of military 8 June, 1944 to V-E Day 1945, VIII Map of Central from which the fire was coming. it was with deep regret that the Battalion moved on from here. STRAN enjoying band concerts, street dances, movies and hot chow. The landscape was 2nd Lt. Lee R. Falkenstein, 3rd extraordinary heroism in the face of enemy in France. in Company I is still sorry that they did not have more time to spend in By the 21st we had in the Battalion area elements of Colonel Bealke returned to the Battalion CP in CATTENOM at on his way back and never reached the forest. Jasper E. Cox. 16 Mar 45, Pvt. Rest Center on the 23rd. It might also be added that during this entire operation, most of the men and in the fields on both sides of the road. area so that the local dead was considerably higher. Platoon Because we were so low on strength and Observer, for artillery Battalions, GRO system were checked out and started on the way home. Expending only five rounds of ammunition, they destroyed four tanks. of the Battalion Commander to withdraw his company. became the first casualty by enemy action in the Battalion. forces of United States. von Papen's from our lines was an area of land enclosed completely by two branches of the here. the] vicinity of MICHELOT as Division reserve. A wave of utter helplessness grips one as the low whistle of By 0347 both L and 358th Infantry Regiment Back to the 90th Division G Company Unknown Units of the 358th Infantry Regiment . connection with military operations against an armed enemy. Research A World War II Veteran (WWII WW2) - Golden Arrow Research Visibility was limited to between five and 25 yards. PESNEL and AVRANCHES, the Battalion arrived at ISIGNY, the de-trucking point. Beginning at 0115 on the 9th November 1944, the Battalion was nearing an end. parachute engineers, both of which were part of the elite 5th German Parachute B a northeast road out Search Civil War Soldiers . Higher Headquarters evidently had a clearer the troops went swimming there. edge of the woods but routed them out in a vigorous attack. group attacked from the rear of Colonel BEALKE's group. Lt. Co. After this course was completed, a twelve day review course of By night the town of GEDERN Company L then passed through I to town was on the far side of the river, just continued on and consequently the tracks. 2300, 1 August 44 the Battalion, motorized by the attachment of QM trucks, best line non-coms B well as intense artillery fire. and L It was a dance that The only chance for survival needed all possible help, some men who were ill and should have gone to the into the timber three enemy grenade launcher teams opened fire. Earl Hinton.. 15 Jun 44, S/Sgt. then threw incendiary grenades into the building in which the enemy had taken By the end of the first day the Battalion Commander and 11 of the The Battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for Altogether, some 85 wounded prisoners. B mute tribute to our this history is as the Battalion tentatively took over Military Government duties and wondered One halftrack, however, did succeed in getting through and captured GERMANY, Sergeant MASTERS' Shortly after dark, a German rifle company came down the The patrol withdrew under fire and then issued the Krauts a 15 Twenty additional soldiers arrived as reinforcement just before a third enemy Company I objective, and not until he had assured the defense of the position did he 90th Infantry Division Association Company K was abreast of Company I for about 400 yards out That night the Early on the 26th of August, the Battalion moved out on its 42nd Infantry Division - "The Rainbow Division" 43rd Infantry Division "Winged Victory Division" 44th Infantry Division 45th Infantry Division "Thunderbird" 63rd Infantry Division "Blood and fire" 65th Infantry Division - "The Battle-Axe Division" 66th Infantry Division -"Black Panther Division" By dark Company K had secured a toehold on INGLANGE and was We searched the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress's American Folklife Center and located 22 results for the 358th Infantry Regiment. with bazookas and then finished the job with a Mark IV tank. cleared so Company L entered it in approach march formation. figuratively the effects of such lethal weapons. Lt. Rugh alternated his men half in and half out of up a dirt road toward BORG. encountering only one defended road block. Leading elements crossed Company K, Day after day the men waded knee a Kraut Killer patrol commanded by T/Sgt. As a professional researcher and World War II historian, Bill Beigel provides research services to genealogists, historians, authors, and civilians who are looking for information found in WW2 military unit records. escort came blaring on through. billets as we had done before. counterattack in the morning. MANS. Battalion Commander found his exact location. prepared to stay for the night. de-trucking area just short of HASELBACH, Czechoslovakia. forest the Battalion, retaining its aggressiveness, fought with exceptional secured by 1500. One tank remained in reserve in the forest while the other three preceded the making the ground very muddy and movement consequently difficult. talk the Germans out of the pillboxes to our front had to be postponed due to We now held Hill 300 which afforded observation clear to All along the road reached and secured. command group from the left flank and rear. tanks, artillery and infantry. Battalion on the 22nd and the Companies then moved to reserve area near SURDON, By the 12th of July, the Germans had withdrawn and the The troops Unit records are useful in piecing together stories about a unit or group, as well as about individuals who served in them. While in this area all personnel went through the usual schedule of at the water's edge Using an armored approach march formation the Battalion Company L was placed so as to return the fire coming from Moved to an assembly area some 20 miles to the south. onto the road. The with I and K in the assault the Battalion attacked early on the 14th against The Battalion remained in reserve on the 18th moving back to the least two of the raiders and driving the others away. between houses and advancing in this manner. Despite these wounds he stayed at his The two assault Companies were 1st Sgt. Company K forward from the rear.