US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Benning, GA)

Page 25 text:

days of attack, the Siegfried Line was pen- etrated. The Division readied itself to re- sume the attack on the East when the great German counter-offensive struck the allied front. The Nazi Sixth Panzer Army poured through the Ardennes, but the Division held its ground in the snow-covered Else- born area until the Battle of the Bulge was won. For its part in the Battle of the Bulge, the 2d Division was cited twice by the Belgian government and was awarded the Belgian Fourragere. After that historic battle, the Division began its sweep into Germany and by the end of the war, the men of the Indianhead Division had reached the ancient Czecho- slovakian city of Pilsen. The 2d advanced 750 miles in combat during 320 days of battle, had suffered 15,000 battle casual- ties and captured 70,000 prisoners in its fight for the liberation of Europe. The Indianhead soldiers embarked from LeHavre, France, on 13 July 1945, and were stationed at Camp Swift, Texas. Less than a year later, the Zd, minus the 38th Infantry Regiment, moved to California and then on to Fort Lewis, Washington, which remained its home until the out- break of hostilities in Korea. From the autumn of 1946 until it was alerted for combat in Korea, the 2d took part in a series of large-scale maneuvers which prepared it for the future. On 8 July 1950, the Second to None .H 'J ' --1. L 119'

Page 24 text:

On 7 June 1944-D-Day plus one-the Indianhead Division returned to France for the second time, landing on Omaha Beach at St. Laurent sur-Mar While enemy shells were still pouring into the thinly held beach-head. The 2d played a large part in Winning the famous Battle of the HedgeroWs - the first of its five campaigns in World War II. On the heels of this encounter came the bitter fight for Hill 192, a commanding strong-point on the road to St. Lo. The Division remained on the defensive until 11 July and then jumped off to attack. With the aid of tremendous artillery and aerial bombardments, tanks, and engineers, this vital objective Was finally taken. The Division continued to slam through Normandy during the fighting around St. Lo, and then Went on to capture St. Jean des Baisants, Vire, and Tinchebray. Shortly after the battle for Tinchebray, the 2d em- barked on a 3 00 mile journey into Brittany to take part in the Battle of Brest, one of the Nazi naval strongholds on the Atlantic coast. Although Hitler had ordered Brest held for three months, it was captured in 29 days. October found the 2d in Southern Bel- gium facing the Siegfried Line. After three

Page 26 text:

Division was alerted for Korea and 1 1 days later the first elements of the Division land- ed. The Indianhead Division was the first American unit to leave the United States for the fighting in Korea. Units of the Division were thrown into the defenses of the Naktong River Line and were rejoined by the remainder of the Di- vision south of Taegu. Moving swiftly to counter enemy threats, the 2d halted the Red attempt to overrun the Naktong Line in a battle which raged from 1 to 15 Sep- tember 1950. The North Korean armies were forced to break and retreat, and the first wave of Operation Breakthrough was initiated. With Operation Breakthrough under- way, the Indianhead troops, as part of the 8th Army, swept northward in the drive toward the Yalu River. With the entry of the Chinese Communists into the conflict, the Division came under heavy attack. The overwhelming forces that the Chinese threw into the attack and the swiftness of their thrust cut the 2d off from the rest of the Eighth Army troops temporarily. At Wonju, the right flank of the United Nations forces was endangered. With the Netherlands and French Battalions at- tached, the 2d took a stand and protected the rear and right flank of the Eighth