- As told by Emma Dersch (Vennekohl) Snowden:
"Donald served in the 379th Infantry, 95th division. He was killed trying to rescue a soldier who had been hit in the line of fire. That soldier lived. My parents received the Silver Star post humerously for gallantry--also the Purple Heart. He was a private first class."
The 95th Infantry Division arrived in England on 17 August 1944. After receiving additional training, it moved to France, 15 September, and bivouacked near Norroy-le-Sec, 1-14 October. The Division went into the line, 19 October, in the Moselle River bridgehead sector east of Moselle and South of Metz and patrolled the Seille River near Cheminot, repulsing enemy attempts to cross the river. On 1 November, elements went over to the offensive, reducing an enemy pocket east of Maizieres. On the 8th, these units crossed the Moselle River and advanced to Bertrange.
Metz, the queen city of Moselle, had withstood all attacks by military forces since 451 A. D., and the Germans intended to maintain this record. The original fortifications, completed before 1870, consisted of an inner ring of 15 forts and an outer perimeter of 28 steel and concrete bastions built by the Germans in 1912. In 1941, the Germans improved and modernized the installations. The forts were reinforced with 210 MM guns and 105 MM guns placed in revolving steel turrets which would withstand fire from high velocity direct-fire weapons.
Against heavy resistance, the 95th captured the forts surrounding Metz and captured the city, 22 November. At 1435 on the afternoon of 22 November 1 944, Maj. Gen. Walton H. Walker reported to Lt. Gen. Patton that Metz was completely secured. It was during the battle for Metz that war correspondents nicknamed the men of the 95th "The Bravest of the Brave". The German defenders gave them another name that the Division carries proudly: "The Iron Men of Metz."
The Division pushed toward the Saar, 25 November, and entered Germany on the 28th. The 95th seized a Saar River bridge, 3 December, and engaged in bitter house-to-house fighting for Saarlautern. Suburbs of the city fell and, although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Saar bridgehead was firmly established by 19 December. While some units went to an assembly area, others held the area against strong German attacks. On 2 February 1945, the Division began moving to the Maastricht area in. Holland, and by 14 February, elements were in the line near Meerselo in relief of British units. Relieved, 23 February, the 95th assembled near Julich, Germany, 1 March. It forced the enemy into a pocket near the Hitler Bridge at Uerdingen and cleared the pocket, 5 March, while elements advanced to the Rhine. From 12 March, the 95th established defenses in the vicinity of Neuss. Assembling east of the Rhine at Beckum, 3 April, it launched an attack across the Lippe River, 4 April, and captured Hamm and Kamen on the 6th. After clearing the enemy pocket between the Ruhr and the Mohne Rivers, the Division took Dortmund, 13 April 1945, and maintained positions on the north bank of the Ruhr.
Source: Janet Snowden Watts
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1921 - 1944 (23 Jahre)
