Siegfried Line |
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Siegfried Line |
Table of Contents |
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As
Adjutant of the 68th Tank Battalion from 19 September 1943 until 22 May
1945, it was my pleasure to know and work with many of you. In appreciation
of those pleasant associations I want to share with you this history, facts,
figures, and pictures, which will in a small way show our efforts in winning
World War II.
In order that every member of the Battalion receives his copy, it will be necessary for each of you to fill out the enclosed card giving name and present address of as many of the men as you know. Kindly do this and return the card to me.
The best of luck to you and yours.
Sincerely,
These facts and figures may give you an insight on the magnitude of our operations as a division and a battalion. In casualties, the Division had 110 officers killed and we had 9, the Division 1172 enlisted men killed and we had 75, wounded the figures ran 294 officers and 4,086 enlisted men for the Division and we had 27 officers and 185 enlisted men, Of the 52 people missing in action in the Division, we had one, In non-battle casualties the division had 272 officers and 4,885 enlisted men and we had 12 and 260, As a matter of comparison, our casualties were lower than either of the other two tank battalions, 187 personnel returned to duty from casualty status and 373 replacements joined the battalion during combat.
We had six battlefield appointments- 1st Lt. Harry Burger, 1st Lt, Vernard Brock-Jones, 2nd Lt. Millard Watson, 2nd Lt. John Dahl, 2nd Lt. Everett Tourjee, and 2nd Lt, Waldo Shumway. All but Shumway served within the battalion after being commissioned.
The division
awarded the following medals:
We had -- 2
97
327
126
2
The Distinguished
Service Crosses went to 1st Lt. Vernon L. Edwards of Baker company posthumously
for his work on the Han Sur Neid River Crossing, and Major Daniel E. Smith
for his actions at Landroff, France. The soldiers medals went to T/4 Harold
Stanisch of Maintenance for his quick thinking in throwing can of gasoline
and thereby saving lives and equipment. T/5 George Farmer of Headquarters
for his aggressive action at Dinglestadt, Germany in extricating a dead
pilot of a P47 which had crashed nearby, even though the plane was burning.
The percentage of personnel who were still in the division on VE day and sailed from the States with us -- Division 60% of Officers and WOs, 54% of NCOs of 1st 3 grades, and 66% of Enlisted men less the 1st 3 grades and in the battalion we had 48% of the Officers and Warrant Officers, 60% of the NCOs of the 1st three grades and 66% of the Enlisted men less the 1st 3 grades, (Personally, I feel these figures a little high, but have no records to back up my thoughts.) The division sent 5,500,000 letters and received 7,500,000 letters and we sent 375,000 parcels and received 425,000 parcels. In Money Orders, the division sent home $1,351,220,77, 28% of total earned pay was sent home by Money Order, Personal Transfer Account, and other means after it had first been drawn in cash from the division finance officer. Only about 10% of the pay was retained by the troops.
The Provost Marshal processed 61,864 prisoners of war and the biggest batch came through during the period 9 March thru 8 May when 48,433 looked at the 6th Armored Patch and knew the jig was up. Four of the ten chaplains who started the campaign with us did not finish, one was killed, and three evacuated, The division had 847 Sunday Services with a total attendance of 53,590 and 813 week day services with an attendance of 38,321. 57 Jewish services were held with attendance of 819. 38,171 received Holy Communion and 21,409 confessions were heard.
The 68th received 80 new light and medium tanks to replace worn out and knocked out equipment. 17 peeps and 10 6x6's were also replaced. As for shooting we used 1,837,750 rounds of 30 cal. MG.; 60,700 carbine; 63,172 rifle; 233,400 45 cal. ball; 2760 37mm.; 2439 81mm. Mortar; 16,155 75mm.; 6,408 rounds 76mm.; and 10,844 rounds of 105 mm. howitzer. (This can be explained by the action of "Battery Hickerson" who fired twice as many rounds as one tank battalion and 1300 rounds more than the other tank battalion. Those artillerymen who watched this battery fire, all agreed that it was doing top notch shooting.) We used 3,658 grenades, and 144,435 rounds of cal. 50.
Maps -- the division used 144,435 sheets which weighed 21.4 tons.
Trucks -- division trucking companies traveled far enough to go 37 1/2 times around the world merely to bring supplies to the supply dump located in the division area.
4,211,074 rations (1 ration equals 3 meals for one man) were drawn in the nine month period. 19,769 pairs of socks were issued. 11,471 field jackets, 22,037 shirts, 18,032 trousers, 13,642 overcoats, 13,272 overshoes, and 73,821 underwear. 5,479,770 gallons of 80 octane gasoline were used. This amounts to a sizeable pile of supplies, even for a division.
The division evacuated 1,289 American dead and 800 german dead. Cemeteries in which division dead are buried are: St. Mere Eglise, Blonville, St. James, Chalons, Andilly, Limey, Grand Failly, and St, Avold, France; Fay, Belgium; Hamm, Luxembourg; Stromberg, Butzbach, Eisenach, and Brenau, Germany.
July 23
May 8
Battalion Commander
Lt. Col. Davall
Same
Executive Officer
Major Brown
Major Smith
Adjutant
Lt. Warp
Same
S2
Capt. Raines
Lt. Burns
S3
Major Britton
Major McKenna
S3 Air
Capt. Parker
Capt. Morris
S4
Capt. Jacoby
Capt. Burns
S5
Capt. Klotz
Capt. Halloran
Liaison
Lt. Burns
Lt. Sillins
Commanding
Capt. Brown
Capt. Hickerson
Motor Officer
Lt. Mohr
Same
Reconnaissance
Lt. Linebaugh
Same
Mortar
Lt. England
Lt. Glenn
Assault
Lt. Hickerson
Lt. Clapp
Commanding
Capt. Polk
Capt. Parker
Motor Officer
Lt. George
Lt. Hogan
Platoon Leader
Lt. Zimmer
Lt. Brock-Jones
Platoon Leader
Lt. Hafley
Lt. Houston
Platoon Leader
Lt. Kratzer
Lt. Pavlich
Commanding
Capt. Bland
Capt. Russell
Motor Officer
Lt. Edwards
Lt. Jannon
Platoon Leader
Lt. Russell
Lt. Long
Platoon Leader
Lt. Jones
Platoon Leader
Lt. Hughey
Commanding
Capt. Smith
Capt. Collins
Motor Officer
Lt. Schor
Lt. Metzger
Platoon Leader
Lt. Hoffmann
Lt. Lundy
Platoon Leader
Lt. Lundh
Lt. Parris
Platoon Leader
Lt. Elliott
Lt. Dahl
Commanding
Capt. McKenna
Capt. Raines
Motor Officer
Lt. Halloran
Lt. Larsen
Platoon Leader
Lt. Siedentop
Lt. Allen
Platoon Leader
Lt. Lequire
Lt. Ketchum
Platoon Leader
Lt. Collins
Lt. Hughes
Commanding
Capt. Burns
Capt. Keville
Motor Officer
Lt. Keville
Lt. Bierer
Transport Officer
Lt. Elder
Same
Supply W 0
WOJG Morse
Same
Auto W 0
WOJG Russell
Same
Personnel
CWO Exner
Same
Surgeon
Capt. Schlossman
Capt. Rosin
Assistant
Lt. Callister
Lt. Consroe
Sgt. Major
None
M/Sgt. Knott
Intelligence S/Sgt. Lander T/Sgt. Uszner
Operations T/Sgt. Etheridge Sgt. Petrillo
Supply
T/Sgt. Sunderland
Sgt. Nudelman
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Chinn
Same
Reconnaissance
S/Sgt. Helton
Same
Mortar
S/Sgt. Hailley
Same
Assault
S/Sgt. Kretchmer
S/Sgt. Haefmeyer
Motor Sergeant
S/Sgt. Brown
Same
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Watson
1st Sgt. Foutch
Motor Sergeant
T/Sgt. Bement
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Brock-Jones
S/Sgt. D'Orazio
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Burger
S/Sgt. Sucharski
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Shumway
S/Sgt. Yadlowski
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Doyle
1st Sgt. Carter
Motor Sergeant
T/Sgt. Del Moro
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Rewucki
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Mackay
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt Tourjee
S/Sgt. Esposito
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Dahl
S/Sgt. Poppe
Motor Sergeant
T/Sgt. Harper
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Mays
S/Sgt. Hicks
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Reece
S/Sgt. Haun
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Crumb
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Degnan
1st Sgt. Goldstein
Motor Sergeant
T/Sgt. Ebert
Same
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Shevlin
S/Sgt. Porter
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Sutton
S/Sgt. Colas
Platoon Sergeant
S/Sgt. Karpinski
S/Sgt. Torrance
1st Sergeant
1st Sgt. Knott
1st Sgt. Granigan
Motor Sergeant
S/Sgt. Templeton
Same
Transport
S/Sgt. Macomber
Same
Maintenance
T/Sgt. Shore
Same
Personnel
T/Sgt. Hogan
Same
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Last updated: June 12, 1999.