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His family recalls that Dick fought in the Battle of Remagen in 1945, famous because the Allies captured the Ludendorff Bridge across the Rhine intact. He tore down a Nazi flag from the German headquarters in Remagen. His family still has the flag.
The Fighting 69th was activated on May 15, 1943 and saw its first com- bat on February 11, 1945. Over a total of eighty-six days of combat the unit sustained 1,506 casualties.
But while Dick’s family has his story and the flag to prove it, the story has some ques- tion marks. Mostly, the history of the Battle of Remagen doesn’t include Dick’s unit, the 69th Infantry Division. The history books record that it was the 1st Army 9th Ar- mored Division that took the bridge; the 69th isn’t mentioned.
We do know that Dick’s unit captured the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein on March 27. The Ludendorff Bridge was captured by the 9th on March 7, and the Battle of Rema- gen waged for the next two weeks or so as the Germans threw pretty much everything they had left at trying to destroy the bridge; they eventually did, but only after the Allies had used the bridge to get huge amounts of equipment and manpower across the Rhine, undoubtedly shortening the War. We surmise that Dick’s unit got across us- ing that bridge, so he probably was at the Battle of Remagen and was under fire when he crossed. The flag Dick took home may have been from Remagen or it may have been from Koblenz (where Ehrenbreit- stein is located) or it may have been from somewhere else. Who cares? The important thing is that Dick captured the flag.
Since we don’t know the details of what Dick did (we do know he had a foxhole buddy so we know he wasn’t peeling pota- toes back in the mess tent), let’s talk about what his units did.
The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was formed in 1943 as a moun- tain warfare unit, the only one of its size in the U.S. military to receive spe- cialized training for fighting in mountainous conditions. Dick would have been among the first trainees in the unit, activated on July 15 at Camp Hale, Colorado near Vail Mountain. After extensive winter and mountain warfare training, the division moved to Camp Swift, Texas, for additional combat training. Though Dick had transferred out by then, the Division later fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in World War II. By January 1945, the division was executing combat operations in northern Ita- ly. During these operations, the 10th seized German positions on Riva Ridge and Mount Belvedere, breaking through the German mountain defenses into the Po River Valley and reaching the northern end of Lake Garda by the war’s end. On April 14, Pfc. John D. Magrath performed actions that would make him the division’s first Soldier to earn the Medal of Honor. During nearly five months of intense ground combat in Italy, the division was opposed by 100,000 German troops, yet
effectively destroyed five German divisions, unhinging the defense in Italy and drawing forces away from other theaters. The division sustained nearly 5,000 casualties during World War II, with 999 soldiers killed in action.
But Dick had transferred to the 69th Infantry Division, which was in a very different place.
The Division landed in Le Havre, France on January 24, 1945, and moved to Belgium to hold defensive positions in the Siegfried Line. The Division went over to the attack on February 27, capturing the high ridge east of Prether to facilitate use of the Hellenthal-Hollerath highway. In a rapid advance to the east, the 69th took Schmidtheim and Dahlem. The Division resumed its forward movement to the west bank of the Rhine, crossing the river and capturing the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein on March 27. It captured Leipzig on April 19 after a fierce struggle within the city.
Eilenburg fell on April 23, and the east bank of the Mulde River was secured. Two days later, Division patrols in the area between the Elbe and the Mulde Rivers contacted Russian troops in the vicinity of Riesa and again at Torgau. Dick was there.
Thanks, Dick, for your service.
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