BATTLE AT VOSSENACK

By John B. Berg Jr.

PATCH 8th INFANTRY DIVISION
28th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division
(LESS KNOWN BUT NOT LESS APPRECIATED)

Dec. 12 149 present. 2 promotions - Coombs and Bergh… 28 Replacements
  07:00 Party from 311 infantry visited forward CP.
  07:12 Party from 311 inf. Left CP for recon of companies.
  08:10 Lt. Lipscomb returned from recon.
  12:30 Lt. Shumpert and 2 men became casualties from stepping on mine in new area we are to occupy. Notified regiment and told to stay out of area until engineers could clear same.
  13:00 Company F has most of wire strung in their area.
  13:10 Major Regan to be at Roetgen for court.
  14:45 Engineers putting mines in Company F front.
  14:50 We will be relieved in the front tonight by units of 311th Infantry.
  16:00 Relief postponed for 24 hours.
  16:45 Major Sullivan court postponed until Thursday.
  18:20 Overlays to and from regiment.
Dec. 13 148 present. 1 MIA – Manion, Joseph. 5 BC – Kinlay, Luther / Gabriel, Alfred / Corriea, Wilburn / Spicer, Charles / Burgess, George
  08:00 5 new officers assigned to battalion.
  15:30 Major Regan and Lt. Chivas left for 311 Infantry 3rd Battalion CP.
  15:40 10 German medics coming down road with Red Cross flags in front of Company G.
  16:30 Major Sullivan and Lt. Chivas return to CP. Move for tonight is definite.
  17:00 Ginder sent to 3rd Battalion 311 Infantry CP to guide companies forward to our positions.
  21:00 3rd battalion 311 Infantry CP personnel moved in.
Dec. 14 Missing morning report for this day.
  01:00 All companies relieved and moving to rear.
  02:30 All companies closed in rear CP area.
Dec. 15 176 net present. ----- 30 Replacements
Dec. 16 163 net present. 13 Listed as MIA – Ziemba, Alexander / Stinson, Roy / Rountre, Henry / Savage, Arthur / Decker, Mervin / Tipmore, Hugh / Paige, Robert / Parrish, Clarence / Nordell, Edward / Templeton, William / Eckman, Ausbon / Sardo, Jack / Ghisoifi, Harold…. New company Commander Paul W. Cowden, New Lt. William Arrick

Over this period of time Company E started out with 179 men and suffered 137 battle casualties alone. They received 113 replacements during this time. A lot of the replacements were wounded within days of when they reported. Some on the same day they reported.

I have had the privilege of meeting many of the men of the 28th Regiment. I have met 6 men of Company E - Steve Butko, Joe Cavagnaro, Charles Rutkowski, Russel Hutter (wounded with my dad at Modrath Germany 3/45), Spenser Burris and of course my father John B. Berg.

The amazing thing about these men is that they all fought in the Hurtgen from the beginning, and not one of them was wounded!

By straight math only 42 men out of 179 were not wounded.

Mike Eilisoaf of Headquarters Company 28th Regiment summed up the Hurtgen forest battle the best. "If it were not for importance of the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest would be the battle most remembered in the European Theater."

It is also the battle that the generals most want to forget!

This battle, for about 50 square miles of forest and towns, lasted almost 6 months, the longest single ongoing battle in U.S. Army history. It literally used up eight infantry divisions, two armored divisions, plus several smaller outfits. Battle casualties were over 30,000 American soldiers killed or wounded.

The 22nd and 60th Infantry Regiments had casualty rates of 100%.

~~~ John B. Berg Jr. ~~~

HORIZONTAL FLOURISH LINE


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