By Sidney A Salomon (1913 - 2004)
2 Silver Stars; Purple Heart w/Oak Leaf Cluster

F (Fox) Company

14 Nov. ---- Germeter area

6 Dec. ---- Bergstein / Hill 400

Along with the rest of the battalion, Fox Company arrived in Raeren, Belgium on 3 November, and participated in a mandatory but limited training program while in this battalion reserve position.

Then, on 14 November, Fox Company was ordered to take defensive positions along the Vossenack Ridge which was but a couple of miles within Germany from the Belgium border. The mission of Fox Company was to occupy approximately half of the town of Vossenack, defend that area from any possible enemy attack, and maintain contact with D and E Companies, who were also positioned along that ridge. The town of Vossenack had originally been captured by the 2nd Battalion of the 112th Infantry, 28th Division and in doing so, that unit had suffered numerous casualties. Foxholes were dug, although at times, the basements of buildings were utilized. Several outposts were maintained, located at the edge of a wooded area and facing open fields partitioned by hedgerows. In front of the outposts, wire was strung, fence gates were booby-trapped and tin cans were strung wherever possible as alarms.

While in this defensive position, patrols were sent out nightly to keep tabs on enemy activity and/or locations. A couple of tanks from the 5th Armored Division were located along the ridge to aid in the defense of the area. The Rangers were also to act as perimeter guards for the tanks.
During daylight hours, it was hazardous to lag in any exposed location, as the Germans from their high vantage point in the Schmidt area, were able to observe any undue activity. All during the time Fox Company was located along the ridge, there was artillery and mortar shelling from the enemy ranging from moderate to heavy. During the nighttime, the artillery firing would be intense, with air and tree bursts keeping everyone on the alert.

It as on 19 November, that Fox Company received orders to pull out of the defensive position which they had been occupying along the Vossenack Ridge. They accomplished this move by 1510 on that same day, moving to the former battalion reserve position in Belgium. This was a heavily wooded area beyond small arms range from the enemy, but not out of artillery range.
While in this reserve position, they were able to build covered foxholes and log shelters utilizing the many trees that had been felled by artillery bursts. Even chow lines with hot food were the order of the day. Two weeks passed in this reserve position, but then one day came the word that a combat mission was in the offing, and preparations were made to assemble combat gear, a full supply of ammunition, and prepare to load onto trucks.

But, first, volunteers were required to form a patrol for reconnaissance purposes combining with a like number from Dog Company. The patrol consisting of one officer and four men was hastily organized and placed under the overall command of the Fox Company CO. Meanwhile, from the battalion reserve area, Fox Company men were loaded on trucks and they proceeded through the wooded terrain traveling along back roads. Neither the Fox Company men nor the officers were exactly certain of their destination. But, for certain, this would prove to be a period that would go down in the annals as another standout Ranger mission.

The truck convoy drove through the darkened wooded area, crossing the Belgium border into Germany following a circuitous route. In the vicinity of Kleinhau, a small town along the road leading to and just west of Bergstein, the men of Fox Company detrucked and lined up in two columns, one on either side of the road.

The men of the patrol and a platoon leader followed the CO and moved out ahead of the company towards the town of Bergstein, as time was of the essence. Ultimately, the patrol arrived at the basement of a building to which they had been directed in Bergstein where a Ranger staff officer was to brief them as to where they were, where they were to go, and what to look for in the way of an attack route, and for enemy positions.

As the CO and the two officers of the patrol entered the building, it was mass confusion, as it was the CP of an armored infantry battalion which had been occupying the town of Bergstein. The Ranger staff officer, due to the massive confusion, had moved out and found another building for his Ranger CP. The trio left the armored CP, and finally, they ran into Ranger battalion CO, Col. Rudder, who was walking up the Bergstein road having just left the Ranger CP. Rudder directed them to the proper building, bade them farewell and good luck, as he explained to them that he was on his way to Corps Headquarters, having been ordered to take command of an infantry regiment of the 28th Division. Rudder had been well-liked and respected by the men of the battalion, and his departure, no doubt, created some questions and nagging thoughts in the minds of some of the men. The patrol trio found the Ranger CP where the Ranger staff officer and the new Ranger battalion CO were located. The mission of the patrol was explained to them. The Fox Company CO then rejoined his company, while the two platoon leaders rejoined the members of the recon patrol and off they went on their mission.

Meanwhile, back to where Fox Company had detrucked in the vicinity of Kleinhau, the Company Executive Officer led the company along the road following the other companies of the battalion. The going was muddy in the cold, wet darkness of the night, and a thin sheet of ice was forming on some of the puddles as everyone sloughed along. It alternately rained and snowed, the road was deep in a cold soupy mud and the route march went on for about two miles without any opportunity for rest. Men were falling asleep while walking. To add to the tenseness, sporadic artillery shelling was taking place with bursting flares lighting up the horizon ahead of the weary and uncomfortable troops. At the edge of Bergstein, they came to a halt, and waited along with Dog and Easy Companies.

Now, back to the recon patrol. The combined Dog and Fox patrol started on its mission from the vicinity of the Ranger CP, carefully walking down a road, keeping within the darkest areas to avoid detection or a confrontation with the enemy. Before long, the patrol came to a halt when subdued German voices were heard. The patrol was evidently approaching a German defensive position. Fortunately, the patrol was able to locate a sunken road near a church cemetery. They moved along the protection of the road for another 150-200 yards quietly, until approaching an open field. At this point, the Fox Company platoon leader and one of the men huddled for a brief conference as to their next action. While the patrol lay in a concealed area along an embankment, an enlisted man detached himself from the patrol as per orders and stealthily worked his way up the hill. After some 15-20 minutes, he reappeared through the low-hanging fog, rejoining the patrol.

After a short distance, more German voices were heard. Apparently, it was the location of an enemy troop shelter or bunker. Realizing that time was moving along, both recon platoon leaders agreed that the patrol terminate their mission, return to the Ranger CP and report their findings. Now, it was time to head back to CP, and they reversed their route, but passing dangerously close to the area where the German voices had been heard. Someone ran, several shots were fired by a German guard. Fortunately, no member of the patrol was hit, nor did the patrol return any fire, and they managed to regroup and head back to the CP.

In preparation for the assault of the hill, F Company readied themselves and lined up to the left of D Company, as planned, facing the hill. They were behind a slight rise in the ground, not quite a terrace, but it did allow for adequate protection from small arms fire as long as the men remained low to the ground. The rise was not sufficient to afford protection from artillery or mortar shelling. Directly ahead of the line of men was a field of approximately 100 yards, over which the charge would be made for the assault on the hill.

Apparently, an enemy solder spotted the F or D Company men. Suddenly a flare from the enemy side was projected into the air. Shortly thereafter, mortar shells started to land in the rear of the F Company line of men. The men surmised the mortar shelling was being directed from the other side of the hill which they were about to assault. It appeared as if the Germans were trying to adjust the range of the mortars, but then, Allied support artillery started raining down on the hill. It was a difficult situation for the F Company assault line with enemy mortars landing to their rear and their support artillery landing to their front. The men hunkered closer to the ground for protection from the skittering shrapnel. Some of the men wondered when the command to "charge" would be sounded. One of the noncoms took the situation in hand and sounded out "let's go," minutes before the company commander could yell out the word, "go." The men moved forward on a run, yelling as loud as possible, and firing their weapons randomly straight ahead. An enemy machine gun located at the left lower part of the hill wounded and killed several of the F Company Rangers as they crossed the open field.

The remainder of the company continued forward, some running faster than others, all firing their weapons, running up the hill with little opportunity for any semblance of order, primarily one of individualism or survival, and to reach for the top of the hill. The Allied barrage had lifted but the enemy mortar gunners were now adjusting their range to follow the assaulting Rangers up the hill. Some of the Germans at the lower base of the hill either turned and ran up the hill to avoid the charging Rangers or stood up and surrendered.

A group from one platoon veered to the left of the hill to avoid the full effects of the shelling, circled the hill and soon were on the forward slope of the hill, A noncom issued orders to dig foxholes. Some were fortunate enough to find a piece of ground where digging was possible, as the ground was rocky with offshoots of tree roots; others got behind fallen trees.

Three of the men on the far side of the hill noted a foot bridge across the river at the base of the hill with German soldiers digging emplacements in the vicinity of the bridge. A few hundred yards beyond the bridge, they saw an obvious encampment area with enemy troops, also an open staff touring car with presumably two high ranking officers in it, supply trucks and other vehicles. There were too many enemy troops, so the men started back up the hill, stopping just below the crest where they met other F Company men digging defensive positions and joined them. Some D Company men were contacted nearby who had just repelled and driven off an enemy patrol, and were now digging in to defend the area.

Of the first three men who made the top, one continued on, the other two saw an enemy bunker and ran to the main entrance that had a steel door. One man put his BAR in an aperture and fired some rounds while the other man threw in some hand grenades. As both stepped back several feet to avoid the resulting explosion, an enemy shell landed nearby, instantly killing the Ranger who had thrown the grenades. In the meantime, the CO and several F Company men arrived on the scene, and they entered the bunker, in which were herded a number of German soldiers, some wounded and some stunned.

Now, to temporarily revert back to the time when the assault of the hill had started, the CO and some men ran into an enemy defensive position at the bottom of the hill, almost a pillbox. There were approximately a dozen Germans there. A grenade and weapons fire from F Company personnel wounded and stunned several of the Germans. The remainder surrendered. Some walking wounded Rangers herded them and took them back to the battalion CP.

At the top of the hill, the CO had a platoon leader and a couple of noncoms all standing in the vicinity of the enemy troop bunker. The CO issued orders for all casualties to be collected and placed in the troop bunker, for the men to prepare defensive positions and be ready to repel any enemy counterattack that might come to retake the hill.

An artillery barrage plastered the top of the hill. Everyone hit the ground, then scattered to get their men organized. The CO was hit by shrapnel. He proceeded to have his radio man, who was accompanying the CO, transmit a message to the battalion CP, asking for reinforcements, more ammo, and medical supplies. He also gave the coordinates for Allied artillery to give support fire. The transmission was never completed as the radio man had been instantly killed during the barrage.

The CO went to the aid man on top of the hill to have his wound attended. He sent two walking wounded Rangers back to the CP with the request for supplies and reinforcements. During this time, the barrage on top of the hill continued and more casualties took place.

Since no word had been received from battalion CP, the CO started down the slope to go to the CP himself, but he took a wounded Ranger with him. Hitting the ground every so often on the way down due to the incessant shelling, they made a wrong turn, and confronted an enemy defensive position. Since both Rangers were wounded, they were both overpowered by the Germans.

On the hill, the men of F Company continued to improve their defensive positions, relying on their past training and will to live- They also helped to move some casualties to the protection of the former enemy troop shelter. The group on the forward slope, led by a noncom, continued their possession of that portion of the hill. Another artillery barrage pounded the top of the hill. It was during this barrage that the second of two brothers would be killed. While the military would normally try to prevent brothers from serving in the same combat unit, there were two brothers in Fox Company. One had been a member of the company since early training days in the United States, and had proven to be an outstanding soldier. The other, who was an experienced artilleryman, had transferred to the Rangers just prior to Fox Company moving out to take part in this Bergstein offensive action. While he had been assigned to Fox Company, it was a temporary assignment and after this engagement was to be transferred to another company. Ironically, both men were killed in action on top of Hill 400.

Enemy probes in the form of combat patrols were repulsed and driven off by the F Company defenders. During one of those counterattacking probes, an F Company platoon leader was killed.

One of the noncoms who had helped to hold his platoon and company together was wounded, and when unable to fire his weapon, had the company aid man administer to his wounds. Then, later in the after noon, thoroughly frustrated with lack of reinforcements arriving, led a couple of walking wounded back down the slope in an effort to make a personal appeal at the CP for the needed additional support, ammo and supplies.

Perhaps that appeal and other information about the situation that had been sent to the CP earlier had some meaning, for as darkness fell, a platoon of Easy Company was guided to the top of the hill to give reinforcement to the handful of defending troops at the top.

On the next day, just after dawn, another enemy artillery barrage pounded the top of the hill. When it stopped, those of F Company who had not been hit, helped to move the casualties to the bunker for medical attention.

There was not a great deal of contact between the two platoons of F Company, each with so few men remaining. There being only 6-7 in each platoon, they stayed in their respective areas and did whatever was necessary to survive the periodic artillery barrages, and enemy probing attacks. The few on the forward slope even took random shots at the German soldiers in the valley across the river, several hundred yards in the distance.

Later in the day, as the sun started to sink, another enemy barrage was followed by a German counterattack. Fortunately, the Easy Company reinforcements were there, as they bore the brunt of that enemy attack, eventually repelling the enemy who withdrew and went down the hill.

The F Company men on the forward slope were called to the top of the hill to the bunker area. Word was passed along that relief was on the way. F Company was preparing to withdraw. It was approximately 10:30 at night when the last man of F Company left the hill. K Company of the 13th Regiment, 8th Division was there to take possession of the ground which had been so fiercely contested by the men of Dog and Fox Companies of the Rangers.

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