By Sidney A Salomon (1913 - 2004)
2 Silver Stars; Purple Heart w/Oak Leaf Cluster
Headquaters Company
The organizational structure of the 2nd Ranger Battalion provided lor one medical aid man from the Headquarters medical section to be attached to each line company. Every medical section member received a thorough training in first aid methods for combat wounds from the battalion medical officer. The medical section members were unarmed and accompanied the line companies on every mission and operation during combat. For continuity purposes, it was standard procedure and practice for the same aid man to remain with a specific line company. The aid men were well accepted by the line company personnel to whom they were attached. There is no question that the company aid men saved lives with their prompt ministering of first aid to the wounded.
During the Germeter-Vossenack-Hurtgen action, the battalion forward CP and battalion aid station occupied a former German troop shelter located in the vicinity of a crossroads on the edge of Vossenack The medical personnel were astounded, when arriving at this building, to discover several casualties on litters. These had been left behind by the medics of the 28th Division, who had shortly before occupied that area. These casualties were quickly treated and evacuated to the rear field hospital.
Immediate first aid attention was always given to the Ranger casualties by the Ranger medical personnel. Those casualties that required additional attention or treatment beyond that which could be provided at the battalion aid station were loaded in the Ranger ambulance for speedy transfer to the rear. Getting beyond that crossroads meant speeding down the road and across the open plain by the litter-carrying jeep or ambulance. That crossroads area was under direct observation by the Germans, and was shelled by German artillery on a periodic basis, when any Ranger movement was sighted.
On 18 November, the Ranger battalion medical section assisted in the caring for and evacuating casualties incurred when a heavy enemy mortar barrage landed amidst bunched up columns of the 28th Division troops that were being relieved from the Vossenack-Germeter area. Even in these instances, the men of the medical section performed their usual high standards of service under harsh weather conditions and in the dark of night. In the Hurtgen Forest, the aid men of Able and Baker Companies performed outstanding medical work under hazardous conditions in mine fields, under intense artillery and mortar barrages, plus contending with the pitch black darkness of the night.
During the Bergstein action, the battalion forward CP and the batta-tion aid station were located in nearby buildings to each other, located on the edge of the town of Bergstein, 150 yards or so from the base of Hill 400. During the assault and on top of Hill 400, the aid men of Dog and Fox Companies gave exemplary performance under extremely dangerous and trying conditions. The aid men had taken over a former German troop shelter on the top of the hill, utilizing it as a first aid station and collecting point for casualties, even administering to the needs of some German casualties. The church at the base of the hill became a collecting station for casualties that came down from the hill. There, they were further checked or treated and waited for transportation by litter jeep to either the battalion aid station, or thence by ambulance to a rear field hospital for further medical treatment for more serious wounds. The aid men of Charley and Easy Companies also deserve commendation for their dedication.
At a later time, on the first day of the assault on Hill 400, and after intense artillery barrages, and counterattacks had taken place, it was impossible to evacuate casualties from the troop shelter at the top of the hill, but some walking wounded had been able to make their way down the hill to the church at the base. In addition, messengers from the top of the hill arrived at the battalion CP to report to the medical officer who happened to be there, that litters and additional medical supplies were desperately required at the top of the hill. The medical officer had the medical section chief, along with other medical personnel carry the requested medical supplies including plasma and litters to the top of the hill. Under cover of darkness, the ascent of the hill began, amidst mortar and artillery barrages. Eventually, they arrived at the summit and the troop shelter and were able to provide much needed first aid and medical treatment.
At 1610, in the afternoon of 8 December, the battalion medical officer was instantly killed by an artillery shell as he stepped out of the building which functioned as the battalion forward CP. He had just completed plans for the evacuation of Ranger casualties. The news, as it spread to the men of the line companies, stunned the men of the battalion, as the medical officer was exceedingly well-liked and respected. Evacuation of the casualties from the troop shelter and surrounding areas on the hill could be carried out only during the infrequent so-called quiet periods. Part of a platoon from C Company was pressed into service for the express purpose of carrying as many of the wounded as possible by litter to the church at the base of the hill, or to the battalion aid station. The medical litter jeep, three of which were destroyed during this action, transported the casualties to the ambulance point at Brandenburg for transmittal to the nearest casualties collection company which was located at nearby Kleinhau. Due to the wrecked vehicle road block between Bergstein and Brandenburg, it was necessary to hand carry the litters the last three hundred yards to the waiting am-Dulance for the trip to the assigned field hospital.
The battalion casualty figures for the Bergstein action were; KIA - 23, MIA - 4 and WIA - 106.
The Headquarters communications section was similarly structured as the medical section, with a radio man and his equipment assigned to each line company. In that way, the company CO was able to maintain contact via radio communication with the battalion CO and his staff at the battalion CP and other Ranger companies.
Although the radio men were armed, they carried an approximately 50 Ib. SCR radio on their back and dogged the heels of the company CO, whether he was charging through the Hurtgen Forest, or climbing Hill 400 and under intensive artillery fire, as well as small arms fire. On Hill 400, one radio man was killed by artillery fire in the act of transmitting a message from the company CO to battalion headquarters.
In the Hurtgen Forest, the radio men of Able and Baker Companies lived a charmed life as they hovered next to the company CO under heavy and intensive artillery and mortar shelling, or while moving through mine fields, all the time keeping communications open between the company CO and battalion headquarters.
Not to be overlooked were the performances of the communications men who did their utmost to maintain contact between the Ranger CP and the next higher headquarters to which the Rangers were attached. This was especially cogent at Bergstein, where the massive enemy artillery barrages sometimes broke the wire line which is the means of communication between the two headquarter levels. The wire section men made numerous trips looking for wire breaks in their attempt to keep open that line of communication. All of the communications personnel performed admirably under trying and risky conditions with which they were confronted.
This explanation about the Headquarters personnel would be incomplete without some reference to the cooks of the battalion, who came under the jurisdiction of Headquarters Company.
On Thanksgiving Day, all of the companies of the battalion, with the exception of Baker Company, were in battalion reserve, bivouacked in a wooded area; Baker Company was in a combat situation within the Hurtgen Forest. The mess sergeant and his staff prepared a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and all of the trimmings for those companies in battalion reserve. Preparation of the dinner was not an easy task, as the cooks utilized field ranges in an open area within the woods, often subjected to artillery barrages. The men enjoyed their hot dinner eating out of rnessgear in and around their log reinforced foxholes. There was no incoming artillery at that time, fortunately. The plight and absence of B Company saddened the occasion, however.
Baker Company was finally relieved, after suffering many casualties, from their combat situation within the Hurtgen Forest. After being replaced by Able Company, the B Company survivors returned to the battalion reserve area. This was the day following Thanksgiving. The cooks had saved and warmed up a turkey dinner for each of the men of Baker Company. That was the camaraderie that existed among the Rangers. The cooks had again lifted the hearts of the Rangers with a good and hot meal.
Litter bearing jeep drivers, dispatch riders, and headquarters supply detachments were dependable and courageous. When circumstances provided the opportunity, and line companies were in need of a headquarters service or specialty, the headquarters personnel were there to serve, no matter how risky and dangerous their assignment might be.
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Posted here with kind permission of the family of the late Sidney A. Salomon.
Many thanks Peter.