95th Infantry Division (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 95th Infantry Division


caption=95th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
dates= 1942 -
country= United States of America
allegiance=
branch= United States Army, 1942-1945
United States Army Reserve, 1946-
type=
role=
size= 4,000
command_structure=
garrison=Fort Sill, OK
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equipment=
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nickname= "The Iron Men of Metz" "Victory Division" "OK Division"
patron=
motto=Iron Men of Metz
colors=
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march=
mascot=
battles= World War II
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=
current_commander=Major General James E. Archer
current_commander_label=
ceremonial_chief=
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colonel_of_the_regiment=
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notable_commanders=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=Distinctive Unit Insignia
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=US Infantry
previous=94th Infantry Division
next=96th Infantry DivisionThe 95th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II. Now designated the 95th Division (Training), the division is an Army Reserve organisation configured for institutional training.

History

World War II

*Activated: 15 July 1942.
*Overseas: 10 August 1944.
*Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe.
*Days of combat: 151.
*Distinguished Unit Citations: 1.
*Awards: Medal of Honor-1 Andrew Miller; Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-11; Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-1; Silver Star-896; LM-15; SM-19; BSM-4,281; AM-162.
*Commanders: Maj. Gen. Harry L. Twaddle commanded the division throughout its entire life in World War II.
*Returned to U.S.: 29 June 1945.
*Inactivated: 15 October, 1945.

Combat chronicle

The 95th Infantry Division arrived in England on 17 August 1944. After receiving additional training, it moved to France, 15 September, and bivouacked near Norroy-le-Sec, 1-14 October. The Division went into the line, 19 October, in the Moselle River bridgehead sector east of Moselle and South of Metz and patrolled the Seille River near Cheminot, repulsing enemy attempts to cross the river. On 1 November, elements went over to the offensive, reducing an enemy pocket east of Maizieres. On the 8th, these units crossed the Moselle River and advanced to Bertrange. Against heavy resistance, the 95th captured the forts surrounding Metz and captured the city, 22 November.

The Division pushed toward the Saar, 25 November, and entered Germany on the 28th. The 95th seized a Saar River bridge, 3 December, and engaged in bitter house-to-house fighting for Saarlautern. Suburbs of the city fell and, although the enemy resisted fiercely, the Saar bridgehead was firmly established by 19 December. While some units went to an assembly area, others held the area against strong German attacks. On 2 February 1945, the Division began moving to the Maastricht area in the Netherlands, and by 14 February, elements were in the line near Meerselo in relief of British units.

Relieved, 23 February, the 95th assembled near Julich, Germany, 1 March. It forced the enemy into a pocket near the Hitler Bridge at Uerdingen and cleared the pocket, 5 March, while elements advanced to the Rhine. From 12 March, the 95th established defenses in the vicinity of Neuss. Assembling east of the Rhine at Beckum, 3 April, it launched an attack across the Lippe River, 4 April, and captured Hamm and Kamen on the 6th. After clearing the enemy pocket between the Ruhr and the Mohne Rivers, the Division took Dortmund, 13 April, and maintained positions on the north bank of the Ruhr.

Assignments in the European Theater of Operations

*27 July 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army.
*28 August, 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
*5 September, 1944: III Corps.
*10 October, 1944: XX Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
*29 January 1945: VIII Corps.
*5 February, 1945: Ninth Army (attached to the British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
*13 February, 1945: Ninth Army (attached to the British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group, but attached for operations to the British VIII Corps of the British Second Army.
*20 February, 1945: XIX Corps, Ninth Army (attached to the British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
*26 February, 1945: XIII Corps.
*30 March, 1945: XIX Corps.
*31 March, 1945: XXII Corps, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
*2 April, 1945: XIX Corps, Ninth Army (attached to British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
*4 April, 1945: XIX Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
*9 April, 1945: XVI Corps.

Cold War

In 1952, the Organized Reserve was redesignated as the United States Army Reserve. The same year the Division underwent some other changes, one being the addition of the 291st Regiment, Tulsa, Oklahoma, from the 75th Division. The second change that year for the Division was the withdrawal of assignment of the 377th Infantry Regiment from the 95th and assignment to the 75th Infantry Division. The 377th had headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana since its activation after World War II.

1955 saw further changes to the Division and again changes of assignment of subordinate elements. On 1 January 1955, the 291st Regiment was again assigned to the 75th Infantry Division from the 95th and was subsequently inactivated 31 January 1955. On 30 January, the 377th Regiment was reassigned to the 95th from the 75th and its headquarters moved from New Orleans to Tulsa, Oklahoma on 31 January. The same date saw the relocation of the 379th Regimental headquarters from Hot Springs, Arkansas where it had been since 1947, to Little Rock, Arkansas.

On 1 April 1958 the 95th Infantry Division was redesignated as the 95th Division (Training) and a major reorganization of mission assignments was underway. Personnel trained for infantry combat, artillery, military police and combat support roles, were now to undergo re-training to enable them to train others. The Division had a new role, a new place in the sun as one of the 13 Training Divisions in the U.S. Army Reserve arsenal. The same year the Division's size increased as the 291st Regiment was reassigned again from the 75th and was redesignated as 291st Regiment (Advanced Individual Training). With the reorganization of the Division all of the Regiments were redesignated. The 95th Regiment became the 95th Regiment (Common Specialist Training) with headquarters at Shreveport, Louisiana. The 377th became the 377th Regiment (Basic Combat Training) as did the 378th and 379th. A new role, a new mission and new Summer Camp training sites.

In 1967, the nickname given the Division by the Germans during the battle for Metz, became the officially recognized nickname of the Division, the "Iron Men of Metz". The Institute of Heraldry approved the adoption of the nickname and a new crest to be worn by all non-regimental elements of the Division. The crest symbolized and commemorated the crossing of the Moselle River and the breakthrough at Metz by the blue wavy band and the black fortress. The blue wavy band further alluded to the Distinctive Unit Citation the Division received for the action in World War II. The arrow alludes to the letter "V" for victory, and the nickname given the organization.

The Division experienced tremendous expansion in October 1984 with the addition of the 4073d US Army Reception Station, in Lafayette, Louisiana with a strength of 809 personnel. The 402d Brigade's effective activation is 16 March 1985 and consists of the Brigade Headquarters and Training Group in Lawton, Oklahoma and five battalions of the 89th Regiment located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Amarillo, Denton, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls, Texas. The mission of the 402d Brigade has been designated to expand the training base for the Army's Field Artillery Training Center located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Current

The 95th has been currently reassigned as an Institutional Training (IT) Division, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, with its subordinate units covering several states throughout the Midwest. It has several training battalions, to include a Basic Military Training (BMT) battalion, Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (SROTC) battalion, an Advanced Individual Training (AIT) battalion, and several Total Army School System (TASS) battalions which are responsible for classroom instruction and field instruction in such specialties as: combat engineering, military police, signal, chemical, civil affairs/psychological operations, and military intelligence.

Trivia

In the 1962 film, "Hell Is for Heroes", the actors wear the 95th Division's shoulder patch on their uniforms.

General

*Nicknames: Victory Division; also, the OK Division, and The Iron Men of Metz (After the Battle for Metz, November 1944)
*Motto: Iron Men of Metz
*Shoulder patch: Monogrammatic red "9" and a white Roman "V" on a blue elliptical background.

References

*"The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States", U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 (reproduced at [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm CMH] ).

External links

* [http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/95thinfantry/index.html Bravest of the Brave: The Story of the 95th Infantry Division] , Information and Education Division, Special and Information Services ETOUSA, 1945.
* [http://www.ironmenofmetz.new.fr Virtual Museum of the 95th Infantry Division] , original pictures, full information about the division, stories of veterans, pictures "Then & Now".