The 30th Division got to France a little later than some, but once it started moving it made up for lost time. Joining the Allied assault on the Germans on June 15, 1944, the Division crossed the Vire River and headed for St.Lô, and was soon spearheading the breakthrough out of the hedgerows of Normandy onto the plains of central France. By August 6 the “Old Hickory” Division—nicknamed after the World War I National Guardsmen from the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee, Andrew Jackson’s old stamping grounds—had advanced to Mortain and relieved the 1st Infantry Division there.
Everything seemed under control when the Division was suddenly hit by five German armored divisions, hoping to push through to the sea at Avranches and thus split the American First and Third Armies. The brunt of the assault landed on the 1st Battalion of the 117th Infantry Regiment, which threw every available man into the line, stemmed the attack, and was cited for its gallantry. One group of Old Hickory men, cut off for five and a half days, replied to a German surrender demand by saying, “Go to hell! We wouldn’t surrender even if our last round of ammo were fired and our last bayonet were broken off in a Boche belly.” The Germans never threatened to touch the sea again.
The Old Hickory didn’t rest long there. It took Reuilly, crossed the Seine, and by September, had begun an offensive that carried through to Tournai and Brussels and gave it the distinction of being one of the first American divisions to enter Belgium and Holland. Traveling to Belgium, the 30th covered 180 miles in 72 hours. After crossing the Albert Canal and the Meuse, capturing the fortress of Eben Emael, and liberating Maastricht, the 30th got ready to assault the Siegfried Line.
The attack began on October 2. The next day the Old Hickory men, with only their own artillery and basic weapons in support, had broken through the massive fortifications of the line at Palemberg and Rimburg. By October 16 the 30th had made contact with the 1st Infantry Division, crashing the line in another sector, and the two outfits had encircled Aachen. The 30th fought on into the defensive crust of Germany, and abandoned its forward movement only when the Rundstedt counteroffensive made it necessary for the Division to swing back to the Malmédy-Stavelot sector of the Ardennes and join the fight there.
The 30th took care of its share of the counterattack so effectively that the Germans, convinced that no run-of-the-mill division could have treated them the way it did, began calling it “Roosevelt’s SS Troops.”
When the Allies began rolling again, the Old Hickory reverted to its role of pacemaker. It crossed the Roer, raced for the Rhine, was one of the first outfits to break out from the bridgehead there, and helped to bottle up thousands of enemy soldiers in the Ruhr pocket. By the end of the war, it was stationed at Saalfeld, in Germany.
The oval shoulder patch of the 30th has a story behind it. Its original design embodied an “OH” and the Roman numeral “XXX.” In 1918, when the 30th smashed the Hindenburg Line and earned 12 out of 78 Medals of Honor and more than half of all British decorations awarded to Americans, the first shipment of manufactured insignia arrived in Europe for the Old Hickory men to wear. A bunch of Doughboys, receiving them with no explanation of the symbolism, sewed them on sideways. After a while the Division got used to that, and for a long time the 30th considered it right to wear its patch wrong. Finally, in World War II, the Old Hickory men turned their patch back up on end.
From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.
There are 88 soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division World War II still listed as missing in action.
| Technician Fourth Grade Joseph E. Barbour 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| First Sergeant Noah W. Barfield Headquarters Company 02/14/1945 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Willie Barker 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Sergeant Clyde W. Beachen 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| First Lieutenant Charles H. Bernard 117th Infantry Regiment 09/17/1944 |
| Private Alphonse H. Bertels 120th Infantry Regiment 07/25/1944 |
| Staff Sergeant George W. Bland 119th Infantry Regiment 07/24/1944 |
| Private First Class Earl L. Bohrer 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Claude O. Bramlet 119th Infantry Regiment 07/23/1945 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Robert T. Burruss 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Steve W. Carroll 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Bernard W. Clark 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Virgle Cleland 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Staff Sergeant James B. Collier 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private First Class Joseph A. Consiglio 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Holland P. Dalton 119th Infantry Regiment 07/26/1945 |
| Private Glenn W. Davenport 120th Infantry Regiment 08/09/1945 |
| Corporal James S. Davis 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade John F. Dotson 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Joseph J. Dotterweich 119th Infantry Regiment 03/16/1946 |
| Private First Class Anthony T. Drabecki 119th Infantry Regiment 09/28/1945 |
| Private First Class Namon C. Duke 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Clarence M. Edwards 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Donald B. Edwards 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private First Class Zane A. Flynn 120th Infantry Regiment 08/08/1945 |
| Sergeant Harry W. Foreman 117th Infantry Regiment 03/01/1946 |
| Corporal Merton Frankel 119th Infantry Regiment 06/26/1944 |
| Staff Sergeant John V. Gainey 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private First Class Albert Gerstein 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private First Class Clyde W. Gladson 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Warrant Officer Junior Grade Robert Gordon 119th Infantry Regiment 03/24/1945 |
| Second Lieutenant Arthur K. Greeno 120th Infantry Regiment 08/07/1944 |
| Private First Class Cleatus E. Hall 120th Infantry Regiment 07/25/1944 |
| Private Otis G. Hall 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Orville R. Herl 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Robert T. Hingston 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private John A. Hussli 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private First Class Raymond A. Ibe 119th Infantry Regiment 02/24/1945 |
| Private First Class James Ison 119th Infantry Regiment 02/01/1945 |
| Private First Class Lucious R. Lawson 120th Infantry Regiment 08/20/1944 |
| Private First Class Hubert Leffew 120th Infantry Regiment 08/08/1945 |
| Staff Sergeant Joseph C. Lewis 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Raymond A. Lohmann 117th Infantry Regiment 08/07/1944 |
| Private Donald E. Lyons 120th Infantry Regiment 10/20/1944 |
| Corporal Jacob C. Marshall 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fourth Grade John W. Martin 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Corporal Edward P. McGovern 120th Infantry Regiment 07/25/1944 |
| Private Cecil E. McLendon 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Staff Sergeant Charles A. Mew 120th Infantry Regiment 07/19/1944 |
| Private First Class Donald A. Mongeon 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Sergeant Howard G. Murray 117th Infantry Regiment 07/29/1944 |
| Sergeant John E. Nelms 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private Auther O. Nelson 117th Infantry Regiment 10/08/1944 |
| Private Duane W. Payne 117th Infantry Regiment 10/09/1945 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Merlyn W. Pearson 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| First Lieutenant Foster S. Pease 120th Infantry Regiment 06/22/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade John Perez 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Arthur C. Probst 120th Infantry Regiment 07/25/1944 |
| Private Albert P. Ramirez 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Wiley G. Ratcliff 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private First Class Eugene C. Reigel 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private First Class Jose A. Rios 120th Infantry Regiment 08/08/1945 |
| Private First Class Dominic N. Rosa 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Ryan 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private First Class Elden D. Schaefer 120th Infantry Regiment 08/01/1945 |
| Private Outra Schroader 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Second Lieutenant Leo W. Shields 120th Infantry Regiment 07/20/1944 |
| Private First Class Paul J. Sickler 120th Infantry Regiment 06/22/1944 |
| Sergeant Paul F. Simonson 117th Infantry Regiment 10/09/1945 |
| Technician Fourth Grade Donald J. Small 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| First Lieutenant Albert A. Smith 120th Infantry Regiment 08/07/1944 |
| Technician Fifth Grade Walter A. Snyder 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private First Class Feliciano J. Solano 119th Infantry Regiment 08/24/1945 |
| Technician Fifth Grade William S. Srp 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private First Class Ervin C. Staples 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private John H. Staples 119th Infantry Regiment 07/02/1944 |
| Sergeant Bennie Summey 117th Infantry Regiment 03/01/1946 |
| Private J. C. Swanger 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Sergeant John J. Tierney 120th Infantry Regiment 08/07/1944 |
| Private First Class John F. Udovic 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Technical Sergeant Wade J. Verweire 119th Infantry Regiment 09/28/1945 |
| Sergeant Francis J. Vidrine 117th Infantry Regiment 08/07/1944 |
| Sergeant Phillip J. Wade 119th Infantry Regiment 10/04/1944 |
| Private First Class Melvin Weiner 120th Infantry Regiment 12/25/1944 |
| Private Robert D. Wilkie 120th Infantry Regiment 02/23/1945 |
| Corporal James A. Wilkins 113th Field Artillery Battalion 06/15/1944 |
| Private Harry J. Williams 120th Infantry Regiment 10/20/1944 |
| Private William E. Zimmerman 117th Infantry Regiment 10/17/1945 |
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