Volume 10 , Issue 30

The 75th Infantry Div. In Combat -- WWII

This little WWII book of the 75th Infantry Division was put together by Major Ray E. Porter during the Colmar Campaign, and written up 4 June 1945, headquarters of the 75th Infantry division, office of the Commanding General, APO 41, U. S. Army.

It includes the Battle in the Ardennes, 23 Dec. 1944-27 Jan. 1945; the Colmar Pocket Battle, 30 Jan. 1945-9 Feb. 1945; the Battle for the Ruhr, 31 Mar. 1945-15 Apr. 1945. It starts out with a Foreword written by Major General Ray E. Porter, U. S. Army.

"To all Members of the 75th Infantry Division and Attached Units:
I have directed that this farewell message shall not be published in the form of any routine official military document. It is my desire that it be considered as a personal letter from me to every officer, warrant officer, and enlisted man.

"Orders have been received assigning me to a new duty. I must depart immediately. I have never appreciated any other military assignment so much as I appreciate the opportunity that I have had to serve with you. I have never so thoroughly enjoyed any other service. I feel that with you I have rendered to my Country the most important and the most effective service of my career as an officer. Feelings of loneliness ad sadness fill my soul as I leave you.

"I met you first near the end of those bitter cold and hard fought days of the Ardennes. You had come through that vicious introduction to war with great credit to yourselves. Since then you have constantly improved your skill in the art of war. You have learned to win more readily and at lower costs. Your confidence and morale have soared to heights rarely attained. In the Colmar Pocket, where you saw war in its ugliest aspects, you performed excellently under the French First Army. Operating with two veteran American and two veteran French divisions, you contributed your full share to that complete victory. On the Maas River under the British Second Army you established an unpenetrated wall against every hostile threat and you mastered the difficult technique of reconnaissance across a formidable stream. Moving to the U. S. Ninth Army, you mapped up the Roer-Maas Traingle. Your next assignment was to screen the assembly of the XVI Corps for its crossing of the Rhine River and collect the information of the enemy and the terrain on which the detailed plans for the crossing were based. You achieved unparalleled success in the accomplishment of those missions. Crossing the Rhine you attacked successfully for fourteen successive days against the determined resistance of four German divisions, two of them being among the enemy's best remaining divisions. You destroyed the bulk of the hostile forces north of the Ruhr River. You drove the remnants across the river with such swift and skillful maneuvers and with such powerful and relentless attacks that you were able to secure intact certain of the all-important Ruhr bridges. With the threat that you had set up on his north flank, the enemy south of the river threw down his arms and surrendered the largest number of men ever captured in a single operation.

"You have been tested in battle by the commanders of British and French armies as well as by our American high commanders. That you constituted one of the best divisions ever to have served our Country is attested to by the mass of commendations received from those senior commanders and by unsolicited high praise from officers and enlisted men of many units that have served side by side with you.

"When the early surrender of the remaining armed forces of Germany became inevitable, the division was moved into that portion of Westphalia situated south of the Ruhr River. You were charged with the maintenance of security and the operation of military government in a vast area including millions of recently conquered people and with the assembly and care of 175,000 Allied prisoners of war and displaced persons. This mission in a wholly unfamiliar field was in its immediate urgency and in the long range influence of its execution on the reconstruction of Germany as well as on Allied relations more important than any combat mission ever given to you. Every individual in the division immediately recognized the tremendous importance of his job and every individual has worked with energy, endurance, and personal enthusiasm far beyond the cal of duty. The result has been another cherished triumph for the division.

"Proud as I am of our achievements in combat and of your success in handling the problems incident to the occupation of a conquered territory, I am equally proud of our exemplary personal characteristics. In your high intelligence, in your clean living, in your good behavior, in your cheerful acceptance of dangers and hardships, in our friendly attitude and your thoughtful consideration of others, in your loyalty to each other and to your leaders, and in your high standard of discipline you excel any equal number of young men I have ever known.

"Regardless of where we may be called to serve during the remainder of this war, each and every one of us will be 7th Infantry Division men as long as we live. I am exceedingly anxious that at an early date you will initiate the organization of a division association through which we may meet and renew old acquaintances during the years to come.

"I leave you knowing that neither as a division nor as individuals, neither in war nor in peace will you ever accept failure or be content with mediocre performance of your tasks. I shall follow with pride and pleasure your future achievements in this war and the active leadership which I confidently expect you to assume in civil life when you have returned to your homes. I shall always be glad to hear from any of you and I do hope that none of you will ever fail to visit me when you are in a position to do so. Happy memories of our months together will brighten the remaining days of my life.

"With my most fervent wishes for your future success and happiness, I bid you, Good-Bye!" -- Ray E. Porter, Major General, U. S. Army

For all those of out there who might have had an ancestor who fought with the 75th Infantry Division during WWII, I have scanned the booklet compiled by Major General Ray E. Porter into a PDF file that is about 330-megabytes. For now it is too big to upload to my site and I am working on compressing it down to a smaller file (or files) for easier upload/download. Meanwhile, If anyone is interested in a copy of the pdf file, I will copy to a CD disc and send it to you if you give me your snail-mail address.
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