393rd Infantry Regiment

Visited the area of the 393rd Infantry in the Ardennes last year, will be back there in a couple of weeks. Hope to make some additional photographs of the area.

See http://www.ww2f.com/topic/51307-bft-2013-ardennes/

 

Lt Col Scott was the CO (short officer in center), I will have to do some research on the rest. lee

 

To TD-Tommy 776 - thank you for posting the link to A pictorial account of the 393rd Infantry Regiment in combat, 1944-1945 . This is the 70th year of the Battle of the Bulge, and I am trying to honor my father, Albert John Patrick, who was transferred from Div. 1 to Div. 99 as a replacement. He was in the 393 Infantry Regiment, Battalion 1, Company D.

At the end of the pdf file they credit an Albert Petrik, along with one other, for the artwork in this publication. My brother thinks it is very likely that this is my father - I suppose I could prove it if I had all the names of 393 that have the initials A.P. I also might have seen his picture in one of the photos - had to blow it up considerably, but when I went across the room my father's face hit me pretty hard last night. Now that one's impossible to prove, but the whole pdf made for very interesting reading, and the pictures were great. Thanks again.

 

Here is a picture of my dad. He passed away August 29th, 2017 at 94 years old.

 

Just found this forum. My father was in the 393rd from it's inception during WWII and deployment in Europe. I know he was wounded sometime after his third month on the front line, either during or shortly after TBOTB. I hope to learn more about all those who were there from day one! Thank you.

 

I also have a roster of the men in Co. B 393rd inf. It is the Xmas Menu from 1943 and signed by quite a few of the men he served with.

 

Christmas menu 1943 393rd infantry regiment

 

I have a hard time trying to find facts relating to the 99th division as a whole during the Battle of the Bulge let alone down to the individual regiments. I can tell you that the biggest fact I ever see is that "they were green and unproven troops" . I've also read conflicting action reports and that the Supreme Allied Command thought they were annihilated in the very early hours of the German Offensive on the 16 Dec 44.

 

Several specific references to the 393rd here.... The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge - U.S. Army Center of Military History

 

Thank you very much for posting these links. I have been to all of them and know they are a good source for some information. I think a lot of the problem is due to the attrition of men from the start date of the Battle of the Bulge to the end date. Caused by casualties both combat and weather related make it tough to find actual confirmation on or for a specific date or time frame.

 

I respectfully mention the history is technically an unofficial history given that official histories of the unit would be Historical Reports, After Action Reports, Journals and so on written during the war. The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge - U.S. Army Center of Military History is also an official Army History written by the US Army Center of Military History.

Unofficial post-war unit histories carry the following caveat noted by Army Historian Charles B. MacDonald: "Soon after the war, almost every division, some corps, and some regiments published unofficial unit histories. Many of these works are heavy on the side of unit pride, but some are genuinely useful. A brief analysis of each is usually included in this volume in the footnote where the work is first cited. In a special class is Conquer: The Story of Ninth Army (Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1945), a sober and valuable volume." HyperWar: The Last Offensive [Bibliographical Note]

 

Thank you, great read it will be a while for me to get through all of it!!