The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Hurtgen Forest (Nov - Dec 1944) - Sep. 16th, 2003

Army Historical Foundation ^ | Robert S. Rush

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Hell in the Forest:

The 22d Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest

On 16 November 1944, the 4th Infantry Division attacked into the Hurtgen Forest as one of the ten divisions participating in Operation Queen, a combined offensive by the First and Ninth U.S. Armies to seize the Rhine River crossings into Germany.

As one of the infantry regiments of the 4th Division, the 22d Infantry spent 18 days in November and early December 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest. In a battle many believed mattered little in the big picture, the 22d suffered 2,773 casualties, or 85% of its normal complement of 3,257 soldiers, to take one village and 6,000 yards of forest. Each rifle company went into action averaging 162 soldiers. Seven days later the rifle companies averaged 87. Even this number required 42% replacements. By the end of the battle, losses of the rifle companies reached an estimated 151% of their original strength.

Although the 22d Infantry suffered these very heavy casualties, the U.S. Army's practice of replacing casualties while units were still in combat kept the unit from ever falling below 75% strength. Total replacements amounted to 1,988 soldiers. GEN Rudolf-Christoph Freiherr vonGersdorf, chief of staff for the German Seventh Army, called the fighting in the Hurtgen worse than anything he had seen on the Russian Front, and compared it in intensity to the battles of attrition conducted during the last two years of World War I.

The terrain and weather negated the impact of American superiority in aviation and armor and made the battle an infantryman's fight from beginning to end. Although massive amounts of artillery fire assisted the forward movement of the regiment, the infantry still had to take the ground. The entire ergion was crossed by a series of ridges running north to south. The area was thickly wooded with great hardwood and fir trees standing 75 to 100 feet tall. The bodies of the firs hugged close to the ground and interlocked with their neighbors, making it appear as if the forest were a sea of green, which th mid-day sun seldom broke through, leaving an eerie twilight effect. This combination of terrain and vegetation forced wheeled vehicles and tanks onto the few trails and firebreaks running through the woods. Almost nothing is worse for an infantryman's morale than to be wet and cold and to know he has little chance of drying out. Throughout November, temperatures in the Hurtgen remained near freezing, with a seemingly never-ending mizture of snow, sleet and rain.



The 22d was neither poorly trained nor led. LTG J. Lawton Collins, the VII Corps Commander and later the Army Chief of Staff, considered the 22d one of the premier infantry regiments in the European Theater of Operations. It had been formed in 1940 and at the time of the Hurtgen battle, most of its officers at the company level and above had been with the regiment since 1942. By all accounts, the regiment's commander, COL Charles T. Lanham, and his battalion commanders, were effective leaders. Officers at the platoon level were primarily Officer Candidate School graduates who had joined the unit after it had landed at Utah Beach. Many of the enlisted soldiers, especially the NCOs, had been with the unit during its training in the United States and Britain.

The attack began at 1245 hours on 16 November. Although the 22d made good gains during the first day, it fell short of its initial objectives. Then, as one soldier stated, "all hell broke loose." During the next two days, every battalion commander was killed or wounded as were many of the small unit leaders. Gains were measured in yards as German artillery pounded the advancing Americans. Mines blocked the muddy roads and the injured had to be hand-carried 1,500 yards back to the Regimental aid station. Tanks and other vehicles could not get forward to help the infantry. German counterattacks supported by armor limited the advance. Some companies were down to 50 effectives and the 2d Battalion in the south was particularly hard hit. The attack paused again the next day to clear the rear areas of German infiltrators and to put in a bridge across a stream so that supplies could be moved forward to the beleagured units. In the early morning of 22 November, the 3d Battalion executed a left hook around the German defenses and advanced about 500 yards, cutting the road leading into the village of Grosshau. In the south, the 2d Battalion was hit by two counterattacks, one tank supported. The American tanks could not get through the thick woods and it was up to the infantry to defeat the attack, but with heavy casualties. The open southern flank was so serious that on ecompany from the 1st Battalion and an ad hoc organization of 100 replacements were sent to hold the line there. The 23rd and 24th were days of comparable rest, while the regiment refittred and reorganized while waiting for the 12th Infantry to secure the southern flank. Turkey sandwhiches and "luke cold coffee" went forward to the rifle companies of Thanksgiving Day, the 24th. This was the only hot meal to be served to the soldiers of the line during the 18-day battle.



The 22d Infantry, heavily reinforced by armor, artillery and engineers, launched its attack to seize Grosshau on 25 November. The 3d Battalion again executed a left hook and found its initial move to the forest edge north of Grosshau easy. It then took three hours for the tanks to make their way through the woods and come on line with the infantry. By that time, the Germans were waiting. Six tanks were destroyed in a matter of minutes and the infantry was driven back into the trees by a massive artillery barrage. The 2d Battalion also made it to the edge of the woods south of Grosshau, but not before sustaining heavy casualties. Nine battalions of artillery, ranging from 105mm to 240mm howitzers, then fired against the village, but to little effect against the German soldiers safely ensconced in the cellars. More leaders in the 22d fell on this day than on any other day of battle. The following day was quiet except for one company committed to close the gap between the 2d and 3d Battalions. After gaining its objective it was thrown back by a German tank supported attack boiling out of Grosshau.

The one Medal of Honor awarded to a member of the 22d during World War II occured the following day when another company attacked close to the breach. PFC Marcario Garcia, while acting as a squad leader, single-handedly knocked out two machine guns that were holding up the attack. Another company rushed to assist the assaulting company in holding the ground gained. At the end of the day, combined strength of both units stood at 70 soldiers, or less than two full-strength platoons. By 27 November, more than half of the regiment's soldiers had fallen; almost as many replacements (1,640) had arrived as there were soldiers in the rifle companies at full strength.



On the morning of the 29th, the 3d Battalion attacked north and then east around the German defenses in Grosshau, cutting the road leading from the village to the town of Gey, located on the Roer plain. During the 3d Battalion's advance, COL Lanham received orders to take Grosshau by direct assault. Only the company that had been holding the line between the 2d and 3d Battalions was in position to make the attack. It was rapidly pinned down with heavy casualties and remained in that predicament for three hours until an American tank force from the south appeared to take some of the pressure off the infantry. The fight for Grosshau continued house to house into the night and was finally declared secure just before midnight.

There was no pause after Grossau, although there was now a break in the woods and soldiers could see the sunlight. The 22d continued its push to the edge of the forest overlooking the Roer plain. Because of the regiment's weakened state, the 46th Armored Infantry Battalion was attached to seize a line of departure for the 5th Armored Division south of the 2d Battalion. But it and the 2nd Battalion met extrememly heavy fire when they advanced across the open fields. Both made it to the far woodline, but had to pull back because there were not enough men to hold the line.



On 1 December, the two battalions again attacked under a horrific artillery barrage. The 46th, after making some gains, was forced back to its line of departure. The 2d Battalion was hit by a counterattack and the reserve company was rushed forward to stabilize the line. The fighting strength of the 2d Battalion was down to 124 soldiers in its three rifle companies, or just about two-thirds of a full-strength company. COL Lanham organized a last-ditch regimental reserve composed of headquarters, service, and anti-tank soldiers, which totaled about 100 men.

Before the regiment could continue the attack the following day, the 3d Battalion was hit by a German counterattack from Gey and had one of its companies overrun and enemy soldiers penetrate up to the command posts of the 1st and 3d Battalions. Rather than withdraw, Lanham committed his reserve and told his units to "hold on and fight." The German penetration was shortly wiped out by infantry and tanks. The line was restored. Because of its heavy losses, MG Raymond O. Barton, the 4th Division commander, requested that the 22d be relieved "because the had attacked until there was no attack left in them." The next day, the 330th Infantry, 83d Infantry Division, began relieving the 22d on the line. Just prior to the relief, on eof the 1st Battalion's companies was hit by another German attack. It was partially overrun, but the headquarters elements of the three rifle companies, as well as soldiers from the heavy weapons company, closed the breach. Later during the day the German Luftwaffe sortied and about 30 German aircraft bombed and strafed the area, but with few American casualties. The 22d pulled out of the forest on 3 December and headed for Luxembourg. Its battle in the Hurtgen Forest was over.



The 22d Infantry entered the Hurtgen Forest expecting a low-cost success. Instead, the regiment fought its way through the woods virtually unsupported in a battle of attrition against three German divisions and elements of two others. Although the 22d suffered more casualties than any other unit in the Hurtgen, it lost no ground that was not immediately rcovered. The last days of the battle saw fresh German battalions breaking through decimated companies of the 22d, only to be cut off, killed or captured by other equally understrength companies rushed into the battle. During the battle, the 22d captured 764 Germans. There is no existing casualty figures for German units, outside of those captured. However, it must be assumed that Herman casualties were at least as high, if not higher, than those of the 22d. German companies suffered the same fate as the 22d's, but they lacked the ability to regenerate and were burned in the flame of Hurtgen.

The regiment kept fighting as long as it contained soldiers who had trained together in the United States or who had significant previous combat experience with the regiment. These veterans provided a pool of competent soldiers to replace the junior officers and NCOs when they either became casualties or were promoted during the battle. As long as there were veterans around whom the replacements could coalesce, the regiment moved forward. The loss of these small unit leaders quite possibly dealt a more deadly blow to the regiment's ability to attack than did the loss of the commanders of every rifle company and battalion. The backbone of the regiment was the soldiers, officers and enlisted, who had trained together in the United States.

[SAMWolf]

The Terrain and Weather in the Hurtgen Forest

The Hurtgen Forest lies along the middle eastern portion of the forest barrier located south of Aachen in front of the Roer River. The towns of Eschweiler to the northwest, Duren to the northeast, Rutgen to the southwest, and the Schwammenaul Dam to the southeast formed the four corners of the battlefield. Figure 2 provides details of the Hurtgen Forest area in which the 22d fought. Entering the forest from the west, the 22d Infantry first encountered the Roter Weh road and stream. Immediately after crossing the stream, the soldiers climbed a 180 foot high hill that runs north south with a promontory known as Rabenheck. Firebreaks traversed the hill laterally, which during November were water-logged and had been filled with mines by the Germans. East of Rabenheck, the Weisser Weh road traveled north to south through a gorge. Known in the American plan as Road W, it was the only road suitable for resupplying the regiment. The Weisser Weh stream also traversed this gorge. In 1944, the stream was about nine feet wide and waist deep.

Two roads joined Road W near Rabenheck. Both also traveled down steep gorges cut into the rock by streams. The most important of the two in the 22d Infantry's sector was the one in the north, called Road X, which led to the village of Grosshau.

Road Z, in the southern part of the sector led to the village of Kleinhau. Between these two roads stood a 310 foot high ridge, which was cut by many streams. Road Y, an offshoot of Road X, zigzagged up the ridge and also led into Kleinhau.

The entire region was thickly wooded with hardwood and fir trees, with very few cleared areas. The forest was divided into forestry sections, with concrete markers telling the section numbers at each trail intersection. The firs, in nursery rows ten to fifteen feet apart; limited visibility to a few yards. Those areas not planted by foresters were thick with dense hardwood undergrowth. The combination of terrain and vegetation cleared for farming. East of the hamlets, the forest closed on the roads leading into the Roer plain and the elevation dropped 630 feet in the 2000 yards separating Grosshau and Gey. The one road between the two villages twisted and turned with an almost sheer sixty foot drop on one side.

The Hurtgen's topography robbed the infantryman of two of his closest companions, armor and artillery. The few roads and steepness of the hillsides restricted the use of armor until the infantry could clear a path to open terrain and the denseness of the forest limited the use of artillery because the observers could not observe the targets at long distances.

The trees tremendously increased the effectiveness of the defender's artillery while negating the effectiveness of the attacker's. Treebursts, caused by artillery rounds hitting tree trunks and branches, showered everything below with fragments. The shrapnel from the rounds was effective against attacking soldiers in the open, but had little effect on defending soldiers dug in with overhead cover.

Almost nothing is worse for an infantryman's morale than to be wet and cold and to hathes stayed wet, and the dampness bred hypothermia and trenchfoot.

The weather affected not only the individual soldier but also the organization. Even when it was not raining, water dripped continually from the trees. The soil in the area has a high clay content, which when wet turns into an oily, slippery mud that sticks to everything it touches. Trails quickly became axle-deep in mud under vehicle traffic, and soldiers climbing the slopes many times found themselves sliding back down the hill.

[SAMWolf]

Facing the 22d Regiment in the Hurtgen Forest was a conglomeration of many units. The 275th Volksgrenadier (VG) Division had been in the forest since the middle of October and had successfully opposed the 9th and 28th Divisions in their earlier bid to clear the woods. By 16 November, the 275th had absorbed thirty-seven different units. Two battalions of the 275th's 985th Regiment, each with approximately 300 soldiers, opposed the 22d's initial attack.



The mainstay of the German defense was its artillery. When the battle opened, General Hans Schmidt, the 275th Division Commander, controlled 25 pieces of motorized artillery (9 105mm, 6 150mm, and 10 122mm howitzers) plus had within his sector another 106 field pieces ranging in size from 88mm to 210mm, for at total of 131 tubes of artillery, not counting mortars, versus 96 pieces of artillery, counting corps artillery, that could support the 4th US Division. Schmidt's division also had twenty-one assault guns, twenty-two 75mm anti-tank guns and one 88mm anti-tank gun. And for the first time in months, the Germans had a good supply of ammunition. This was just the beginning strength. As units cycled into the battle, more artillery and more German regiments entered the line between the 22d and its objective, Grosshau. North and south of Grosshau were the I and III Battalions of the 1055 Regiment of the 89th Division and the II Battalion of the 1058 Regiment, 344th Volksgrenadier Division, was positioned in the center. While these regiments were from different divisions, the 275th commander, General Schmidt, remained in overall command of the sector. When the American attack resumed on 20 November, fresh German units faced them.

It appears throughout the battle that newly arrived German units acted as counter attack forces until they too became exhausted. On 21 November, the 344th VG Division replaced the 275th VG Division. The original 344th had been destroyed in the German retreat across France and rebuilt in October from remnants of the 344th and they had little time to train together. The surviving infantry soldiers of the 275th transferred to the 344th.



The 344th had no experience in woods fighting and was unfamiliar with the terrain. It is no wonder that only six days later, the 353d VG relieved the remnants of the 344th. This was the 353d's second stint in the Hurtgen, since it had been relieved by the 275th VG in early October so that it might reconstitute. Again the remaining infantry of the relieved division was absorbed by the incoming division. Quite possibly some of the German soldiers transferred to the 353d VG had been in that division before it was pulled out for reconstitution, remaining in the woods with the each successive headquarters.

The 22d met in turn, units of four German divisions during its eighteen day ordeal in the forest. When Grosshau fell on 29 November, the 22d Infantry reported that there were German units in the town from almost every division in the LXXIV Corps. As noted in Figure 8, the 250 captured prisoners represented four different divisions, eight different regiments, and forty-seven different company-sized elements. The regimental intelligence officer reported that he could not find a complete squad.



The morale and overall quality of the German forces facing the Americans in the Hurtgen was low. The units were a hodgepodge from everywhere. Intermingled as they were, therut. In their hopeless resignation some became fatalists, others sought consolation in religion. After collapse of the confidence in its leadership, the troops, in point of fact, continued fighting only for their personal security.

German division commanders in the Hurtgen sector ordered their soldiers not to retreat or surrender. The option to retreat closed; many preferred to surrender than face their superior's wrath for retreating.

Although many expressed a desire to surrender, fear for their families held many lower ranking German soldiers in place. During this period of the war, it was standard practice for German officers to require their soldiers to sign loyalty oaths. German soldiers also faced the threat of their families imprisonment in concentration camps if they deserted. Some divisions posted names of those who had deserted or been captured and used them as warnings to other soldiers in the division not to surrender.

Additional Sources:

www.5ad.org
www.hurtgen1944.homestead.com
www.army.mil
members.aeroinc.net

[SAMWolf]

Stretching north-east from the Belgian-German border, the Hürtgen Forest covers an area of about fifty square miles within the triangle formed by the towns of Aachen, Duren and Monschau. From September to December 1944, 120,000 American soldiers advanced upon the Germans through this forest. Other battles in World War II have been more dramatically decisive, but none was tougher or bloodier.

Close-ranked fir trees, towering 75-100 feet made the Hürtgen Forest a gloomy, mysterious world where the brightness of noon was muted to an eerie twilight filtering through dark trees onto spongy brown needles and rotted logs.



In the winter of 1944, the ground was alternately frozen hard and then slushy. Snow covered it in deceiving peacefulness. Beneath the snow lay a network of ingenious booby traps and mines. The infantry had to take it. It was simply American men against German steel, and the cold, bitter weather.

There was no more deadly fire, from the viewpoint of the infantryman, than that which burst in treetops and exploded with all its hot steel fury downward to the ground, shattering minds and bodies. Men quickly learned that the safest place when mortar or artillery fire hit treetops, was to "hug a tree".

The following American infantry divisions - the 1st, 4th, 8th, 9th, 28th, 3rd Armored, 78th and the 83rd - fought in the forest. The 9th Division, in effect, fought there twice. Numbers of supporting tank, tank-destroyer, cavalry, chemical, medical, and artillery units, also fought in the forest.

Approximately 120,000 Americans, plus individual replacements augmenting that number by many thousands fought in the battle. More than 24,000 Americans were killed, missing, captured and wounded. Another 9,000 succumbed to the misery of trench foot, respiratory diseases and combat fatigue. In addition, some 80,000 Germans fought in this battle and an estimated 28,000 of them became casualties.

What was gained in this battle? The Americans conquered 50 square miles of real estate of no real tactical value to future operations, and they had destroyed enemy troops and reserves, which the other side could ill afford to lose. The Germans, on the other hand, with meager resources, had slowed down a major Allied advance for 3 months. At the end of November, vital targets, dams along the Roer River, the importance of which were not realized until late in the fighting in the the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, were still in German hands.



Had the First Army gone for the Roer River Dams early in the fighting, there would have been no battle of Hürtgen Forest. That men must die in battle is accepted, and some fighting will always be more miserable and difficult than others. If there had been a push directly from the south to take the Roer River Dams, the cost of lives could have been just as costly. However, if that had been done, at least the objective would have been clear and accepted as important.

Those who fought in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest fought a misconceived and basically fruitless battle that could have, and should have been avoided. That is the real tragedy of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Fall, 1944: A German Jagdpanther (hunting Panther) and a Panther G lie in wait for the Americans in their ill-fated attack of the German-held Hurtgen forest area.

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Tuesday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I read somewhere that many of our battle weary soldiers from combat in the Hurgen Forest actions were sent to a relatively "quiet" sector to relax in early December. They were exhausted. Ironically that sector was the Ardennes Forest.

I also read that the reason why the Battle of Hurtgen Forest isn't that well known is that the Battle of the Bulge overshadowed it.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

<Did some lawnmowing yesterday. Weather's been nice here. How are things where your are?

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

<Did some lawnmowing yesterday. Weather's been nice here. How are things where your are?

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

<Did some lawnmowing yesterday. Weather's been nice here. How are things where your are?

[snopercod]

We forgive you.

[snippy_about_it]

ruh-roh. Looks like you have the triple post thing that SC Dog Papa had for a while. Good luck getting it fixed.

Weather is cool this morning, fall is right around the corner.

[snippy_about_it]

LOL.

Good morning snopercod.

[snopercod]

[E.G.C.]

Yep, sorry about that. Couldn't get the thing to post there and I did it again and got it posted but oh well,(LOL)!!!!!!!!!

[gridlock]

Where is DeepintheHurtgenForest (DITHF) when you need him?

[The Mayor]

Top of the Mornin to ya

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 16:
1387 Henry V king of England (1413-22)
1638 Louis XIV [Sun King] king of France (1643-1715)
1685 John Gay poet (Beggar's Opera)
1797 Sir Anthony Panizzi Librarian at the British Museum
1822 Charles S Crocker Pres of Central & South Pacific Railroad
1823 Francis Parkman American historian/author (Oregon Trail)
1838 James J Hill Canada, RR entrepreneur (Great Northern Railroad)
1858 A Bonar Law (C) British PM (1922-23)
1875 James Cash Penney department store founder (J.C. Penney)
1877 James J Jeans cosmologist/astrophysicist (Mysterious Universe)
1880 Alfred Noyes England, poet (The Highwayman)
1887 Nadia Boulanger Paris, music teacher (Lasir‚ne Ideology)
1888 Frans Sillanp„„ Finland, writer (Meek Heritage-Nobel 1939)
1893 Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Hungary, biochemist (Nobel 1937)
1895 Charles W Bidwill Sr Chicago, NFL hall of famer (Chicago Cardinals)
1899 Hans Swarowsky Budapest Hungary, conductor (Graz Opera 1947-50)
1911 Wilfred Burchett Australia, communist/writer (Catapult to Freedom)
1912 Jerry Wald NYC, producer (Mildred Pierce, Johnny Belinda)
1914 Allen Funt Bkln NY, TV host & creator (Candid Camera)
1915 Cy Walter Minneapolis Mn, pianist (3's Company)
1920 Franco Pandolfini Italy, water polo (Olympic-gold-1948)
1922 Janis Paige Tacoma Wash, actress (Lanigan's Rabbi, Trapper John MD)
1924 Bess Myerson NY, Miss America 1945/shoplifter (or 0716)
1924 Lauren Bacall Staten Island, actress (Dark Passage, Key Largo)
1924 Paddy Stone Winnipeg Manitoba, choreographer (Piccadilly Palace)
1925 B(lues) B(oy) King Itta Bena Miss, blues singer (The Thrill is Gone)
1925 Charlie Byrd guitarist (Desafinado)
1926 Robert Schuller televangelist (Glass Cathedral)
1927 Jack Kelly Astoria Queens, actor (Bart-Maverick, Get Christie Love)
1927 Peter Falk Ossining NY, actor (Colombo, Scared Straight)
1932 Anne Francis Ossining NY, actress (Honey West, Pancho Villa)
1933 George Chakiris Norwood Ohio, actor (West Side Story)
1934 Elgin Baylor NBA star (1958-59 Rookie of the Year-Lakers)
1937 Aleksandr Medved USSR, super heavyweight (Olympic-gold-1964 68, 72)
1941 Jim McBride NYC, director/actor (Hot Times, Breathless, Big Easy)
1942 Linda G Miller NYC, actress (Night of the Juggler, Mississippi)
1944 Ard Schenk Holland 1500m, 5K, 10K speed skater (Olympic-gold-1972)
1947 Lucius Allen NBA star (Milwaukee Bucks)
1947 Russ Abbott British TV comedian
1948 Rosemary Casals tennis player (US Open doubles 1967,71,74)
1949 Ed Begley Jr LA Cal, actor (Eating Raoul, St Elsewhere, Parenthood)
1949 Susan Ruttan Oregon City Ore, actress (Roxanne-LA Law)
1953 Jerry Pate Macon Ga, PGA golfer (US Open 1976, Canadian Open 1976)
1956 Anatoly Beloglazov USSR, 52 kg freestyle wrestler (Olympic-gold-1980)
1956 Kevin R Kregel NYC NY, Pilot/astronaut
1956 Sergei Beloglazov USSR, 57 kg freestyle wrestler (Olympic-gold-1980)
1958 Jennifer Tilly LA Calif, actress (Let it Ride, Off Beat, Psycho II)
1962 Kimberly McArthur Fort Worth Texas, playmate (January, 1982)
1963 Richard Marx Chicago Ill, rocker (Hold on to the Night)
1964 David Michael Sabo Perth Amboy NJ, rocker (Skid Row-Psycho Love)
1965 Katy Kurtzman Wash DC, actress (Lindsay-Dynasty)
1969 Kathi Wolfgram Minneapolis, rocker (Jets-You Got it All)
1971 Charlie Fields Bkln NY, actor (Shannon)
1972 Shalane McCall actor (Charlie Wade-Dallas)
1976 Andres Javier Blazquez PR, singer (Menudo-Cannonball)

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Deaths which occurred on September 16:
0096 Titus Flavius Domitianus, emperor of Rome (81-96), murdered at 45
1498 Tomas de Torquemada inquisitor who burned 10,000 people, dies
1542 Diego de Almagro, Spanish captain-general of Peru, beheaded
1672 Anne Bradstreet American poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1889 Robert Younger, in Minnesota's Stillwater Penitentiary for life, dies of tuberculosis. Brothers Cole and Bob remain in the prison.
1946 Sir James Jeans dies
1973 Frederic Meyer actor (Faraway Hill), dies at 63
1977 Maria Callas American-born prima donna, dies in Paris at 53
1982 Rolfe Sedan actor, dies at 86

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 MERRITT RAYMOND J. PORTLAND OR.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 RISNER ROBINSON TULSA OK.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 BUCHANAN HUBERT E. INDIANAPOLIS IN.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 ROBERTSON JOHN L. SEATTLE WA.
[NVN TOLD SUBJ DIED IN INTERROG]
1967 BAGLEY BOBBY R. CUMMING GA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED 12/05/97]
1969 TRAMPSKI DONALD J. CHESTERTON IN.
1975 BIAGINI FREDERICK J.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1630 Mass village of Shawmut changes name to Boston
1662 Flamsteed sees solar eclipse, 1st known astronomical observation
1668 King John Casimer V of Poland abdicates the throne.
1782 Great Seal of US used for 1st time
1795 British capture Capetown
1810 Hidalgo begins Mexican revolt against Spain (National Day)
1812 Fire of Moscow
1857 Typesetting machine patent
1858 1st overland mail for California
1862 Gen Bragg's army surrounds 4000 federals at Munfordville, KY
1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest leads 4,500 men out of Verona, Miss. to harass Union outposts in northern Alabama and Tennessee
1885 Puritan (US) beats Genesta (England) in 6th running of America's Cup
1890 Newswriter George Whitney Calhoun names Green Bay team the Packers
1893 Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma opened to white settlement homesteaders
1906 Roald Amundsen discovers Magnetic South Pole
1908 General Motors founded by William C Durant
1915 US takes control of customs & finances of Haiti for 10 years
1919 American Legion incorporated by an act of Congress
1920 Thirty people are killed in a terrorist bombing in New York's Wall Street financial district.
1924 Cardinal Jim Bottomley bats in 12 RBIs in 1 game
1926 St Louis Cards beat Phillies 23-3
1927 Rene Lacoste beats Bill Tilden for US Lawn Tennis Assn title
1930 Phillies trailing 10-5, score 5 in 9th, then Pirates score 4 in top of 10th, so Phillies score 5 in bottom of 10th to win 15-14
1934 Anti-Nazi Lutherans stage protest in Munich.
1938 George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 357.5 MPH
1939 Yanks clinch pennant #11
1940 Samuel T Rayburn of Tx elected speaker of the House
1940 FDR signs Selective Training & Service Act (1st peacetime draft)
1940 Leo Durocher suspended from Ebbetts Field for "inciting a riot"
1945 Barometric pressure at 856 mb (25.55") off Okinawa (record low)
1947 John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 394.2 MPH
1950 Cleveland Rams (formerly AAFC) play 1st NFL game, beat Phila. 35-10)
1950 The U.S. 8th Army breaks out of the Pusan Perimeter in South Korea and begins heading north to meet MacArthur's troops heading south from Inchon
1951 Betsy Rawls wins the US Women's Open Golf title
1953 AL approves St Louis Browns move to become Baltimore Orioles
1955 Bauer & Berra homer in the 9th beating Red Sox 5-4 taking over 1st
1955 US Auto Club forms to oversee 4 major auto reacing categories
1960 Amos Alonzo Stagg retires as a football coach at 98
1960 Mil Brave Warren Spahn no-hits Phila Phillies, 4-0
1962 Public TV channel 13 begins in NYC
1963 "Outer Limits" premiers on TV
1963 Malaysia formed from Malaya, Singapore, Br. N. Borneo & Sarawak
1964 "Shindig" premiers
1965 Boston Red Sox Dave Morehead no-hits Cleve Indians, 2-0
1966 Metropolitan Opera opens at NY's Lincoln Center
1968 Richard Nixon appears on "Laugh-in"
1971 6 Klansmen arrested in connection with bombing of 10 school buses
1972 1st TV series about mixed marriage-Bridgit Loves Bernie
1972 Penny Marshall appears on Bob Newhart Show in "Fly Unfriendly Skies"
1973 Buff Bill OJ Simpson rushes 250 yards (2 TDs), beating NE Pats 31-13
1974 BART begins regular transbay service
1974 Pres Ford announces conditional amnesty for US, Vietnam War deserters
1975 Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia (National Day)
1975 Pirates beat Cubs 22-0, Rennie Stennett is 3rd to go 7 for 7
1976 Episcopal Church approves ordination of women as priests & bishop
1977 90 minute pilot of "Logan's Run" premiers on TV
1977 Ringo releases "Drowning in the Sea of Love"
1978 25,000 die in 7.7 earthquake in Iran
1978 Yanks beat Red Sox for 6th time in 2 weeks, 3-2
1979 Catfish Hunter Day at Yankee Stadium
1982 Massacre of 1000+ Palestinian refugees at Chatila & Sabra begins
1983 Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes a US citizen
1984 "Miami Vice" premiers
1987 NASA launches space vehicle S-209
1987 NY's WNET-TV channel 13 begins round the clock broadcasting
1988 Jury awards Valerie Harper $1.6 M in dispute over TV series
1988 Tom Browning of Cincinnati Reds pitches a perfect game against LA Dodgers (1-0)
1989 Singer Natalie Cole marries record producer Andre Fisher
1990 101 year old Sam Ackerman weds 95 year old Eva in New Rochelle NY
1990 Dennis Quaid & Meg Ryan wed
1990 Emmy Awards
1990 Iraq televises an 8 minute uncensored speech from George Bush
1990 Pirate Radio New York International begins transmissions on WWCR
1991 US trial of Panamanian leader Noriega begins
1999 At least 18 people were killed and 200 more injured in the bombing of an apartment building in Volgodonsk, Russia.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
National Honey Month
Malaysia, Singapore : Independence Day (1963)
Oklahoma : Cherokee Strip Day (1893)
Papua-New Guinea : National Day (1975)
US : American Legion Charter Day (1919)
Hispanics : National Hispanic Heritage Week (Sunday)
UN observance : Intl Day of Peace (Tuesday)
International Day of Peace
National Thank You Day

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Religious Observances
RC : SS Cornelius, pope (251-53), & Cyprian, bishop, martyrs
Ang : Commemoration of St Ninian, Bishop in Galloway

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Religious History
1224 During an extended period of prayer and fasting, St. Francis of Assisi, 42, received the stigmata (crucifixion scars of Christ) on Mount Alvernia, in Italy. Francis, the founder of the Franciscans in 1209, has been called by some the greatest of all the Christian saints.
1620 The "Mayflower" set sail from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World. On board were 48 crew members and 101 colonists (including 35 Separatists from Leiden, Holland, known afterward as the Pilgrims). During the three-month voyage, two passengers died and two babies were born.
1840 Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Grace fills us with very different feelings from the possession of anything else. If you have tasted the grace of the Gospel, the irresistible longing of your hearts will be, "Oh, that all the world might taste its regenerating waters."'
1906 Birth of J.B. Phillips, Anglican clergyman. Ordained in 1930, he wrote "Your God is Too Small" (1951), but is better remembered for his biblical paraphrase, "The New Testament in Modern English," first published in 1958.
1976 In Minneapolis, the 65th Triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church officially approved ordination of women to the priesthood.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"How many things are there which I do not want."

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You might be a packrat if...
it's not a junk drawer. It's a junk ROOM

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Murphys Law of the day...(Parker's Law of Political Statements)
The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility, and vice versa.

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It's a little known fact that...
Donald Duck lives at 1313 Webfoot Walk, Duckburg, Calisota.

[manna]

Present!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning manna!