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Morale of the 36th Infantry Division in October 1944

Chaplains of the 36th Infantry Division by Chaplain (Colonel) Herbert E. MacCombie Division Chaplain

Report On Division Morale During this period the division was suffering many exhaustion cases.  On October 26th the Chief of Staff requested a report on the morale situation with particular emphasis upon its effect upon the exhaustion cases.  I discussed with several chaplains the morale situation within their units.  At 1700 hours I reported to the Chief of Staff that the following difficulties were probably contributing factors towards the number of exhaustion cases with the Division.

1.       Some men returned to their units still carrying stitches from wounds.  Others originally evacuated as exhaustion cases had been returned to their units while still under influence of drugs.  Some exhaustion cases were among men who had suffered three and four times.

2.       A large number of the exhaustion cases came among our very best men who landed at Salerno and had been in every engagement since, and were simply worn out in combat.  A second large group is amongst our replacements, many of whom are too old for combat duty with Infantry.

3.       Lack of confidence in officers within lower echelon commands.  This is noticeable in one regiment.  In one battalion three of the four companies have experienced commanding officers and very few exhaustion cases. In the other two battalions one company is commanded by an officer commissioned shortly before we left Italy.  Another company has only one officer, and he was commissioned since our arrival in France.  While these officers may be good officers, the men have not had time to develop confidence in them as company commanders.

4.       The present field conditions, especially the effect of tree bursts in the woods, have a very serious effect upon men’s nerves.

5.       Lack of confidence in the higher echelons of command.

(a) Men complained that Division Headquarters had informed new regimental commanders that they were yellow. In view of their achievements at the Rapido, and on other occasions they felt such criticism was unjust and unwarranted, when made by men with little battle experience.

(b) Some men were disappointed because they had so seldom seen the Division Commander in the field.

(c) It was unfortunate that after a day in which one battalion had suffered one quarters of the total casualties of the Corps, General Dahlquist should state to them that the Germans were only shooting in the air.

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The Lone Star Division nickname was given to the 36th Infantry Division during WWI. This document describes the reasoning behind the name and mentions the 3 distinctive images assigned to the Division: The Panther Division which was used while in training at Camp Bowie, the single star with a 36th and the flowers of Texas and OK ( I have never seen an example of this) and the now famous T-Patch insignia which was created after it was determined that the 2nd Division was already using a single star as part of their unit insignia.

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Today is VE Day- Victory in Europe. The 36th Infantry Division put out a special edition of the T-Patch to commemorate the victory. The museum has two artifacts related to stories on this front page. The silver piece is a 50th birthday present given to Max Aman by the city of Munich. The 36th captured Max Aman, the publisher of Mein Kampf. The pistol belonged to the son of Field Marshall Gerd Von Rundstadt, an officer and his father's aide, who was captured along with his father on May 1st by soldiers with the 141st IR.

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On April 2, 1917 President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany and on April 6, 1917 war was declared. This week we will be highlighting aspects of the Texas Military Forces in the "Great War" as we begin this Centennial year. World War I was a turning point for the United States, and for Texas. Even before the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, Texas was mobilized and already significantly engaged in war preparations and supplying the Allies. San Antonio was already touted as Military City USA . The Texas National Guard had been called out for the Punitive Expedition to pursue Pancho Villa in 1916-17. Texas businesses supplied oil, cattle, horses, cotton, and lumber to Europe. Many Texans had volunteered to come to the aid of the Allies (and some German Texans to the Axis) between 1914 and 1917. The British Royal Flying Corps had even operated three flying schools to train Canadian pilots at Camp Taliaferro in Fort Worth. The earliest unit of the Texas National Guard which was mobilized for WWI was the 117th Supply Train which was attached to the 42nd Rainbow Division. This picture is of Corporal Walter Tips who served with the unit. His family were well known Austinites and the Tips building downtown is named for his grandfather.

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In honor of the  last day of Women’s History month we have the story of  Second Lieutenant Constance Kries, of the Texas Air National Guard being welcomed back to her unit, the 136th Air Refueling Wing, after completing her Officer Training School (OTS) course leading to her commission. What is remarkable about this feat is that she is the first Air Guard woman to complete the course, only opened to female Guard personnel earlier that year. She not only finished the course but was the Class 70-04 Distinguished Graduate, ending the course as class leader. Women were authorized to join the National Guard starting in 1956 but the only positions available to them were for existing nurses or other college-educated specialties such as in the law or administration. Military schools were not available to them until Congress changed the regulations in 1969, when military education schools such as the Air Guard's OTS were finally opened to female candidates.  Photo taken at Hensley Field, Dallas, Texas , November 22, 1970

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On this date in 1944 the 141st and 143rd Infantry Regiments, 36th Infantry Division were preparing to launch an attack across the "Rapido" river in Italy. The 141st EX-O notebook here shows that on January 19th the 141st had 99 officers and 2056 enlisted soldiers ready to go into battle. By January 23rd the day after the 3rd attack had been called off the 141st was down to 47 officers and 914 enlisted men who had not been, killed, captured or severely wounded. The number for the 143rd IR were similar. Over this 2 night battle the 141st IR lost 52 officers and 1142 enlisted men in a failed attempt to cross the river. This battle would be the greatest defeat suffered by the 36th in WWII and would lead to the eventual replacement of its commanding officer General Fred L Walker.  One of the soldiers from Company E who visited the museum several years ago told us a story of going across on the first night in charge of a squad of 36 men. When the sun come up on that first morning he had only 2 men in his squad left alive. They all 3 were captured and spent the next 18 months as POWs.  

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We recently have been getting digital copies of photographs from the Texas State Library and Archives John Hulen collection. The top photograph of an early 1900s Texas National Guard rifle team at the National Rifle Matches came from their collection. The next photo from our collection which is very similar is a 1908 version of the same event. The man in the center of both images is Lt. Col. Oscar C Guessaz who was an expert marksman. In the 1909 match he won third place in the Press Match, the price was $10

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This 1952 article from the 141st Infantry Regiment newsletter known as the "Rabbit Twister" talks about the introduction of the new M38E1 Jeep and its improvements including a snorkel!  The museum has an example of the M38E1 in our collection located in the Cold War exhibit, sadly no snorkel is attached.

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The museum is currently doing restoration work on a CH-34 (VH-34) helicopter which was used by the Texas National Guard to ferry LBJ around in Texas after his retirement. While researching the helicopter we discovered that it was also Army One for JFK in 1961. JFK image courtesy of White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston 

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In this weeks "What's on my desk" we have a chunk of lava with an Italian 10 Centesimi coin which has been pushed into warm (hot?) lava and then the lava was chipped away to take home this odd souvenir. This piece came from a WWII 36th Infantry Division solider. In March 1944 Mount Vesuvius erupted while the 36th was nearby. They were called out to help with disaster response in the nearby villages effected by the lava flow. The second picture shows what a typical 10 Centesimi coin (1919-1937) would have looked like. The date is not visible on the lava coin.

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The danger of light to artifacts: people often don't understand why the lighting in museum's are low or they can't take flash photographs and they complain what harm is there in me taking a photograph? What harm in opening a blind and letting sunlight into a room? Sometime is takes a picture to explain what words cannot. This flag,which was given by the town of Luxeuil les Bains to the 36th Infantry Division after they liberated the town in 1944, was on display for many, many years with one side faced out. When it was moved last week the damage of years of light on one side is readily apparent. The original blue color has faded almost to white, paint from the star has leeched through, and the gold paint is flaking off. Light is particularly bad for fabric items like flags and clothing. So the next time you enter a dimly lite museum you will understand why.

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In April the family of Tom Walsh who served with the Anti-Tank Company 143rd Infanry Regiment, during WWII donated some items to us including this 3x5 photo of an M29 Weasel beloning to his unit.We had the picture blown up into a large life sized banner and put it behind the museum's Weasel and turned it into a nice exhibit. Director of Exhibits Edward and the interns did a very nice job.

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100 years ago today- May 9, 1916 the Texas National Guard was called into service to defend the border with Mexico. The museum has a number of original telegrams, documents and photographs related to this call up for "Mexican Border Service" including one very iconic letter. Written by the Adjutant General of Texas in response to a letter received by Governor Ferguson- the reply has 4 points :

Point 1 referring to the original letter

Point 2 Texas has 3500 troops called into service

Point 3 Texas has another 800,000 men it can call on if needed.

Point 4 "Texas could whip Mexico if she had to"

The call up lasted through February 1917 when the lessening of tension with Mexico and the  looming US entrance into WWI put an end to the service of most of the Texas National Guard at the border. However during the next 2 years while the majority of the TXNG was overseas the Cavalry units did stay here in Texas and patrol the border.

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Artifact Spotlight this week- A Confederate D Guard knife from the Civil War which was carried by a soldier with the 8th Georgia Regiment. These oversized knives were more decorative than functional and you often see them in the studio portraits of the day like this one of Private Thomas Baker, Co. D, 6th Texas Cavalry, taken in 1861.

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On May 1, 1945, soldiers from Company A, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division captured Field Marshall Gerd Von Rundstedt. One of the high profile captures by the 36th as WWII came to an end in Europe: http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/…/seigfri/prize.htm Last year a pistol belogning to Von Runstedt's son,who was captured along with him, was donated to the museum.

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Texas Cavalry Medal

  During World War I, Texas raised and trained two brigades of cavalry in anticipation of their mobilization in January 1919 and subsequent service on the battlefields of France.  The sudden end of the Great War on November 11, 1918 precluded the mobilization of the brigades and made their members ineligible of the World War I Victory medal.  In 1922, the Texas Congressional Delegation lobbied for approval of a medal to recognize the unique service of these troops. On April 16, 1924 the United States Congress authorized the issuance of the Texas Cavalry Medal to those who served in the two brigades.  The medal was designed by Anthony De Francisci and authorized by Public Law 91 of the 68th Congress and is a lasting testament t o the patriotism and dedication to duty of Texas Cavalrymen during the First World War.

  While  only 840  Texas Cavalry Service Medals were issued for WWI service over 3,500 were made. The Texas Military Forces Museum has 10 boxes with approximately 280 medals per box! All still in the original boxes with tissue intact

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Today is National Medal of Honor Day. We'd like to highlight one of the men who received the #MOH who served with the 36th Infantry Division in WWII.Charles E Kelly, known as "Commando Kelly" served with Company L, 143rd Infantry Regiment, in the days after the landing at Salerno, Italy his extraordinary courage in battle resulted in his being the first person to be awarded the CMH on the European Continent.  The images above tell his story, receiving his #moh in March 1944 from 5th Army Commander General Mark Clark, and the “Storehouse” mentioned in this MOH citation. He dropped 60 mm shells from the 2nd story window on German soldiers below.

 Sadly his life after returning home was not an easy one and he died in 1985 at 64 years old