PRINTER'S NO. 2386

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

275

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY PIELLI, GREINER, PICKETT, GIRAL, KINSEY, SANCHEZ,

DONAHUE, FLICK, JOZWIAK, KHAN, HADDOCK, MENTZER, STEELE AND

HILL-EVANS, DECEMBER 8, 2023

over hundreds of miles of front lines in Western Europe, and a

few United States divisions were stationed near the Ardennes

sector of Luxembourg with little prospect of an enemy attack or

offensive operations; and

WHEREAS, Germany planned a surprise winter attack, "Watch on

the Rhine," to sweep through the Ardennes Forest in Luxembourg

on the morning of December 16, 1944, with more than 200,000

troops in 20 divisions armed with close to 3,000 tanks and

artillery pieces and supported by 1,000 planes of the Luftwaffe

to advance past Bastogne, Belgium, across the Meuse River and

rapidly advance the 15 miles to Bastogne and then reach the

Meuse River in three days; and

WHEREAS, The target of the 5th Panzer Army's planned attack,

located mostly on the east side of the Our River in Luxembourg

and in other positions in the Ardennes, was the 28th Infantry

Division, formed from units and soldiers from Pennsylvania's

Army National Guard; and

WHEREAS, The 28th Infantry Division had recently been in

combat in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, which had resulted

in approximately 5,000 casualties from their original strength

25 miles of front lines, up to three to four times wider than

traditional Army doctrine; and

WHEREAS, Additionally, the 103rd Engineer and 707th Tank

Battalions were organized into the infantry regiments to assist

with the defense of the front lines; and

WHEREAS, The 112th Infantry Regiment was covering the

northernmost part of the 28th Infantry Division's front lines,

holding positions along an estimated three to six-mile corridor

on the German, or eastern, side of the Our River, defending

important bridges in Ouren while surrounded in many areas by

connected by a road named by soldiers as "Skyline Drive" that

overlooked the western side of the Our River and Clerf River;

and

WHEREAS, The 109th Infantry Regiment was assigned to guard

the nine to ten-mile southern front of the 28th Infantry

Division's lines in Diekirch, Luxembourg, on the Our River and

also had separate but not linked fortifications; and

WHEREAS, The 5th Panzer Army's assault against the 110th

Infantry Regiment started on the morning of December 16, 1944,

from three German divisions that had up to 27,000 troops and 200

who were not yet able to bring their heavy weapons and tanks

across the river and into the battle; and

WHEREAS, The 112th Infantry Regiment in the north faced an

enemy who, on December 16, 1944, was able to initially

infiltrate and attack kitchens, medical units and headquarters

groups, along with infantry positions, cutting off the 112th

Infantry Regiment from the rest of the 28th Infantry Division,

and yet the soldiers of the 112th Infantry Regiment reported

that they managed to kill or capture most of the soldiers in the

initial German assault wave; and

also successfully defended against the first wave of German

attacks whose heavy weapons and tanks were mostly stuck on the

other side of the river; and

WHEREAS, Starting late on the first day and continuing on the

second day of the Battle of the Bulge, several German divisions,

using newly constructed or seized bridges over the Our River and

Clerf River, then sent hundreds of tanks and thousands of troops

in a second wave of attacks against the numerous but isolated

109th, 110th and 112th Infantry Regiment's fortified positions

and began to systematically overwhelm them in a deadly house-to-

every available soldier, suffering tremendous casualties; and

WHEREAS, On the northern front of the 28th Infantry

Division's lines, the 112th Infantry Regiment's position on the

German, or east, side of the Our River was no longer tenable and

the troops were withdrawn to the high ground west of the Our

River; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Center for Military

History, one patrol of GIs evaded capture by crossing a lightly

guarded stone bridge over the river at night by lining up in

German formation and, while an officer shouted commands in

River, for two crucial days; and

WHEREAS, One example of the bravery of the soldiers of the

112th Infantry Regiment on the northern front lines was

described in the book "Alamo in the Ardennes" by John C.

McManus, in which a platoon-sized force from Company A, east of

Harspelt, held off 10 times their number in German infantry and

three tanks for three days until they ran out of ammunition and

were forced to surrender; and

WHEREAS, The 112th Infantry Regiment bravely fought and

delayed German army units for up to four days while detached and

Munshausen, Clervaux, Holtzum, Weiler, Hoscheid, Hosingen,

Consthum and Urspelt; and

WHEREAS, One example of both the courage and sacrifice of the

soldiers of the 110th Infantry Regiment was in Hosingen, where

300 soldiers defended the town in house-to-house and hand-to-

hand combat for almost two and a half days against nonstop

attacks from up to 5,000 German troops and numerous Panzer

tanks, suffering only 7 deaths and 10 wounded against 2,000

German casualties and surrendering only when they ran out of all

ammunition; and

German tanks and infantry firing at point blank range for three

days until they were forced to surrender; and

WHEREAS, In the south, the heroic defenses by the 109th

Infantry Regiment delayed significant progress by German troops

in their sector from December 16 through the beginning of

December 20, 1944, and the 109th Infantry Regiment temporarily

joined forces with the 9th Armored Division; and

WHEREAS, After the German advances against the individual

infantry regiments, cooks, signalmen, drivers, quartermasters

and even the Division Band joined in the defense of the 28th

units of the 28th Infantry Division and other attached United

States Army units could not stop, but did delay, the massive

German armored advance in the Ardennes; and

WHEREAS, The length of the 28th Infantry Division's hard-

fought delay might not be able to be precisely calculated but it

definitely changed the course of the battle, as the United

States Center for Military History concluded by stating: "It is

impossible to assess in hours the violence done the 2d Panzer

Division timetable at Clerf, but it is clear that the race by

this division to Bastogne was lost as the result of the gallant

December 17, 1944, and its paratroopers did not arrive in the

city until December 18, 1944; and

WHEREAS, The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, along

with soldiers from other units, including the 28th Infantry

Division, defended Bastogne during its six-day siege from German

forces until its liberation by units from General Patton's

Fourth Armored Division on December 26, 1944; and

WHEREAS, Without the determined fight in the first five days

of the Battle of the Bulge from the soldiers and officers of the

28th Infantry Division, along with smaller units from the 9th

south to stop the advances of the 6th Panzer Army, but the

defense of the 28th Infantry Division also helped keep the roads

open long enough so that the 82nd Airborne Division, in addition

to the 101st Airborne Division, could also deploy from their

bases in France and both play an important role in the Battle of

the Bulge; and

WHEREAS, This heroism came at unbelievable human cost to the

soldiers of the 28th Infantry Division, and while many records

were destroyed in the battle, early after-action reports from

the United States Army report almost 5,300 combat and noncombat

of every 10 during the entire war; and

WHEREAS, While thousands of Pennsylvanians fought in the

Battle of the Bulge without passing on their story for

posterity, other soldiers like Philadelphians William "Wild

Bill" Guarnere, Sr., and Edward James "Babe" Heffron of the

101st, the last Malmedy Massacre survivor Harold Billow from

Mount Joy and P-47 pilot Edwin Cottrell from Slippery Rock and

West Chester have been able to pass on their stories to future

generations; and

WHEREAS, Recognizing the anniversary of the Battle of the

made by veterans of this Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has

a long and proud tradition of honoring the historic

contributions, heroism and sacrifice of the soldiers of the 28th

Infantry Division and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, the

airmen and women of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and all

Pennsylvania veterans through its memorials, museums and

ceremonies, including the annual Memorial Day Service at the

28th Infantry Division National Shrine in Boalsburg; therefore

be it

Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to develop, publish

and present educational and informational materials and events

to honor Pennsylvania's significant involvement in the Battle of

the Bulge in time for the 80th anniversary of the battle in

December 2024.