Tuesday, December 19, 1944 - Things are looking grim.
Kimrbo's unit is in the crossroads town of Rocherath, Belgium. The Americans are outnumbered & outgunned by the new German Tiger II tanks.
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Kimbro's unit was tasked with mining a N-S road to allow an element from the US 106th Division to retreat south. [📷: pillbox just outside the southern tip of the road]
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Finding that the area was covered by German dismounts, Kimbro left his men in a protected position while he crawled forward alone.
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He quickly came under heavy enemy fire. He continued moving forward.
Twice hit with direct fire, badly wounded, bleeding out, he continued moving forward.
He lays four mines and begins crawling back to his position, leaving a sweep of bloody road behind him.
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Finally, 700 meters from his defensive position, he was killed by a German machine gun.
Before dying, he laid a mine network that delayed the German advance and allowed two companies from the US 106th Division to retreat.
[END]
Kimbro rests alongside thousands of Americans killed in the Battle in the American Cemetery in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.
He is among 20 American Soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for acts of valor during the Battle of the Bulge.
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#TDIDCH: Dec 21, 1945 – The Death of An American Legend.
George Patton long felt he deserved to die in battle, alongside the men he led. Instead, his death at age 60 came in a relatively minor auto accident.
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12 days prior, Dec 9, 1945, Patton was sitting in the back of his car when his driver, PFC Horace Woodring [pictured], sped over a railroad crossing in Manheim, Germany, plowing into a left-turning Army truck. Patton broke his neck & was paralyzed. No one else was hurt.
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Inside this hospital, doctors treated the Great General. For days, they prepared Patton for a flight back to the US. Before he could leave, however, a blood clot stopped his heart, killing him 76 years ago today.
At this point, the reserve forces (the 82nd and the 101st and the headquarters of the XVIII Airborne) are in sector and in their fighting positions. For the first time ever, the XVIII Airborne Corps is operating in combat.
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On this day 76 years ago, the 82nd Airborne establishes a defense against the 6th SS Panzer Army in the small Belgian town of Werbemont. This was the northern shoulder of the German bulge.
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It was freezing cold in Werbemont, as temperatures dropped to around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Light snow covered most of the ground.
77 years ago today, the stunning German counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest continued to plow through American defenses [although the Panzers still had a long way to go to get to port of Antwerp, the German objective]
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At ~2:15 AM, General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, unaware of the fighting in Ardennes and sleeping in his HQ in England, is awakened by a call from Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges, commander of First Army.
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Hodges, calling from the town of Spa in Belgium, tells Ridgway that the Germans are smashing through the Ardennes. The XVIII Airborne Corps has been released from theater reserve and assigned to First Army to help push back the offensive.
We're continuing our commemoration of the 71st anniversary of the Korean War's Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Day 12
December 7, 1950, the 1st Marine Division, having been blasted in a surprise offensive by massive Chinese forces from the N & W, retreats through Hagaru-ri
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The Marines fought through a stretch that came to be known as Hell Fire Valley. Through continuous People's Liberation Army fire, the Marines slogged South, pushing through all Chinese resistance.
The fight for Chosin was lost. X Corps would not reach the Yalu River.
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At this point it was clear that US military leaders had prepared their troops for the wrong war.
The Pentagon had been planning for WWIII: a massive, high-tech force-on-force war with the Soviets.
Easy Company formed in Georgia in 1942 with 140 volunteers as part of an experimental offensive formation: infantrymen who would fall from the sky behind enemy lines, striking through combat's third dimension to provide a heavy ground force with a position of advantage.
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In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the men of Easy Company filled sticks 66 through 73 into Normandy.
Once inserted, they captured Carentan and held it against withering German counterattacks.
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Three months later, Easy Company jumped into the Netherlands and marched into Eindhoven. For one month, they saw some of the ETO's heaviest fighting, often vs German tank units. In a daring rescue operation, they evacuated 138 British paratroopers trapped outside Arnhem
Friends - let's head into the weekend on a positive note, with a cool story of a badass Sky Dragon Soldier.
We're talking about NFL tight end (Detroit Lions), war hero, Medal of Honor recipient, Arkansas Lt Governor, and successful businessman Maurice Britt.
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Yesterday, as part of Marne Week, our @3rd_Infantry renamed a Fort Stewart Gate after Maurice. So, let's tell his story here.
Born in a small Arkansas town in 1919, Maurice quickly grew to be a remarkable athlete, excelling in baseball and football.
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After high school, Maurice played football at the University of Arkansas. He was undersized but scrappy and smart. After graduation, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1941.
While Maurice had a promising NFL career, the storm clouds of war were gathering in Europe