Hubert H. Kleiboeker

"Well Mom, how are you by now? do you still work so hard? You know I think  you should just sit down and take life easy 'cause you done enough hard  work in your life. And how are your chickens doing? Does it still make  you so mad when they lay down and die? Ha, ha. Or have they quit that? I  hope they should know better by now. Are any of the pullets laying? I  guess it is a little early yet." 

Letter from Hubie to Mama and Papa, Sept 3, 1944

In  many of his letters, especially those from Basic Training, included  questions about the farm and how the work was going with him away. By  1944, his older siblings, Elda, Meta, Alvin, and Martin, were all  married and starting their own lives in their own homes. Leona was  working in Kansas City; Vera was working at Camp Crowder in nearby  Neosho, MO. Lorene, who had been working for the Navy in Washington, DC,  from December 1941 to the summer of 1943, was back home in that fall of  1944. So Lorene, Lorn, and Eveyln were the only three left on the farm,  and they had to pick up the chores and other work as Lorn tried to do  what two men were doing before Hubie left. Many of Hubie's letters  continued to ask about the farm, the animals, and how the crops did.  Hubie was indeed a farmer at heart.

Hubie  was part of a group of 10 Freistatt young men who were inducted into  the Army at Fort Leavenworth, KS, in August 1944. All 10 were assigned  to the same Company A of the 150th at Camp Hood (named after James B.  Hood, a Confederate General) north of Austin, Texas. Later this was  renamed Fort Hood, and in 2023 it was renamed again to Fort Cavazos. The  ten Freistatt men all received their basic training at the "Infantry  Replacement Training Center" there. Six of these 10 were directly  related, and the six achieved some limited fame by appearing in a Camp  Hood newspaper article (see below). All ten trained together from August  20th to December 19th, 1944.

"I  got the Camp paper today and our pictures are in it but they made a  mistake in it. They said there were three pair of brothers. They stated  that Vernon and I were brothers.... You might wonder why I have my head  turned to the right. Here is why, they give us orders to stand "dress  right" if you don't know what I mean ask Buescher, he can tell you. He  has been in the Army long enough. We had on our fatigues, they sure look  crazy. You will think so when you see the picture."

Letter to his folks from Hubie August 25th, 1944.

Letter  writing by Hubie, his parents, his brothers, sisters, and cousins were  nonstop. Hubie wrote a letter almost every day during training and  almost every week when he was overseas. It was critical for morale, and  both the family and Hubie valued all the correspondence. The following  excerpts from his letters prove this point:

"Well,  where do you think I am writing this letter? You guess(ed) it, I am in  the latrine sitting on a stool and writing. How do you like that? The  lights are out in the barrack(s). But the light stays on all night in  the latrine."

Letter to his parents from Hubie, Aug. 30, 1944

"You know the Kleiboekers and Holle's get so much mail here they usually sort it and they give it (the pile of mail for the Holle's & Kleiboekers) to one of us and then we divvy it all up. Yesterday I had 4 letters and a box of candy from Meta." Letter to sister Evelyn from Hubie Sept. 14, 1944.

Upon  graduating from Camp Hood, the Freistatt gang was finally split up.  Only 2 of the ten were sent to Europe, Hubie and Verner Nelson; all  others were off to fight the Japanese. Hubie and Verner never met or  encountered each other after Camp Hood. Hubie was able to get a short  leave over Christmas, most likely arriving the weekend of Dec. 23/24.  His brother Martin picked him up from the Joplin train station and  remembered driving home in a difficult snowstorm. But Hubie was so  thankful to be with his family. June Huff remembers her dad, Lorn  Kleiboeker, telling the story of how "Hubert helped him with the chores  on that Christmas morning so they could get them done before church."  Also, during Hubie's short furlough, he met with his pastor on  Wednesday, Dec 27th. Rev. W. Stuenkel gave him communion and a wallet  card identifying him as a “Communicant Member” of Trinity Lutheran at  Freistatt, MO.

Transport to Europe and France Jan 6 to Jan 21, 1945

"Oh yes, I think the Air Corp has really got a good deal. We were to leave George Field, Illinois, yesterday at seven AM and we were still in bed at Eight AM, pretty good don't you think? Then when we did get up I thought sure we would get no breakfast but we did. And finally at ten thirty we did leave. We were at the airport up here (in Maryland) at 1 O'clock PM, what the name of it was I don't know."

Letter to Lorene, January 3, 1945

Hubie left the Freistatt area late in the day on December 27th 1944 and headed back to Camp Hood. But Hubie and his fellow privateer from Freistatt, Verner Nelson, both had orders to be shipped off to Europe. So almost as soon as they arrived at Camp Hood, the two received train tickets to take them from Camp Hood, Texas, to George Field, Illinois. Somehow they got word to the folks back home that Verner’s and Hubie's train ride would have a stop and layover at the Monett Train Station, near Freistatt. David Kleiboeker remembers seeing Hubie on a cold winter evening at the Monett Train Station. As David was only 2 1/2 years old at the time and can still remember that meeting 75 years later, he must have picked up on the emotions of his parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles as they said goodbye one last time to Hubert. David remembers being told that the layover was maybe an hour or hour and a half, enough time for Hubie and his close relatives to get some hugs in, one last time.

The George Field Airport was a training base for large troop plane transport that was used for training pilots for the D-Day landing. Apparently, they were using these training flights to transport replacement troops from the Midwest Army training bases to the East Coast for eventual ship transport to Europe. Hubie flew on Jan. 2nd from there to Camp Mead, outside of Baltimore, MD. It is interesting that Hubie did not write much about his flying experience, as it was novel and definitely a new first-time experience for Hubert. Perhaps he was scared during the flight and did not want to mention it? He seemed to have focused more on breakfast than the flight. At Fort Mead, he received some training on new gas masks to be worn if the Germans used chemical warfare, but most of his time was spent on being outfitted with all he needed for Europe. He then went to New York on January 6th and boarded a troop transport ship that set sail on January 7th, 1945, for Clyde, Scotland, near Glasgow on the West Coast.

From the 7th Infantry History:

“Early 19 February, 1945, the 7th Infantry commenced movement by motor, from the Rhineland to rest areas, north (and south) of Nancy, France…. The Regiment rested and rehabilitated its troops the first few days in the new area. “Cotton Balers” received a hearty welcome by the populace in the towns of the province of Lorraine, where they were billeted in the homes of people and public buildings. Moving pictures and shows were provided for the men and each company held dances which were attended by the old and young “belles” of Lorraine, who quickly learned the American “jitterbug” steps and enjoyed the dances. Passes were given to the men to visit the historic city of Nancy. Sundays were devoted to religious services.”

“They told me I could go to rest camp tomorrow. I will be there about five days. And I won’t have anything to do. They have dances and movies every day so that should really be life. Oh yes, and they have showers so we can take a bath every day. If I don’t go to many dances, I will try and write you or Leona every day. How will that be? That sure is a surprise to(o). That they are letting me go already. I have just been with the company about a month. Some of the boys here were here for three months before they got to go. I guess I am just lucky. But you know old Hub, he gets around. The only thing I don’t like about going to rest camp is that I won’t get any mail till I get back to the my company. But I guess I can wait five more days, cause I can use the rest. Maybe I better tell you how this works. Every four days one man from our platoon get to go to rest camp.”

Letter from Hubie to Elda; Feb 23, 1945 France

Problems with the mail:

On February 25th, Hubie wrote to his sister, Evelyn, that he "finally received one of your sweet letters. It was the letter you wrote when you were at Alvin and Alice. It was January 11, and now it is February 24. It took a long time for that letter to catch up with me." And on Saturday, March 10th, Hubie wrote to his parents from the Rest Camp at Nancy: "I really hit the jackpot Thursday. I got twenty three letters, now don't you think that is was pretty good? I want to thank you very kindly for writing to me so much. Yesterday I had three letters and today I had four more.....The way one gets the mail here it sure is a mess. About a week ago I got one letter you wrote me in Feb. and Thursday I got some that you wrote the third of Jan."

From the 7th Infantry History:

“Early 19 February, 1945, the 7th Infantry commenced movement by motor, from the Rhineland to rest areas, north (and south) of Nancy, France…. The Regiment rested and rehabilitated its troops the first few days in the new area. “Cotton Balers” received a hearty welcome by the populace in the towns of the province of Lorraine, where they were billeted in the homes of people and public buildings. Moving pictures and shows were provided for the men and each company held dances which were attended by the old and young “belles” of Lorraine, who quickly learned the American “jitterbug” steps and enjoyed the dances. Passes were given to the men to visit the historic city of Nancy. Sundays were devoted to religious services.”

“They told me I could go to rest camp tomorrow. I will be there about five days. And I won’t have anything to do. They have dances and movies every day so that should really be life. Oh yes, and they have showers so we can take a bath every day. If I don’t go to many dances, I will try and write you or Leona every day. How will that be? That sure is a surprise to(o). That they are letting me go already. I have just been with the company about a month. Some of the boys here were here for three months before they got to go. I guess I am just lucky. But you know old Hub, he gets around. The only thing I don’t like about going to rest camp is that I won’t get any mail till I get back to the my company. But I guess I can wait five more days, cause I can use the rest. Maybe I better tell you how this works. Every four days one man from our platoon get to go to rest camp.”

Letter from Hubie to Elda; Feb 23, 1945 France

Problems with the mail:

On February 25th, Hubie wrote to his sister, Evelyn, that he "finally received one of your sweet letters. It was the letter you wrote when you were at Alvin and Alice. It was January 11, and now it is February 24. It took a long time for that letter to catch up with me." And on Saturday, March 10th, Hubie wrote to his parents from the Rest Camp at Nancy: "I really hit the jackpot Thursday. I got twenty three letters, now don't you think that is was pretty good? I want to thank you very kindly for writing to me so much. Yesterday I had three letters and today I had four more.....The way one gets the mail here it sure is a mess. About a week ago I got one letter you wrote me in Feb. and Thursday I got some that you wrote the third of Jan."

I am now at rest camp. [camp was located in the spa town of Bourbonne-les-Bains, near the city of Nancy] I am going to take Communion while I am here….Sometimes when the battle is over and one thinks back what he has gone through, it seems impossible. A man alone could not get through it. It is the Lord's protecting hand that brings one through... Chaplain Grapatin is here and he is ready to go to the church so I will have to close. Tell the Leaguers Hello for me…. Your church member, Hubert."

Letter from Hubie to Pastor Stuenkel; Feb 28, 1945 France

“I guess you think it is about time I write to you. This is Thursday morn. I am at rest camp. I will be here till noon tomorrow. It is about 9 o’clock. I have just got done eating breakfast. I bet you think I am really getting lazy. This is the best rest I have had for a long time. We are off the lines now but may go back any day. But I hope we don’t. I suppose Leona has told you about my surprise meeting Chaplain Grapatin (J. W. Grapatin). I went up and talk(ed) with him last night. I am going to take communion this afternoon. That will be the first time I took communion since I left home.”

Letter from Hubie to Elda, March 1, 1945, France

Chaplain Grapatin's was a former Minister of the Monett Lutheran Church prior to WW2, so he knew many of the Freistatt folks, through joint Walther League (Youth Group) events as well as other local activities. Hubie was the first and only local Lutheran he met during his 4 years overseas. Similarly, Hubie's only encounter with someone he knew was Chaplain Grapatin. At Hubie's funeral service, Chaplain Grapatin shared the following:

"Let me tell you some of the details of the story of how Hubie and I met in France in February of 1945. The third Infantry Division had established a Rest Camp in a little town of Bourbon Les Bains. It was a health resort, similar to Hot Springs Arkansas. People from all over the country would come there for the baths. During the war, however, it wasn't used very much by civilians. It was put to good use by the army and served as a good rest camp. Soldiers form the Third Division would be sent back there for a four-day rest. It was an opportunity to rest up from the fatigue of battle, take several good hot baths, and eat good hot meals. Church services were provided every day for the men. A Chaplain was sent there for a period of thirty days to take care of the Services. I was asked if I wanted to take charge of the Services for the month of December. I turned it down. A little later I was asked if I could go in January. I turned it down again, and suggested that I would rather go in February. So at the end of January, I was on my way to the Rest Camp. Had I gone in December or January, I would have never seen Hubert. I feel as though the good Lord directed my decision so that I would be able to minister unto Hubert. Indeed the Lord moves in mysterious ways, His wonder to perform."

Chaplain Grapatin continues: "One day, the 26th of February, 1945, I stopped in at the Red Cross Club about one half hour before my 11am Service to remind the men about the Church Service. The Red Cross Club was in a large building which was arranged as a writing room for the men. There were a number of tables and chairs at which men were sitting, writing letters. I went from table to table reminding the men of the Church Service. I then went back into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. I had barely sat down when I heard someone excitedly call "Rev. Grapatin, do you remember me?" I looked up and saw Hubert. I did not recognize him immediately. I said, "No, I can't recall your name off hand but I believe you're from Freistatt." He then said: "I'm Hubert Kleiboeker". I asked him to sit down with me. We talked about the people from Freistatt. It had been over two and a half years since I had left Monett. I didn't expect to see anyone from the Monett or Freistatt area over here in France. Hubert was the first Lutheran of the Monett area that I had met overseas. It was time for the Church Service, and Hubert and I went over to the Auditorium. Hubert attended all four services. It was during the season of Lent, so I preached about Jesus our Savior, who suffered and died for our sins. I spent a lot of time with Hubert those four days. I made several trips in the afternoons to some of our hospitals located nearby. Hubert rode along with us. My driver was a Lutheran from Wisconsin. We talked a lot about Freistatt and Monett, the church, the Walther League and other matters of interest to both of us. Then on the first of March we were to return to our respective regiments: I to the 15th, Hubert to the 7th. Before leaving the camp, Hubert requested the Lord's Supper. I served it to him in my room just shortly before we were to leave. When you think about it now, wasn't it really by the Grace of God that Hubert and I were in the same little town in France at the same time? There in the little town of Bourbon les Bains, over 5 thousand miles from home, Hubert heard four sermons about his Savior and also partook of the Lord's Supper. --- Soon after that we had to leave. I can still see Hubert sitting in the truck, smiling and waving "Goodbye". I had no idea then that would be the last time I would ever see him again."

In a letter dated May 18,1945, Chaplain Grapatin wrote to Pastor Stuenkel , pastor of the Freistatt church: "It was really a wonderful coincidence that Hubert and I were at the Rest Camp at the same time. I invited him to come to my room any time he wished, and he was there some of the time every day. He attended every one of the Church Services I had while I was there, and also took Communion before he returned to his unit. Hubert was the first Lutheran of our immediate Freistatt Circle that I had seen since I left Monett on August 9, 1942. We spent many hours together talking about activities in Freistatt, the Church, Walther League, etc. I know he enjoyed it as much as I did. To me, it was very refreshing, as it was first hand information about people I knew and hadn't seen for over two and a half years. I took Hubert along on the little trips I made in the vicinity of our camp, and we made comparisons of that country with Freistatt. We both enjoyed it very much."

March 15, 1945

"Lt. General Patch sent his Seventh Army into its first major action since the Colmar Pocket, at 1:00 am on March 15th, 1945, deciding to strike silently without the usual artillery preparation" (AP News article of 3/16/45). This was perhaps a good decision to create surprise, but according to the 7th Army history, the 7th Army suffered its worst day of World War Two. "In the fog of war, things sometimes go wrong, and when they do, the riflemen find themselves on the cutting edge of defeat." (From Earl Reitan's "Disaster at Utweiler," Earl was a fellow rifleman in the 2nd Battalion.)

After training for so long in village combat, use of "artificial moonlight," and getting lots of rest, the American generals and colonels felt they were ready to tackle the German border and expected little resistance. But just inside the French-German border, the Nazis had installed miles and miles of buried mines. The Americans decided that it was best if they used a night attack, similar to what had been done in the Colmar Pocket. But this time they would add a new wrinkle by creating artificial moonlight to see the routes that had been cleared through the German minefields. Hubie's F Company was charged with being the first unit to enter the “cleared” minefields and take the village of Utweiler, which was 15 miles east of Saarbrücken.

Earl Reitan continues: "Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on March 15 the Second Battalion crossed into Germany at Utweiler. Company F led the way, followed by E and G Companies. Company H, the weapons company, was divided among the rifle companies.The artillery barrage and searchlights gave the signal for the attack but the artillery and lights also alerted the Germans. About a mile south of Utweiler, F Company entered a mine field where uncleared exploding mines wreaked havoc. Trapped in the minefield, the “artificial moonlight” exposed the riflemen to taking direct and indirect fire from enemy flak wagons, machine guns, and mortars. F Company's leader, Captain Swanson sent a messenger back to battalion headquarters to inform them that the company was in a minefield and could not proceed."

Earl Reitan quotes Ben Loup, one of Hubie's fellow Riflemen in the First Platoon: The original plan was for the Engineers of the 44th Division (which had established defensive positions along our line of departure), to clear a path through the minefield and mark the path with engineer's tape. An officer of the unit through which we were to pass was to lead us through the mine field. F Company (started first and) reached the line of departure at 1:00 am and Captain Swanson gave his usual order: "Let's Go!". Swanson was in the lead with the First Platoon (Hubie's platoon). Everyone got up and followed Capt. Swanson down the road about 40 or 50 yards. At this point the officer who was supposed to lead us through the mine field into Utweiler pointed out the engineer’s tape to Capt. Swanson and took off for the rear. … Captain Swanson entered the field by the engineer’s tape followed by his radio operator, my squad’s scout, then myself and my assistant BAR man. After traversing a short distance in the mine field, about 20 yards or so, the engineer’s tape ended. Capt. Swanson stopped and looked around for the engineer’s tape, but found none. He then assumed, and so passed back the word, that since there was no more engineer’s tape, there were probably no more mines. We started our approach to Utweiler. About 10 yards or so past the engineer’s tape, Capt. Swanson’s radio operator set off a mine and the explosion ripped the radio off his back. Almost simultaneously with that explosion, there were two other explosions farther back in my squad. Capt. Swanson immediately gave us the order to stop in our tracks, do not move our feet, and gently feel around where we were standing. If we felt nothing, lay prone. The attack was now stalled."

Then enemy machine guns, artillery shells, and mortars began firing at the stranded troops. Loup, who knew a snafu when he saw one, was wounded in the cheek by a shell fragment, returned safely to the battalion aid station for treatment, and lived to fight another day. A major problem at Utweiler was the lack of armor (US tanks) due to the refusal of the tanks to accompany the infantry. Joseph Corrigan of F Co. recalls:

“When we got up to the front and just before we went into the minefield I remember Capt. Swanson jumping up on the tank with a gun in his hand, telling the tank commander to go forward. But as soon as he got off the tank, the tank turned around and took off for the rear.”

George Corpis was a replacement rifleman in F Co. (similar to Hubie), for whom Utweiler was his first and last experience of combat. He describes the deaths of Capt. Swanson and his platoon leader, Lt. Rankin. “Captain Swanson,” Corpis writes, “was wounded in the arm and heading to the rear to an aid station when a German shell landed near him and killed him.” Lieutenant Rankin was next to Corpis as they tried to extract themselves from the minefield. Rankin stepped on a mine, and when he hit the ground, he landed on another mine and was killed instantly. Hubert now was in a minefield and probably knew that his company and platoon leaders had both been killed.

Hubert's fellow rifleman, Corpis recalled that F Co. got out of the minefield and followed E Co. around to the right, where they charged the German defenders, firing from the hip. “Just like in the movies,” he said. F Company was told to take the church and walled graveyard and then wait for the armor (tanks) before heading out again. When Corpis’ squad was ensconced in the church, they relaxed, glad to be alive after the harrowing experience in the minefield. Swanson and Rankin had both been killed, and it appears that no one stepped forward to take charge. Hubert may have been with this group near the cemetery and church.

While the remnants of F Co. were getting reorganized, Capt. James Powell, commander of E Co., had led the battalion around the minefield to gain entrance to the village, which was defended with trenches and cut trees. They attacked with a rush, took approximately 60 German prisoners, and by 6:00 a.m. the situation seemed to be well in hand. Almost half the members of the battalion were disoriented by the minefield, the shelling, and the darkness and did not make it into Utweiler at all. Radio contact was lost when Col. Duncan moved his command post into the village, and the minefield delayed the laying of telephone lines. Duncan expected that communications would soon be restored and waited for the arrival of the armor, which was the signal to move forward (7th Infantry, 236).

Back at the line of departure, the American armor was held up. Four tanks were disabled by mines and German artillery. The remaining tanks and tank destroyers refused to move forward until the road had been swept. They claimed that the ground was too soft to go over land. Colonel Heintges intervened personally to persuade some of them to move forward (7th Infantry, 238). For the moment, the troops in Utweiler were without armor, but that did not seem important. Having attained their objective, those members of the Second Battalion who had reached Utweiler relaxed, waiting for the next move. Apparently the usual procedures for establishing a defensive perimeter were not followed.

About 8:00 a.m., the Germans counterattacked in the village of Utweiler with tanks and supported by infantry. They surrounded the village and began firing on the surprised GIs who were resting or lounging about. The rifle companies had bazookas, but their bazooka ammunition was quickly expended in firing unsuccessfully at Nazi tanks at long range. When they discovered that the Americans had no bazooka ammunition left, four German tanks, supported by riflemen, came rolling down the street, firing into the houses, collapsing the roofs, and setting the houses on fire. Without radio or telephone communication, US artillery could not be called in, and the US tanks did not appear. American rifles were useless against the Nazi tanks; there was no alternative except to surrender. In less than an hour, the Second Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment was destroyed as a fighting unit.

After reviewing various letters and official records and exchanging emails in 2010 with both Earl Reitan and Robert Cook, who both served with Hubert, I, Dennis Kruse, have concluded that Hubert did make it through the minefield and most likely was killed in battle in Retailer after the Germans counterattacked between 8 and 11 am that morning, although this is not definitive. Neither Earl Reitan nor Robert Cook remembered Hubert precisely or were near him during the battle, but Robert Cook referenced a memory of a guy nicknamed "Kly". Much later, a letter from the division's chaplain, Lloyd E. Langford, to Hubie's parents stated:

"According to an officer of his company, they had captured a village in Germany, not far from the French border and were counter-attacked by enemy tanks and infantry. Your son was at his post of duty when a tank shell burst near him. He was instantly killed. His excellent character and devotion to duty had won the esteem of all who knew him."

Excerpt from LoneSentry.com

Since the attack was secret, patches and vehicle markings were removed. Second Bn., 7th, infiltrated through enemy minefields to reach the town of Utweiler, just inside the border south of Zweibrucken. Then disaster struck. The Chicago Tribune reported this story on March 18, 1945:

"Five of our tanks had been knocked out by mines trying to enter Utweiler, and the rest of the column had to turn back," related Lt. John Ananich, Jr., Flint, Mich., one of the survivors. "The Krauts rolled six of their tanks to the high ground north of the town. They had us caught, and caught bad. We had only the weapons infantrymen carry. One of the German tanks worked its way down into the town and the others followed and started knocking down the buildings with direct fire.

Some of our men were being buried alive in those buildings. "We tried to get some men out of the trap to guide our own armor, but those men never got through. The Krauts were chasing us from one building to another. Finally, there were no buildings left. Now our men, made attempts to dash across the open ground for refuge in woods on the ridge south of the village. Some of them made it. "The battalion had 600 men when it started the attack. Two hundred got back.

​

Excerpts from 3rd Division, 7th Infantry Regiment History

At about 0730 on March 15, 1945 in Utweiler, Germany, the enemy directed flak wagon fire and fire from self-propelled guns at the Second Battalion forces and then at about 0800 closed in on the town with a combination of four flak wagons and nine tanks and tank destroyers, which included two "Tigers". It was a tough situation to be in without support of any kind. Attached armor had not gotten through to the battalion and without communication, artillery could not be called into play. That was the fundamental reason for the almost complete destruction of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan's battalion that day,

The Second Battalion had gone into the night attack with 640 officers and men and in the space of several hours had been reduced to 184 scattered and ineffective personnel. Records compiled later showed that of the 456 personnel missing, 21 had been killed in the action, 72 wounded and evacuated, 17 missing and 222 had been taken prisoners by the enemy. "Fox" Company had sustained the greatest losses. Captain Earl E. Swanson, one of the ablest company commanders to lead a "Cotton Baler" rifle company during this war and who had risen from the grade of private, and First Lieutenant Robert W. Rankin, with thirteen of their men, gave their lives by the mines or exploding enemy shells.

The US 7th Army, though, was not to be defeated on that day of March 15th, 1945. By 2:00 p.m., all was ready, and the US counterattack on Utweiler began. This time, supported by fifteen tanks and tank destroyers plus the Anti-Tank Co. armed with bazookas, the Third Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment now attacked Utweiler from the southeast. In addition, artillery concentrations and air strikes were placed on the area north of Utweiler to prevent German reinforcement. At 3:05 p.m., 7th Infantry HQ reported to General O’Daniel that the Third Battalion was in the town: “The Jerries are streaming out the other side. One of our tanks knocked out a tank of theirs that we are sure of so far. Artillery has been shooting at the retreating Germans.” O’Daniel replied, “You have to keep after them or they will be back tonight.”

By 3:30 in the afternoon, Heintges could report to Third Division HQ that Utweiler had been retaken and that the Germans had suffered heavy losses.

“The Germans had a lot of men back in that town of Utweiler,” Colonel Heintges stated. “Our observers estimated at least a reinforced company of over one hundred men. We got back about two hundred fifty men out of the Second Battalion. On this last deal up there we lost a very good Company Commander [Capt. Earl Swanson] and also two or three more pieces of armor. Heavy weapons Company of Second Battalion seems to be in fairly good shape.”

Earl Reitan concludes: "The disaster at Utweiler began as a failure of intelligence. The division had recently moved to a new and unfamiliar sector of the front. German resistance was not anticipated prior to reaching the Siegfried Line, (which was a few miles further inside the German border and the mine field) and for that reason the strong German concentration of infantry and armor at Utweiler was completely unexpected. Mine sweeping efforts prior to the attack were rather casual. Too much reliance was placed on the mine-sweeping activities of the 44th Division, which was probably not much interested in clearing a path for another outfit. Over-confidence was a factor: although Gen. O’Daniel sensed early that the Second Battalion was in trouble, the regimental commander was slow to respond. When the village was occupied, the lack of adequate preparation for a possible German counterattack reflected a failure of leadership.

Although the Third Division and 7th Infantry were experienced outfits with a superb cadre, the 300 or more stragglers who were rounded up in the next two days shows that morale was low. In the darkness, confusion, shelling, and mines, the many stragglers suggest that they did not make much effort to get into Utweiler. Those soldiers who got there relaxed while waiting for the tanks. The tankers were quick to make excuses, leaving the infantry without armored support. The 7th Infantry’s own mine-sweeping units seem to have taken their time about clearing the roads. Morale can break down in victory, as well as defeat.

In the larger picture, the setback at Utweiler was a minor one. The Third Battalion of the 7th Infantry quickly avenged the losses inflicted on the Second Battalion. The Second Battalion was reconstituted with survivors and replacements, and continued to do its part to the end of the war. The Third Division broke through the Siegfried Line in the next few days and drove all the way to Nürnberg, Munich, and Berchtesgaden, the heart of Adolph Hitler’s evil Reich. And, as always, the riflemen were on the cutting edge."