I was reading this article on MOUT in the March-April Infantry magazine and thought about you guys from WWII. It gives a pretty lengthy synopsis of the fight for Aachen and it made me wonder if any of you had the misfortune of slogging through a large city. My understanding of Salerno and Anzio was that the towns were taken relatively quickly but the attempted break-outs were where there was tremendous difficulty.

MOUT is something that the military has spent a lot of time and money studying. The Marine Pub is the MCWP 3-35.3 (Marine Corps Warfighting Publication) and the Army's is the FM 90-10. The Army pub is from 1993 and the Marine's is only from five years later in 1998. No doubt new chapters are being written as we speak by the soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan but unfortunately that pub probably won't be released for years later. As the article says toward the bottom, however, most of the MOUT knowledge from today came from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. Odd how slowly the military takes to learn lessons. Just as soldiers had to make up doctrine as they went in Aachen, the Marines were doing the same decades later in Hue. Another similarity is a dearth of information on the city they were attacking. Marines at Hue used gas station maps of the city! Today, at least, we have satellite images and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) feeds.

Just wondering what your experiences had been.

CaptO--Do you have the book," Dogfaces Who Smiled Through Tears"??

If you do, read chapter X11. the 151st Field Artillery 34th divn. Pages312-321

AND THE 109 COMBAT ENGINEERS HAD A BIG HAND THERE.

This might answer your first paragraph. Roque(Rocky)

CaptO--Do you have the book," Dogfaces Who Smiled Through Tears"??

I think this book was one of the first things you ever mentioned to me! Unfortunately, it's out of print and copies are rather expensive in places like Amazon ($98!) You had suggested the 34ID association website as an alternative before but I couldn't find where they were selling it. To further confound me, none of the local libraries have it either.

As I was looking through their site today, I was reminded of something. You had the 442nd and 100th Infantry Regiments attached to you. What do you remember of them? Or could they have been on the other side of the moon from you perspective in your foxhole?

Cap't: If you go back to the site, just send an email off to the webmaster and tell them you want a copy of the book. They will get back with you.

M1

Thanks! I'll give it a shot.

MARION I HAVE THE E-MAIL OF OUR SECT.TREAS.(34TH DIVN. ASSOC.)

BUT I CAN'T WRITE IT HERE. HE HAS ACCESS TO OUR LIBRARY,MUSEUM.

NAME IS, Donald Prock, I' try something Rocky

I think this book was one of the first things you ever mentioned to me! Unfortunately, it's out of print and copies are rather expensive in places like Amazon ($98!) You had suggested the 34ID association website as an alternative before but I couldn't find where they were selling it. To further confound me, none of the local libraries have it either.

 

As I was looking through their site today, I was reminded of something. You had the 442nd and 100th Infantry Regiments attached to you. What do you remember of them? Or could they have been on the other side of the moon from you perspective in your foxhole?

When the 100th Bn. and the 442nd. Regimental Combat team,(Go For Broke)

went overseas they were attached to the 34th. We gave them what you would

say--Their Baptism of fire. They were HIGHLY decorated with the 442nd being

the Highest decorated Regt. of WW 11.

They were attached to different divns. during the war. Theywere on the same

side of the moon that we were on. HA Ha. Rocky

They were HIGHLY decorated with the 442nd being

the Highest decorated Regt. of WW 11.

No doubt! This is from the 34th's site:

Medals of Honor

34th Infantry Division, "Red Bull" (see note 1)

Robert Booker 34/133, 9 Apr 43

Mikio Hasemoto 34/133/100/B, 29 Nov 43

Shizuya Hayashi 34/133/100/A, 29 Nov 43

Yeiki Kobashigawa 34/133/100/B, 2 Jun 44

Beryl Newman 34/133, 26 May 44

Allan Ohata 34/133/100/B, 29-30 Nov 43

Leo J. Powers 34/133, 3 Feb 44

Paul Riordan 34/133, 3-8 Feb 44

Ernest Dervishian 34/135, 8 Jan 45

George Hall 34/135, 23 May 44

Furman Smith 34/135, 31 May 44

Thomas Wigle 34/135, 14 Sep 44

William Galt 34/168, 29 May 44

Kaoru Moto 34/442/100/C, 7 Jul 44

Kiyoshi Muranaga 34/442/2/F, 26 Jun 44

Shinyei Nakamine 34/442/100/B, 2 Jun 44

William Nakamura 34/442/2/G, 4 Jul 44

Frank Ono 34/442/2/G, 4 Jul 44

Kazuo Otani 34/442/2/G, 15 Jul 44

Ted Tanouye 34/442/3/K, 7 Jul 44

Note 1: The 442nd "Go For Broke" Regimental Combat Team and its 100th "Purple Heart" Infantry Battalion were assigned or attached successively to the 34th Infantry Division (Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Anzio), the 88th Infantry Division (Rome-Arno), the 36th Infantry Division (Rhineland), and the 92nd Infantry Division (North Apennines, Po Valley) during World War II. Their 20 Medal of Honor recipients appear above within the lists of those divisions.

That's 11 out of 20 awards for the 34th, and that doesn't count the 10+ that they earned in different Divisions. I guess you stand out when you are out to prove something. The story of the black units - when they were allowed in combat - proved that.

CaptO; I carry a metal card with my name engraved on it, as a life member of the

34th Divn. Assoc. I will write what is says on the back--------------

The bearer is a lifetime member of the famous thirty-fourth Infantry Division

Association. This Division in WorldWar 11 had the distinction of being not only the FIRST

to land in the EUROPEAN THEATER, but also had more days in combat,(over 600), than any other, and accredited with capturing more than 40,000 prisoners,(which included the

German 34th Divn.),

The 34th ranked second to none and stands high on the scroll of honor among the

greatest fighting units that ever carried the Stars and Stripes into battle.

When someone asks me what I did in WW 11 I just show them my metal card

and just say, this does the talking for me. Roque(Rocky) of the 34th.

PS

The 100th Bn. and the 442ndRegt.Had a lot to do with this.