Back when the men of the 409 were training back in the States, two rumors had been prevalent. “This was a Regiment of the Division which would never go overseas. This was a Regiment of the Division which was to be a part of the Army of Occupation after the war!” But on the evening of November 1, the Cactusmen prepared to move into combat - this was no rumor.
Over the next few days, the 409 moved north along the Rhone Valley through Valence and Dijon through heavy rains. By the morning of the 7th, they were all aware that they were entering an area of enemy air activity. Late on the dark, rainy night of Nov 9, their last night before combat, the troops reached a bivouac area in a muddy wood near the towns of Épinal and Charmois. It was a long, wakeful night for the men, who had “mixed thoughts of combat and memories of the old days back in the States.” All were wondering “What will it be like?”, “Where will I be tomorrow night? How will I act under fire? Will the experience I am about to have change my personality and outlook on life? What will it be like for me?”
Under a gray dawn sky, the men had their last hot chow and were issued live ammunition. The weather was varied as they moved into positions in the hills to the west and southwest of Saint-Dié - “it rained a little, snowed a little, and the sun shone a little.” The mountains were steep and dark in the late afternoon, and they heard artillery and small-arms fire. “They talked to some of the men of the crack 3rd Infantry Division, elements of which they were relieving. One GI asked timorously, ‘Where is the front line from here?’ ‘Front line?’ a sergeant from the 3rd laughed, the lines of North Africa, Italy and D-Day in Southern France on his face, ‘Hell son, you’re on the front line right now.”
The first combat of the 409 involved taking three hills southwest of Saint-Dié (pronounced San Dee-ay). The Germans were holding the high ground at the tops of the hills. “German propaganda leaflets attempted to point out the futility of American efforts to crack their mountain defenses. ‘It gets so cold here in the winter time’ the leaflets warned, ‘that the gasoline will freeze in your fuel lines. Why be miserable in the terrible winter of the Vosges Mountains?”
Charles Meagher was a soldier in the 3rd battalion, L company. These men had a long, treacherous hike up a slippery mountain trail ankle-deep in mud and through flurries of snow and showers of rain. Finally, the call came for a break. They dropped to the roadsides and were handing cigarettes around when there was an explosion, “dull and ominous.” L company had suffered its first casualties - Pfc. Patrick H. Robinson, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Pfc. Jacob A. Tillema, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, were the victims of a German land mine. One can find their graves today at the American Cemetery in Dinozé, near Épinal, which we visited and left flowers on the graves of L Company soldiers buried there.
The 409’s line extended to within 5 kilometers from St. Dié, a city which has a special interest for Americans. It was here in 1507 that a geography book was printed with a map of the New world. The editors coined a name for this New World -”America”. This is the first use ever of that name. For this reason, the chamber of commerce in St. Dié considers the town to be the “world capital of geography” and “the godmother of America.”
While the 409 waited in the hills to attack, the woods were lit with “an eerie light” from the city in flames on the other side of the German lines. In fact, the men of the 409 were occupying the same lines as in 1918. Some of the fiercest fighting of WW1 occurred near St. Dié, which was all but destroyed by fire. The city was rebuilt after that war with help from American engineers. “Now, twenty-six years later, a new American army was attempting to take and hold the city…”
Over the next 6 days, the men were occupied with routine reconnaissance and patrols to test the line and find the German positions in the hills.The short winter days and long nights “afforded the men much time to think. Rifle cleaning, issue of warm sleeping bags and inspection of positions were highlights.” It was not all monotony however. “The lessons learned in the States in the art of foxhole digging came in handy. Some of the men were lucky enough to move into foxholes which the 3d Division had occupied. They had dug two-man foxholes and covered them with a thick layer of logs and rocks. ‘It’s a lot of work,” the 3rd Division vets had said, ‘but it’s well worth the bother when those tree bursts start coming in.”
Incoming fire from the Germans, and land mines continued to be hazards for the soldiers of the 409. But they got used to the conditions and nerves calmed considerably, except when reports came in of enemy patrol activity in the area. After one such report, “anxious guards got a little trigger-happy, shooting at bushes that scraped trees in the darkness. Capt Marshall G. McBee, of Cheyenne, WY, coming out to inspect his guard that night was halted by one of his own guards in the darkness. The Captain couldn’t tell from where the voice was coming. “Where are you, Hernandez?” he called, a little nervously. Even more nervously, from deep down in the mud where Pvt. Pancho Hernandez had hidden came the reply, ‘Here, sir, under the jeep.”
“The days went by, one like the other, and the Regiment began expecting orders to attack Jerry. Finally, on the afternoon of the 15th, those orders came.”
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