Original Items: One-one-of-a-kind set. The 1st Infantry Division and one regimental combat team from the 29th Infantry Division comprised the first wave of troops that assaulted German Army defenses on Omaha Beach on D-Day. The division had to run 300 yards to get to the bluffs, with some of the division's units suffering 30 percent casualties in the first hour of the assault, and secured Formigny and Caumont in the beachhead by the end of the day. The division followed up the Saint-Lô break-through with an attack on Marigny, 27 July 1944.
The division then drove across France in a continuous offensive, reaching the German border at Aachen in September. The division laid siege to Aachen, taking the city after a direct assault on 21 October 1944. The 1st Division then attacked east of Aachen through the Hürtgen Forest, driving to the Ruhr, and was moved to a rear area 7 December 1944 for refitting and rest following 6 months of combat. When the German Wacht Am Rhein offensive (commonly called the Battle of the Bulge) was launched on 16 December 1944, the division was quickly moved to the Ardennes front. Fighting continuously from 17 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, the division helped to blunt and reverse the German offensive. Thereupon, the division, now commanded by Major General Clift Andrus, attacked and again breached the Siegfried Line, fought across the Rur, 23 February 1945, and drove on to the Rhine, crossing at the Remagen bridgehead, 15–16 March. The division broke out of the bridgehead, took part in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket, captured Paderborn, pushed through the Harz Mountains, and was in Czechoslovakia, fighting at Kynšperk nad Ohří, Prameny, and Mnichov (Domažlice District) when the war in Europe ended. Sixteen members of the division were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
Included in this fantastic Combat Medic grouping are the following items:
- OD wool Class A 4-pocket coat with all original insignia including 1st Infantry Division patch on left shoulder, sterling Combat Medic badge with red felt background, 4 ribbon bars including Purple Heart for being Wounded in Action, ETO with 4 campaign stars and invasion arrowhead (Normandy), Good Conduct and American Defense Medal, US/Medical collar discs, French Fourragere shoulder cord, Sgt. chevrons, and 4 overseas bars on right cuff denoting 24 months of overseas service. The veterans first name and first letter of his last name is embroidered inside the coat and reads CAL P.
- OD wool visor cap
- Khaki cotton visor cap with his first name and first letter of his last name
- OD wool overcoat with 1st Division patch
- 11 original photos (most are front line shots) and many are marked on the back.
- Cotton combat medic armband
- Group of original period newspaper articles telling the stories of some of his friends
- Medical Corps collar disc
- Medical Corps brass belt buckle
- Various Medals
- Theater made curved wooden box the veteran picked up in Africa which was full of all the photos, medals and other small items.
Combat medics are among the most desirable of all WWII U.S. army groupings due to their selfless heroic service and scarcity due to the high number of casualties. This set is unique and stunning in what this soldier experienced both on the field of combat and in the prison camps he saw towards to the close of World War Two.