The 94th past and present

The 94th past and present

Nicolas Oresko MOH citation

M/Sgt. Oresko was a platoon leader with Company C, in an attack against strong enemy positions. Deadly automatic fire from the flanks pinned down his unit. Realizing that a machinegun in a nearby bunker must be eliminated, he swiftly worked ahead alone, braving bullets which struck about him, until close enough to throw a grenade into the German position. He rushed the bunker and, with pointblank rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade blast. Another machinegun opened up on him, knocking him down and seriously wounding him in the hip. Refusing to withdraw from the battle, he placed himself at the head of his platoon to continue the assault. As withering machinegun and rifle fire swept the area, he struck out alone in advance of his men to a second bunker. With a grenade, he crippled the dug-in machinegun defending this position and then wiped out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second self-imposed, 1-man attack. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused to be evacuated until assured the mission was successfully accomplished. Through quick thinking, indomitable courage, and unswerving devotion to the attack in the face of bitter resistance and while wounded, M /Sgt. Oresko killed 12 Germans, prevented a delay in the assault, and made it possible for Company C to obtain its objective with minimum casualties. (from wikipedia)

History of the 94th ID

94TH INFANTRY DIVISION

World War II

Activated: 15 September 1942. Overseas: 6 August 1944. Campaigns: Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe. Days of combat: 209. Distinguished Unit Citations: 1. Awards: MH-1 ; DSC-54 ; DSM-2 ; SS-510; LM-10; SM-12 ; BSM-2,792 ; AM-66. Commanders: Maj. Gen. Harry J. Malony (September 1942 May 1945), Brig. Gen. Louis J. Fortier (June-July 1945) Maj. Gen. Allison J. Barnett (1 August 1945 to inactivation). Returned to U. S.: 6 February 1946. Inactivated: 9 February 1946.

Combat Chronicle

Following a brief stay in England, the 94th landed on Utah Beach on D plus 94, 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany to assume responsibility for containing some 60,000 German troops besieged in the Channel ports of Lorient and St. Nazaire. The 94th inflicted over 2,700 casualties on the enemy and took 566 prisoners before being relieved on New Year's Day 1945. Moving west, the Division took positions in the Saar-Moselle Triangle, facing the Siegfried Switch Line, 7 January 1945, and shifted to the offensive, 14 January, seizing Tettingen and Butzdorf that day. The following day, the NennigBerg-Wies area was wrested from the enemy, but severe counterattacks followed, and Butzdorf, Berg, and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being finally secured. On the 20th, an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February the Division took Campholz woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, the Division launched a full-scale attack, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, backbone of the Saar-Moselle Triangle, and took all objectives. Moving forward, the 10th Armored and 94th secured the area from Orscholz to the confluence of the Saar and Moselle Rivers by 21 February 1945. Then, launching an attack across the Saar, it established and expanded a bridgehead. By 2 March 1945, the Division stretched over a 10-mile front, from Hocker Hill on the Saar through Zerf, and Lampaden to Ollmuth. A heavy German attack near Lampaden achieved penetrations, but the line was shortly restored, and on 13 March, spearheading the XX Corps, the 94th broke out of the bridgehead and drove to the Rhine, reaching that river, 21 March. Ludwigshafen was taken, 24 March, in conjunction with CCA of the 12th Armored Division. The Division then moved by rail and motor to the vicinity of Krefeld, Germany, assuming responsibility, 3 April, for containing the west side of the Ruhr pocket from positions along the Rhine. With the reduction of the pocket in mid-April, the Division was assigned military government duties, first in the Krefeld and later in the Dusseldorf areas.

Assignments in the ETO*

27 July 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army. 28 August 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. 23 September 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. 9 October 1944: 12th Army Group. 5 January 1945: 12th Army Group, but attached to Oise Section, Communication Zone, for supply. 6 January 1945: XX Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group. 29 March 1945: XXII Corps, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.

This combat narrative come from the 94th division website

A great deal of thanks is owed to all vets who fought to keep this nation safe.

The 94th was deactivated after after World War II and was reactived in 1956 as part of the army reserve. In 1967 they removed the 9/4 insignia and reverted to the WWI purtian patch. The division was considered deactivated and they had to alter the divison colors since they were redesignated a command quarters and were responsible for support and headquarters of local reserve units. The 94th sent headquarters and a mechanical company to Vietnam.

The 94th again switched insignia to the 9/4 in 1991 and continued to funnel troops to hot spots throughout the world.

After 9/11 the operational status of the 94th changed, and in 2009 the division was reactivated, it's infantry colors returned to the division.