1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:16,910 --> 00:00:19,021 My name is Sergeant First Class Aaron 3 00:00:19,021 --> 00:00:21,243 Hess for the Pennsylvania Army National 4 00:00:21,243 --> 00:00:23,466 Guard . I'm a platoon sergeant with the 5 00:00:23,466 --> 00:00:25,688 1/11 Infantry , and I served as the one 6 00:00:25,688 --> 00:00:27,854 eleven's Battalion historian . My full 7 00:00:27,854 --> 00:00:29,854 time job is with the National Guard 8 00:00:29,854 --> 00:00:32,021 Bureau in Arlington , Virginia , where 9 00:00:32,021 --> 00:00:34,188 I serve as the N C O I C of the Combat 10 00:00:34,188 --> 00:00:36,132 Field Studies Program program that 11 00:00:36,132 --> 00:00:38,021 takes soldiers from across the 54 12 00:00:38,021 --> 00:00:40,021 states and territories to Europe to 13 00:00:40,021 --> 00:00:42,021 study the actions of their units in 14 00:00:42,021 --> 00:00:44,060 World War One and World War Two . 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:57,460 Mhm , 16 00:01:00,140 --> 00:01:03,290 Yeah , 20th Division was in some of the 17 00:01:03,290 --> 00:01:05,512 most historic and brutal battles of the 18 00:01:05,512 --> 00:01:07,623 first World War . Their defense along 19 00:01:07,623 --> 00:01:09,846 the river martyr in them , the nickname 20 00:01:09,846 --> 00:01:11,957 Men of Iron and their actions and the 21 00:01:11,957 --> 00:01:14,123 Meuse Argonne helped hasten the end of 22 00:01:14,123 --> 00:01:15,957 the war . But in the memoirs and 23 00:01:15,957 --> 00:01:15,810 retellings of the veterans of the unit , 24 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,031 the battle you're most likely to hear 25 00:01:18,031 --> 00:01:19,976 about is one you've probably never 26 00:01:19,976 --> 00:01:22,198 heard of . The battle for themes bought 27 00:01:22,198 --> 00:01:24,364 in August of 1918 . The battle is over 28 00:01:24,364 --> 00:01:26,476 100 years old today , but still shows 29 00:01:26,476 --> 00:01:28,753 some important lessons for our leaders . 30 00:01:28,753 --> 00:01:31,190 In early August of 1918 , the 32nd 31 00:01:31,190 --> 00:01:33,079 division , composed of men of the 32 00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:35,357 Wisconsin and Michigan National Guards , 33 00:01:35,357 --> 00:01:37,412 had fought their way across France , 34 00:01:37,412 --> 00:01:39,634 and security , an important position on 35 00:01:39,634 --> 00:01:41,746 the river , fell . They had fought in 36 00:01:41,746 --> 00:01:44,210 all sauce Javid me and finally captured 37 00:01:44,210 --> 00:01:46,377 themes as part of the Second Battle of 38 00:01:46,377 --> 00:01:49,020 the Marne . Late Harry Bless the French 39 00:01:49,020 --> 00:01:51,187 referred to the 32nd . We're in pretty 40 00:01:51,187 --> 00:01:53,242 rough shape and needed some relief . 41 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,607 That relief came from another National 42 00:01:55,607 --> 00:01:57,829 Guard unit on the night of August 6th . 43 00:01:57,829 --> 00:01:59,773 The men of the 56 Infantry Brigade 44 00:01:59,940 --> 00:02:01,996 today is 56 . Striker Brigade of the 45 00:02:01,996 --> 00:02:04,162 Pennsylvania Army National Guard moved 46 00:02:04,162 --> 00:02:06,162 in and occupied the position on the 47 00:02:06,162 --> 00:02:08,218 Bell River . At themes , they pushed 48 00:02:08,218 --> 00:02:10,051 across what was remaining of the 49 00:02:10,051 --> 00:02:12,162 bridges and secured a foothold in the 50 00:02:12,162 --> 00:02:14,051 town of Fi met across the river . 51 00:02:14,051 --> 00:02:15,996 Corporal Chester Baker of the 1/12 52 00:02:15,996 --> 00:02:18,162 Infantry recalls that action as report 53 00:02:18,162 --> 00:02:20,329 across the bridge machine gunfire from 54 00:02:20,329 --> 00:02:22,218 trenches in the Chateau de Diablo 55 00:02:22,218 --> 00:02:24,440 beyond increased ominously so fierce , 56 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,496 in fact , that none of our companies 57 00:02:26,496 --> 00:02:28,607 were able to get across the bridge in 58 00:02:28,607 --> 00:02:30,884 any force . To those of us who made it , 59 00:02:30,884 --> 00:02:33,107 we're on our own . Cut off as we were , 60 00:02:33,107 --> 00:02:35,162 we crouched and wrecked doorways are 61 00:02:35,162 --> 00:02:37,384 behind shrubbery , warily watching game 62 00:02:37,384 --> 00:02:39,551 figures , gliding stealthily about and 63 00:02:39,551 --> 00:02:41,773 not knowing whether they were friend or 64 00:02:41,773 --> 00:02:43,829 foe . Chester Baker . The boys diary 65 00:02:43,829 --> 00:02:45,996 themes was not a traditional World War 66 00:02:45,996 --> 00:02:48,051 one battle . Men who had trained for 67 00:02:48,051 --> 00:02:47,840 trench warfare found themselves in an 68 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:49,896 all out street fight . As they moved 69 00:02:49,896 --> 00:02:51,784 house to House Street to street , 70 00:02:51,784 --> 00:02:53,562 knocking out German machine gun 71 00:02:53,562 --> 00:02:55,562 emplacements . The artillery rained 72 00:02:55,562 --> 00:02:57,729 down on them . It quickly crumbled the 73 00:02:57,729 --> 00:02:57,370 buildings and pushed them into the 74 00:02:57,370 --> 00:02:59,426 basements , which became a bunker to 75 00:02:59,426 --> 00:03:01,592 bunker fight . That's where the men of 76 00:03:01,592 --> 00:03:03,814 the Pennsylvania Division taught us our 77 00:03:03,814 --> 00:03:05,981 first lesson of the battle of themes . 78 00:03:05,981 --> 00:03:08,037 Think outside the box . As they were 79 00:03:08,037 --> 00:03:10,259 forced underground , they broke through 80 00:03:10,259 --> 00:03:12,426 the walls and the sellers , connecting 81 00:03:12,426 --> 00:03:12,230 them all into a subterranean tunnel 82 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,573 where they could move across their line , 83 00:03:14,573 --> 00:03:16,629 reinforcing positions and evacuating 84 00:03:16,629 --> 00:03:18,740 casualties . When the men were forced 85 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:20,851 to do something they weren't prepared 86 00:03:20,851 --> 00:03:22,684 for , they improvised , and they 87 00:03:22,684 --> 00:03:24,962 created a system which ensured victory , 88 00:03:24,962 --> 00:03:26,962 Sergeant Bob Hoffman remembers . As 89 00:03:26,962 --> 00:03:29,073 Dawn approached , it was evident that 90 00:03:29,073 --> 00:03:31,240 something unusual was going on over in 91 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,462 the German lines . I quickly gathered a 92 00:03:33,462 --> 00:03:35,518 group of my men , and we dashed into 93 00:03:35,518 --> 00:03:37,629 the cellar below us , then worked our 94 00:03:37,629 --> 00:03:39,629 way as fast as we could through the 95 00:03:39,629 --> 00:03:41,796 holes in the stones of the sellers . I 96 00:03:41,796 --> 00:03:41,730 distributed these men throughout each 97 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:43,730 house , and I myself went on to the 98 00:03:43,730 --> 00:03:45,897 last house on the block , which we had 99 00:03:45,897 --> 00:03:48,119 tunneled . I was hardly in place when I 100 00:03:48,119 --> 00:03:50,286 saw the Germans coming down the street 101 00:03:50,286 --> 00:03:52,286 clumpy clump . They were going with 102 00:03:52,286 --> 00:03:54,397 their hide roots and huge cold bucket 103 00:03:54,397 --> 00:03:56,397 helmets . I can see them coming yet 104 00:03:56,397 --> 00:03:58,452 bent over rifle in one hand , potato 105 00:03:58,452 --> 00:04:00,619 masher grenade in the other , far down 106 00:04:00,619 --> 00:04:02,563 the street was the barrier usually 107 00:04:02,563 --> 00:04:04,674 occupied by the Americans . They were 108 00:04:04,674 --> 00:04:04,670 centering their attack on that part of 109 00:04:04,670 --> 00:04:06,892 the town and never dreamed that we were 110 00:04:06,892 --> 00:04:09,170 in . The house is so far up the street , 111 00:04:09,170 --> 00:04:11,392 the work of the day before making these 112 00:04:11,392 --> 00:04:13,503 holes through the sellers had paid us 113 00:04:13,503 --> 00:04:15,726 good dividends . I believe that on this 114 00:04:15,726 --> 00:04:15,470 tunneling of the sellers made it 115 00:04:15,470 --> 00:04:18,150 possible for us to hold the town . Bob 116 00:04:18,150 --> 00:04:20,980 Hoffman . I remember the last war . The 117 00:04:20,980 --> 00:04:22,924 men of the 56th Brigade fought off 118 00:04:22,924 --> 00:04:24,924 repeated attempts by the Germans to 119 00:04:24,924 --> 00:04:27,091 take the vessel region . Bob Hoffman , 120 00:04:27,091 --> 00:04:29,147 later promoted to lieutenant , would 121 00:04:29,147 --> 00:04:31,369 only see a handful of these as the town 122 00:04:31,369 --> 00:04:33,480 of format changed hands five times in 123 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,536 the month of August , the battalions 124 00:04:35,536 --> 00:04:37,758 will rotate in at night under the cover 125 00:04:37,758 --> 00:04:39,980 of darkness and occupy the city , fight 126 00:04:39,980 --> 00:04:41,813 for a couple of days and then be 127 00:04:41,813 --> 00:04:41,700 rotated back out when their time was 128 00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:44,230 done . The men of the 1/11 Infantry in 129 00:04:44,230 --> 00:04:46,341 1/12 Infantry spent nearly a month in 130 00:04:46,341 --> 00:04:48,508 this condition , fighting off repeated 131 00:04:48,508 --> 00:04:50,720 German onslaughts , artillery barrages 132 00:04:50,730 --> 00:04:52,786 and everything the German army could 133 00:04:52,786 --> 00:04:54,619 throw at them . With the bridges 134 00:04:54,619 --> 00:04:56,786 damaged or completely destroyed , they 135 00:04:56,786 --> 00:04:58,952 suddenly found another threat emerging 136 00:04:58,952 --> 00:05:00,786 behind them . Cut off from their 137 00:05:00,786 --> 00:05:03,008 command , their communication wires cut 138 00:05:03,008 --> 00:05:05,174 by German artillery , the men of the 1 139 00:05:05,174 --> 00:05:07,286 11 to 1 12 found themselves without a 140 00:05:07,286 --> 00:05:09,341 way to communicate to headquarters . 141 00:05:09,341 --> 00:05:11,508 That's where less than two from themes 142 00:05:11,508 --> 00:05:13,619 comes into play . Keep your coms up . 143 00:05:13,619 --> 00:05:15,730 Brave men in the 1/11 and 1 12 filled 144 00:05:15,730 --> 00:05:17,563 that communication gap on foot , 145 00:05:17,563 --> 00:05:19,563 running the span of the river Val , 146 00:05:19,563 --> 00:05:21,341 crossing the remains of bridges 147 00:05:21,341 --> 00:05:23,174 crawling through rubble and even 148 00:05:23,174 --> 00:05:25,230 swimming the river at some points to 149 00:05:25,230 --> 00:05:27,341 get that message back to their higher 150 00:05:27,341 --> 00:05:29,230 command . As a division , history 151 00:05:29,230 --> 00:05:31,286 recalls , too much cannot be said of 152 00:05:31,286 --> 00:05:33,397 the valor and daring of the runners . 153 00:05:33,397 --> 00:05:35,397 As a rule , they were boys under 20 154 00:05:35,397 --> 00:05:37,508 without any sense of fear , no matter 155 00:05:37,508 --> 00:05:39,508 what time of day or night and order 156 00:05:39,508 --> 00:05:41,730 might be handed them to be delivered in 157 00:05:41,730 --> 00:05:41,130 any point where the shelling might be 158 00:05:41,130 --> 00:05:43,241 the hottest . They always started and 159 00:05:43,241 --> 00:05:45,297 were never known to stop until their 160 00:05:45,297 --> 00:05:47,352 destination was reached , where they 161 00:05:47,352 --> 00:05:49,408 had fallen in their tracks . History 162 00:05:49,408 --> 00:05:51,408 can never pay too high a tribute to 163 00:05:51,408 --> 00:05:53,297 these boys and their many deeds . 164 00:05:53,297 --> 00:05:55,430 Pennsylvania in the Great War In the 165 00:05:55,430 --> 00:05:57,541 early hours of 27 August , the German 166 00:05:57,541 --> 00:05:59,652 army made in all that push on theme . 167 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,351 When they attacked the Net , they hit 168 00:06:02,351 --> 00:06:04,518 the 1 12 Infantry on three sides . The 169 00:06:04,518 --> 00:06:06,684 men in the 1 12 were faced with German 170 00:06:06,684 --> 00:06:08,907 stormtroopers with machine guns , rifle 171 00:06:08,907 --> 00:06:10,907 fire , flamethrowers and grenades . 172 00:06:10,907 --> 00:06:13,018 They fought valiantly , but they were 173 00:06:13,018 --> 00:06:15,240 pushed back to the Belle River . It was 174 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:15,190 there that they taught us the third 175 00:06:15,190 --> 00:06:17,580 lesson of the battle of themes . A good 176 00:06:17,580 --> 00:06:20,150 defense in depth . The critical 177 00:06:20,150 --> 00:06:22,483 junction at the Valle could not be lost , 178 00:06:22,730 --> 00:06:24,786 and the men of the 28th division had 179 00:06:24,786 --> 00:06:26,563 prepared . They applauded their 180 00:06:26,563 --> 00:06:28,674 positions and placed machine guns and 181 00:06:28,674 --> 00:06:30,674 mortars and they were ready for the 182 00:06:30,674 --> 00:06:32,841 attack that was coming as a division . 183 00:06:32,841 --> 00:06:34,563 History remembers . Our troops 184 00:06:34,563 --> 00:06:36,674 collected a heavy toll from the enemy 185 00:06:36,674 --> 00:06:38,841 before being forced to evacuate fees . 186 00:06:38,841 --> 00:06:40,952 Mint . The streets were barricaded in 187 00:06:40,952 --> 00:06:43,008 wire entanglements , placed about 75 188 00:06:43,008 --> 00:06:45,063 yards behind the barricades as to be 189 00:06:45,063 --> 00:06:44,910 out of range of hand grenades . The 190 00:06:44,910 --> 00:06:47,132 Stokes mortars were placed to take care 191 00:06:47,132 --> 00:06:49,466 of possible river crossings , and these , 192 00:06:49,466 --> 00:06:51,577 together with one pounders , would do 193 00:06:51,577 --> 00:06:53,688 effective work against any attempt of 194 00:06:53,688 --> 00:06:55,577 the enemy to force the crossing . 195 00:06:55,577 --> 00:06:57,577 Pennsylvania in the Great War . The 196 00:06:57,577 --> 00:06:59,688 56th Brigade held the line at Thieves 197 00:06:59,688 --> 00:07:01,854 until early September , when they were 198 00:07:01,854 --> 00:07:04,077 relieved by French divisions to prepare 199 00:07:04,077 --> 00:07:06,410 for the upcoming news Argonne offensive . 200 00:07:06,410 --> 00:07:08,466 In that month on the bell , the 56th 201 00:07:08,466 --> 00:07:10,299 Brigade earned an astonishing 36 202 00:07:10,299 --> 00:07:12,632 distinguished service crosses for valor , 203 00:07:12,632 --> 00:07:14,521 and a member of the 1/11 Infantry 204 00:07:14,521 --> 00:07:16,743 Sergeant James Majstorovic , earned the 205 00:07:16,743 --> 00:07:18,799 Congressional Medal of Honor for his 206 00:07:18,799 --> 00:07:20,966 actions . If he met , that would never 207 00:07:20,966 --> 00:07:23,021 become famous in the history books . 208 00:07:23,021 --> 00:07:24,966 The memory of themes he met in the 209 00:07:24,966 --> 00:07:26,910 Veldt River would linger on in the 210 00:07:26,910 --> 00:07:28,910 memory of the veterans and the 28th 211 00:07:28,910 --> 00:07:30,743 Division , and the 1/11 and 1 12 212 00:07:30,743 --> 00:07:34,210 Infantry for years to come In November 213 00:07:34,210 --> 00:07:36,488 2019 , soldiers from the 28th Division , 214 00:07:36,488 --> 00:07:38,654 along with historians from Fort McNair 215 00:07:38,654 --> 00:07:40,821 Center for Military History , traveled 216 00:07:40,821 --> 00:07:42,599 to France and examine the exact 217 00:07:42,599 --> 00:07:44,766 battlefields for the soldiers of the 1 218 00:07:44,766 --> 00:07:46,710 11 and 1 12 fought along the Belle 219 00:07:46,710 --> 00:07:48,821 River by walking the grounds of theme 220 00:07:48,821 --> 00:07:50,877 and fi met . These soldiers not only 221 00:07:50,877 --> 00:07:52,654 learn tactical applications and 222 00:07:52,654 --> 00:07:54,877 scenarios who were connected with their 223 00:07:54,877 --> 00:07:56,932 history and saw why , even 100 years 224 00:07:56,932 --> 00:07:59,154 later , the 1/12 Infantry's crest still 225 00:07:59,154 --> 00:08:01,210 bears the bridge over the Bell River 226 00:08:01,210 --> 00:08:03,266 that was enshrined by the battles of 227 00:08:03,266 --> 00:08:03,740 team and format , Yeah .