18^th INFANTRY REGIMENT ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

APRIL 2003

Annual Meeting Notice

Our 2003 Annual Meeting of the 18^th Infantry Regiment Association is scheduled for 9:30am on Friday, 1 August, at the Circus Circus Hotel in Reno, Nevada. The agenda will include: Welcome and Introductions; a status report of our active duty battalion by the Honorary Colonel and Honorary Sergeant Major; Membership Secretary's report; Treasurer's Report; vote on the 2003-2004 Association budget; election of 2003-2005 Association Officers; an open forum; and other such reports and business as may come before the membership.

It is time again for the bi-annual 18^th Infantry Regiment Association election of officers. The election will be held at our annual meeting on 1 August. Our constitution and By-laws are posted on-line at our web site: <www.18inf.org>, along with a listing of current officers. If you wish to run for an office, or have a nomination, please contact Naman Carter, 8502 Quail Tree Road, San Antonio, TX 78250-6517. Tel/Res: (210) 680-0264. Naman is the Honorary Sergeant Major. He will present a slate of nominees at the meeting from those recommended to him and additional nominations will be accepted from the floor. However, the nominee must be present to accept the nomination or a signed acceptance presented with the nomination.

The 18th Infantry Regiment Association reunion is held in conjunction with the Big Red One (BRO) Reunion from 30 July to 3 August. It is a Wednesday to Sunday schedule, with the 18th Infantry Annual meeting held on Friday morning, and the grand banquet on Saturday night. The 18^th Infantry CP (command post/hospitality room) is organized by VP Ed Fedrick and operated most hours of the reunion, where you can meet old foxhole buddies or make new ones. Depending upon circumstances, we plan to have a representative from our active-duty battalion, perhaps the Soldier and NCO of the Year. For details on BRO tours and other activities, check the Society web site listed below.

Please make hotel reservations at the special reunion rate through the Society of the 1^st Infantry Division. For information, please contact Jennifer Sanford, 1933 Morris Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422. Ph: 1-888-324-4733. E-mail: <soc1ID@aol.com> or make reservations on-line at < www.bigredone.org>

18^th INFANTRY REGIMENT REUNION -- 30 JULY - 3 AUGUST -- RENO, NEVADA

*** 1943 - Victory in North Africa - 2003 ***

By April 1943, German Army Group Africa had been confined to a perimeter of about 20 miles north, west and south of Tunis, with the British First Army and American II Corps pressing from the West and the British Eight Army pressing from the south. General Eisenhower gave the honor of taking Tunis to the British First Army, but insisted on an important role for II Corps in the final defeat of Axis forces in North Africa. The British took a direct axis of attack along the Medjerda River Valley, beginning again at Longstop Hill near Medjez el Bab. II Corps was assigned the left (northern) flank of the operation. II Corps, now commanded by Major General Omar Bradley, would converge on Mateur and Bizerte along two routes through a succession of nasty hills known on American maps by their height in meters and termed "the mousetrap" because of the supporting fires each hill provided its neighbor. The 9^th Division had the left flank, the 34^th Division had the center, the First Division had the right flank, with the 1^st Armored Division awaiting clearance of the dominating hills in order to exploit an armored thrust though the Tine River Valley. The Divisions were scheduled to attack on an east to west axis, with Regimental Combat Teams abreast. In the First Division, the 16^th Infantry had the left flank, the 26^th Infantry the center, and the 18th Infantry the right flank. Each Regiment had a two mile front, with the 18^th Infantry nearest to the Tine River. Colonel Frank Greer planned to attack his assigned initial objectives, Djebel Rmel (Hill 350) and Djebel el Beida (Hill 407), with the 2^nd and 3^rd Battalions abreast. The 1^st Battalion, 18^th Infantry, was Division reserve, while the 6^th Armored Infantry Regiment, attached to the 18^th Infantry, had responsibility for the south bank of the Tine River and maintaining contact with the British. Altogether, more than 10 seasoned German battalions faced the First Division. Opposing the 18^th Infantry were units of the 754^th Mountain Regiment and the elite Luftwaffe Barentin Regiment (parachute infantry).

The attack kicked off in the early hours of 23 April. It was Good Friday. Lieutenant Colonel Ben Sternberg's 2^nd Battalion attacked Hill 350, while Lieutenant Colonel Courtney Brown's 3^rd Battalion attacked Djebel el Beida (Hill 407), 2 miles to the northeast. The terrain was ideal for the defense, and the Germans had well prepared defensive positions. After a severe artillery preparation, Captain Donald Fogg's Company L fought its way to the top of Hill 407. Suddenly, Germans opened up from concealed positions and a fierce German counter-attack ensued. Captain Fogg was killed, his Executive Officer, Lieutenant William Cross, was blown apart by an enemy mortar round, and soon the equivalent of two platoons lay dead or wounded as what was left of Company L attempted to withdraw. The entire 3^rd Battalion was pinned down by intense German fire and engaged in desperate fighting for the rest of the day. Friday night, Lieutenant Colonel Bob York's 1^st Battalion was ordered to pass thru the 3^rd Battalion to attack Hill 407. By daylight, the 1^st Battalion had secured Hill 407. However, the Germans had ordered a withdrawal because the 2^nd Battalion had secured the adjacent hill.

Djebel Rmel (Hill 350) was the highest in a chain of hills that guarded the neck of the Tine Valley. Just prior to the scheduled artillery preparation, Captain Gordon Jeffrey's Company G captured "Pimple Hill", a commanding knoll in front of Hill 350, and Captain Robert Murphy's Company H moved up to provide supporting fires for the main attack. Company G then proceeded to capture "Windmill Farm", at the base of Hill 350, while Captain Carl Randall's Company E succeeded in taking the hilltop. In the determined German counter-attack that followed, Captain Randall was severely wounded and Company E was forced off Hill 350, carrying out its wounded commander. During this counter-attack, Company G was also expelled from the Windmill Farm. The bitter fighting continued. With tank support from the 13^th Armored Regiment, Company G counter-attacked and recaptured its objectives, while Captain Russell Spinney's Company F attacked Hill 350 and succeeded in taking it in hand-to-hand fighting. Captain Spinney, although wounded, was the only officer left with Company F when Hill 350 finally fell and Company F First Sergeant Herbert W. (Herbie) Merrill, a popular WWI combat veteran, was severely wounded. Hill 350 was successfully defended against intense artillery barrages and frantic German counter-attacks.

For this action, the 2^nd Battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. The accompanying citation read in part; "The Second Battalion was the only one in its entire sector to take its objective on that day. The conspicuous aggressiveness, valor, extraordinary heroism, and profound devotion to duty displayed by this battalion insured the successful occupation of this vital terrain feature. The eminently significant accomplishment of this gallant and cohesive fighting force was instrumental in breaching the defensive system in this sector, thus enabling the entire II Corps to advance uninterruptedly until the capitulation of the Axis forces in Tunisia."

It took several more days of hard fighting to clear "the mousetrap" (see our new WWII book for details), but by May 9 (almost 2 years to the day from final victory), the British were in Tunis, the Americans were in Bizerte, and the Germans were finished in North Africa.

NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT, NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT, DUTY FIRST!

18^th INFANTRY NEWS

by LTC Butch Botters, Commander, 1^st Battalion, 18^th Infantry.

04 April 2003:

Greetings from Grafenwoehr, Germany, home of the 7th Army Training Command & our world class training facility in Europe. We are doing well, the battalion has transitioned from training vicinity of Conn Barracks, Bamberg, Schweinfurt, and the Bundeswehr training area in Wildflecken to Grafenwoehr for Bradley Crew Qualification and platoon live fire training. Our Scout and Mortar Platoon have completed their Brigade Combat Team evaluations and completed them with distinction. We spent the last three months training across Bavaria qualifying on individual and crew weapons, Anti-tank weapons, claymores, hand grenades, machine guns, & mortars in preparation for our platoon live fires. We are enroute in the next hour to conduct our initial leader recon of our 72 hour platoon evaluations that will include TOW missile, Dragon anti-tank missile engagements, on day two, and conclude with a full M2A2 Bradley and Squad live fire again on day three. This will conclude this phase of training on 18 April 2003 and spend

the Easter Weekend in Conn Barracks.

We have one company's worth of wheel tactical vehicles at Rhine Ordnance Barracks (ROB), Kaiserslautern Germany staged for air deployment(IRF)from the adjacent Ramstein AFB if we are alerted to support operations in the European Theater of Operations. While we have the remaining IRF task force vehicles in our motor pool at Conn Barracks prepared and ready for movement to ROB. I do not think we could maintain our air worthiness/meet our required departure time if we took these vehicles to Grafenwoehr. I want to mention the great work by our Battalion Executive Officer, Major David Dluzyn and the Maintenance team led by CPT Dave Krzycki, and CW3 Ronnie McFadden for preparing our equipment for both Grafenwoehr and the IRF.

Our S3 team of SGM Maurice Wharton and Major Scott King, combined with the dynamic team of Company Commanders and First Sergeants, have trained our soldiers for our IRF mission, our M2A2 Gunnery Qualification, and platoon live fires. We have trained with weapons and/or demolitions every week since our return to training the first week of January.

After a short break the last two weeks of April, we will enter the Month of May at the Combat Manuever Training Ceter (CMTC) for our opportunity to train our Battalion Task Force with the Brigade Combat team. We will conclude this training on the 26th of May and return to Schweinfurt and Conn Barracks. So our soldiers are training, and have been training since our return from Kosovo. Presently, our thoughts and prayers are with the service members and their families of our deployed forces. We all have friends and family committed to the service of our Nation across the globe, and wish to extend our thanks for your prayers and support of both the deployed soldiers and our soldiers in Germany.

On a personal note, I would like to announce to the Association how fortunate we are to have as our Operations Sergeant Major, SGM Maurice Wharton and his wonderful family in our Battalion. He came to us from the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) where he served as the

Brigade Operations SGM in the 1st Brigade before he arrived here last summer. He brings over 20 years of experience to our Operations team.

We are also proud to announce the selection of our Battalion Command Sergeant Major, John R. Calpena, as our next Brigade Command Sergeant Major. We are very proud of his selection, and although he is leaving the battalion, he and his wife Bertha, will be close. This is a great opportunity for us and the Brigade.

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Editor's Note: As we go to press it appears that the situation in Iraq is well in hand. Meanwhile,1-18 INF continues to fulfil its mission assignments in Germany -- IRF duty, combined with intense training. Please continue to remember our soldiers and their families in your thoughts and prayers. God bless America!

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Company A (Vietnam) 2003 Reunion

A group of A-1-18 INF veterans, from those who went from Ft Riley to Vietnam in 1965, have an annual get together. This year it is July 24-27 in Pigeon Forge, TN (near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park). The 2003 Reunion coordinator is: CP Petersen, 12063 W. Whippoorwill Lane, Hayward, WI. Ph: 715-462-4125.

Email: <cppeder@cheqnet.net>

Company C (Vietnam) 2003 Reunion

A group of C-1-18 INF veterans, from those who went from Ft Riley to Vietnam in 1965, have an annual get together. This year it is 19-21 June in North Branch, MN (about 30 miles north of St Paul). The 2003 Reunion coordinator is: Larry Nelson, 26213 Potomac St NE, Stacy, MN 55079. Ph: 763-444-4883.

Email: <larrnoslen@yahoo.com> NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT, NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT, DUTY FIRST!

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HONORARY COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT

COL. George M. Tronsrue, Jr. USA/Ret.

At this writing, your Battalion is conducting individual and platoon-level combat training, much of it live-fire. LTC Botters' update, elsewhere in this Newsletter, covers that in more detail. But, there are two unusual aspects of today's situation as we in your Regimental Association see things:

The Kosovo deployment changed some patterns which had become familiar to those of us who support our Battalion from this side of the Atlantic. Because our soldiers were either deployed or, soon afterward, were on well-deserved and extended block leaves, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday environments were out of the ordinary. Many soldiers and their families were simply away on visits elsewhere. So, your Association's holiday donations were kept in-hand until the situation returned closer to what has been the norm. The funds are earning interest while the Battalion's senior NCOs are working out the details as to how those donated dollars could best be used to the direct benefit of our younger soldiers and their families. You'll hear more on this subject, later.

The second unusual development dropped out of the blue just as our men were returning from block leave after the holidays. The Battalion has now been alerted to be ready to assume a theater-level "Immediate Reaction Force" mission. This mission would call for the Battalion to be loading aircraft at a moderately distant airfield within 24 hours of notice, then to fly out on a solo mission of safeguarding the evacuation of US citizens from a new "hot spot" of the moment, wherever that might be in the theater. Part of the selection process for this mission involved a surprise test: your Battalion met that test by rolling through the main gate of the designated airfield, ready to load, just 21 hours after the alert call.

So, our soldiers are busy, as always, living up to the Big Red One motto: "No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great. Duty First!" and to the 18^th Infantry motto: "In Omnia Paratus!" (In all things prepared!). And they know they are in our thoughts and prayers. I look forward to the reunion in Reno and the opportunity to meet and associate with other members of this great Regiment. Duty First! See you there!