Hurtgen

A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams 1944-1945 (1995) by Edward G. Miller

I need to stop reading books about Hurtgen. The more I read, the angrier I get.

Many of our best and bravest died in a battle that was criminally mismanaged. The senior commanders should have been court-martialed. If they had been in the pay of the Soviets, with the intent of stalling the American advance so that the Soviets could take over Europe, they could not have done much worse.

By concentrating on the dams and utilizing combined arms doctrine in the more open terrain around the forest, most of the Hurtgen quagmire could have been avoided.

This is not hindsight. Testimony from German commanders at the time showed that they were amazed bordering on stupification by the way that the Americans chose to fight the battle.

There were many acts of incredible heroism by soldiers and low-level commanders. Several Medals of Honor were awarded.

Meanwhile, cowards, shirkers, and malingerers survived, returned home and raised the worst elements of the baby boomers. It proves that, to some extent, cowardice is inherited.

The weather and the terrain greatly contributed to the problems. As a result, the battle devolved into a series of suicidal frontal attacks by unsupported infantry.

On several occasions, tank commanders refused to advance in support of infantry. The narrow muddy mined roads were certainly a factor. The qualitative superiority of German armor was another factor. However, to stand aside and watch your fellow soldiers die is cowardice. In the Soviet system, the first tank commander who refused to advance would have been executed by his commissar.

The chaotic close combat hindered artillery support. At times, American artillery was incredible effective. Other times, poor coordination resulted in a lack of support or friendly fire casualties.

Because of the weather and terrain, air support was almost non-existent.

Overall, one of the worst chapters in American military history.

Judging from what happened in Vietnam, not many lasting lessons were learned from Hurtgen.