Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Jones | Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Miller, the senior enlisted leader of the 45th Infantry...... read more read more
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When Thunderbirds of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team arrived in Ukraine earlier this year to take on the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission, they brought with them a history of National Guard service in Europe stretching back more than 70 years.
August 15 marked the 73rd anniversary of Operation Dragoon - the mission to liberate Southern France from Nazi occupation – and leaders from across Europe were on hand to mark the occasion.
“The bravery and courage the Thunderbirds showed in Dragoon and their stories must always be told and remembered,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Miller, the senior enlisted leader of the 45th IBCT. Miller represented the brigade during the Operation Dragoon commemoration ceremonies.
In August 1944, the 45th was an infantry division known for its distinctive Native American thunderbird shoulder patch and extensive combat experience; and on the morning of Aug. 15, those Thunderbirds were racing toward their fourth amphibious assault landing.
The National Guard division was part of the U.S. 7th Army and came to Europe from Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. By the time Operation Dragoon brought the Thunderbirds to France’s Côte d'Azur, the division had already made amphibious assaults on Sicily, at Salerno in Italy, and a third landing at Anzio that would become some of the fiercest fighting in Italy.
The 45th held against crushing Nazi counterattacks, earning the division the nickname “The Rock of Anzio” before breaking out of the beachheads and onward to the liberation of Rome just days before the famed Normandy landings.
Miller said the 45th’s experiences and reputation as a battle-hardened unit led to the division being selected for the liberation of Southern France. Joining the 45th would be the U.S. 3rd and 36th Infantry Divisions, as well as French, Canadian and American commandos.
Operation Dragoon began the morning of August 15 with amphibious assault landings hitting the beaches just after 8 a.m.. The 45th landed in the center at Delta Beach near Saint-Tropez and Saint Maxime.
In “The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau, A History Of The U.S. 45th Infantry Division” the landings of Operation Dragoon were described as having little to no opposition from Nazi defenders.
“Instead of putting up a stiff fight as they had at Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio,” the book by military historian Flint Whitlock reads, “the Germans mounted only token resistance and then quickly pulled back, hoping to make a stand farther inland.”
That afternoon saw armor-supported American infantry slowly eliminate German resistance along the shoreline and begin pushing east and west along the coast and northward away from the beaches. Tank destroyers from the 45th penetrated north to assist paratroopers in taking Le Muy. In less than 24 hours, the Allies found themselves in full possession of the beachheads with little coordinated German response.
Following the light resistance at the beaches, the Allied forces swept inland. German communications were in disarray thanks to sabotage by the French Forces of the Interior and heavy Allied bombing. This meant the Nazi forces were unable to put a counter attack in place until the second day of fighting.
The Thunderbirds drove inland with the rest of the 7th Army pushing into France. The division moved so quickly the division headquarters had to be moved 11 times in 17 days.
“The drive was exhilarating; town after town fell to the advancing 45th,” Whitlock writes in “The Rock of Anzio.” “Grateful civilians lined the roadsides, crying, waving to the Yanks, and throwing flowers. The only problem, the veterans knew, was that at some point the fleeing Germans would decide to make a stand, and then the real struggle would being.”
Operation Dragoon was a success. The 45th, 3rd and 36th Infantry Divisions swept the German army from Southern France and French forces liberated the ports of Marseille and Toulon allowing vital supplies to reach stalled Allied forces.
The operation would come to a close on Sept. 14, 1944, but for the 45th, the war continued. In the following months, the 45th would fight its way through the Siegfried Line into Germany and then on to Munich where Thunderbirds discovered and liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp.
During World War II, the 45th saw 511 days of combat and nine Thunderbirds earned the Medal of Honor. Following the war, the 45th returned to the United States and became an all Oklahoma National Guard Division with the 157th Infantry Regiment returning to Colorado, replaced by the newly formed 279th Infantry Regiment.
H.J.D. Meyer, the division’s final commander during WWII, told the Thunderbirds to be proud of their actions in Europe during his farewell address to the division as it was deactivated at the end of the war.
“Whatever destiny may hold in store for our great country and however long that country’s military history may continue,” Meyer said. “Readers in the future will search long before finding a chapter more brilliant than that written by the quill that was dipped in the blood of the Thunderbirds.”
In 1968 the division was deactivated, becoming the 45th Infantry Brigade.
Since becoming a brigade in 1968, the 45th has continued to serve in Europe. The brigade has held numerous annual training sessions in Germany, soldiers of the brigade deployed to Bosnia to support U.N. peacekeeping forces following the Bosnian War and now the 45th IBCT serves again under the 7th Army, now the 7th Army Training Command, in support of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine.
The 45th and its 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment – one of the units that fought in Dragoon – deployed to Ukraine in January to take over the JMTG-U mission from the California National Guard and rotational active-duty units.
The brigade headquarters acts as JMTG-U’s headquarters and coordinates the international effort to improve the Ukrainian army’s Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Western Ukraine, while the 179th directly worked with CTC instructors to teach Ukrainian units tactics and soldier skills.
“With the ever dynamic operational environment, the National Guard has to be more involved in every aspect of the Army’s mission,” said Miller, the top enlisted Soldier in the 45th. “We’re able to bring assets from our professional military training and our civilian experiences that are not found in any other military in the world.”
One of those assets key to the JMTG-U mission is the ability to build partnerships; something the 45th and other National Guard units do consistently in their home states due to the nature of the dual mission of the National Guard to support state civil authorities as well as the Army’s warfighting mission.
“We’re able to adapt and relate in most instances we are put into because we’re highly adaptable in our own communities to help in emergencies,” Miller said. “We’re constantly assigned to different units in the military and are very capable of developing relationships and assessing needs and where we fit in best and are able to affect positive change.”
In July, the 1st Bn., 179th Inf. Regt. ended its rotation with the JMTG-U and was replaced by the 45th’s 1st Bn., 279th Inf. Regt.
The National Guard is an important partner in U.S. Army Europe playing a vital role in making 30,000 Soldiers feel like 300,000. The Thunderbirds of the 45th have long played a role in working toward a stable and strong Europe. Through the JMTG-U, Thunderbirds are continuing a legacy more than 70 years old.
“Some of the most notable and historic moments of the 45th [were in Europe with the 7th Army],” Miller said about the brigade once again being with the 7th Army working toward a peaceful and stable Europe. “It brings back that source of pride in those who came before us to honor their accomplishments.”
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2017 05:45 |
| Story ID: | 245115 |
| Location: | YAVORIV, UA |
| Hometown: | NORMAN, OK, US |
| Hometown: | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US |
| Hometown: | STILLWATER, OK, US |
| Hometown: | TULSA, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 137 |
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