#4th infantry division

[deadpresidents]

Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. -- the eldest son of the 26th President of the United States -- was the only Allied general to land on the beaches of Normandy with the first wave of soldiers during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.

Crippled by arthritis, hobbled by old combat wounds from the First World War, and forced to use a cane as he landed on Utah Beach with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division on D-Day, General Roosevelt was the oldest man to take part in the opening stage of the invasion. He had made three requests to personally lead the assault on Utah Beach before finally being given command despite concerns about his health. During the confusion and chaos of the largest seaborne assault in human history, Roosevelt realized that tidal currents had carried nearly two dozen of the initial landing craft to the wrong location and was said to have announced, "We'll start the war from right here!"

For his actions on D-Day, General Roosevelt would be awarded the country's highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor, on September 21, 1944:

For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty of 6 June 1944, in France. After two verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt's written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.

However, the Medal of Honor would be awarded to Theodore Roosevelt Jr. posthumously. On July 12, 1944, thirty-six days after landing in Normandy on D-Day, General Roosevelt died in his sleep at the age of 56 after suffering a heart attack. In a letter to his wife, General George S. Patton would write, "Teddy R[oosevelt] died in his sleep last night. He had made three landings with the leading wave -- such is fate...He was one of the bravest men I ever knew." General Patton would join General Omar Bradley and numerous other generals as honorary pallbearers at Roosevelt's funeral. Roosevelt was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial along with thousands of his fellow American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II. He is buried next to his youngest brother, Quentin Roosevelt, who was killed in action in 1918 after being shot down over France during World War I.

[stone-cold-groove]

Peace is America’s most important business! U.S. Army recruitment ad - 1947.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

@sadrcitysocialclub, I was at Falcon most of my time there in 2006, I did a little time at FOB Kalsu. Here are some Images of FOB Falcon both while it was blowing up and after. 10 October 2006 These photos are through my NVG's about 17k away on MSR Tampa. My Small Kill team was set up for the night when we saw this plum of smoke and called it in because we thought another unit was getting lit up on ASR Bug. Our support tried to call it up it the company but it was dead air, they tried Task Force next, just dead air. They eventually spaced themselves out enough to get a signal through to Kalsu and that's when we found out what was going on. That day was on odd one for Indirect fire because we had way more than normal, 13 had come in by the time we left on Patrol. Eventually, one hit the AHA (Ammo Holding Area) and that was all she wrote. It blew up for about 8 hours. No one was hurt at any point. At the time CNN was reporting that the FOB was being evacuated and numerous causality's were being reported, typical. I would like to add that the heavy Indirect fire also correlated with an influx of new interpreters. Coincidence? Maybe, but I doubt it.

We were in the center building and the blast blew doors off, blew windows out, in once case it blew a door off and onto the next building.

[walkingthroughthisworld]

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division supporting the 4th Infantry Division, participate in a live fire demonstration and static display for the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak at Nowa Deba, Poland, April 12, 2023. The 4th Infantry Division's mission in Europe is to engage in multinational training and exercises across the continent in order to build readiness, increase our operability, and reinforce our steadfast and loyal commitment to our Allies and partners, which make up an integral part of the Ivy Team. (Staff Sgt. Agustín Montañez, U.S. Army)

[carbone14]

Les soldats américains du 8e Régiment d'infanterie, 4e Division d'infanterie américaine, franchissent la digue d'Utah Beach après avoir débarqué – Opération Neptune – Opération Overlord – 6 juin 1944

Photographe : Army Signal Corps photographer

©National Archives and Records Administration - SC 190062

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 68 of 2023

Title: Memoir of a Cold War Soldier Authors: Richard E. Mack ISBN: 9780873386753 Tags: KOR Korean War (1950-1953), US USA 1st Cavalry Division, US USA United States Army, USA 4th ID, VNM RVN ARVN 2nd ID, VNM Vietnam Rating: ★★★★★ Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Korean War, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Infantry

Description: Fifty years after America's involvement in the Korean War began, Richard E. Mack's memories of his time spent on the front lines are still strong and clear. A career soldier, Mack served in the U.S. Army until 1976, when he retired as a colonel. In Memoir of a Cold War Soldier, he recalls his service in front-line combat infantry units in Korea and Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader, adviser, and battalion commander. His accounts, perceptions, and observations of the military culture are incisive and candid.Colonel Mack comments on the lack of U.S. preparedness in Korea and, using his observations, combat experiences, analysis, and subsequent study, on the inadequate military and political leadership of the time. He discusses the tasks and challenges army platoon leaders faced in Korea, the problems and concerns battalion commanders confronted in Vietnam, and the uncertainty facing all soldiers during the Cold War.

This book will be of special interest to those who served in Korea and Vietnam, but anyone with an interest in military culture and history will find Memoir of a Cold War Soldier a valuable source.

[theworldatwar]

Two soldiers of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division talk to a group of young German soldiers captured near Dausfeld - Germany, 1945

[citizenscreen]

80 years ago today, after more than four years of Nazi occupation, PARIS IS LIBERATED by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. #OnThisDay #WWII

[shelyue99]

How Webster described Nix in Parachute Infantry, I can totally hear Ron Livingston speak those lines in my head.

Nixon gave instructions for D-Day:

Maps and diagrams hung from the rear wall. Our instructor, the S-2 captain, watched us come in and look around. Yale men, his face seemed to say as he stared at us dully with a studied air of unshaven indifference, must remain poised and blasé in the presence of the unwashed. When the last man had ducked in, the guard secured the door flap and the captain started to talk.

"I have something here," he said,

"that may interest you: a sort of field problem... These are sandtables, one for the big picture and one our own size. You've seen other sandtables before at other airfields before other jumps, but these are different.”

"We're jumping behind the enemy lines on the peninsula of Normandy. Don't look blank. Surely you've heard of Normandy? It's a large peninsula on the coast of central France about a hundred miles southeast of here." He stepped to the back wall, unrolled a map of southern England and central France, and taking a pointer, indicated Normandy.

…

"There are two beaches: Utah, here, and Omaha, here. We drop behind Utah. The 4th Division is supposed to pass through us on D-Day.”

"If they take the beach.”

"The 82nd's jumping up here around St. Mere Eglise, and the British 6th Airborne Division will go in ahead of their infantry here. But let's not worry about those people. We'll have enough worries of our own."

Glancing disdainfully at his wristwatch, the captain ended his monologue and looked around the tent, dull-eyed and absolutely uninterested.

Final briefing before the jump:

D-Day was scheduled for tomorrow. It blew icy fumes of fear in our faces as we gathered in the S-2 tent for the final briefing.

"At ease, men," the captain snapped, all indifference gone from his voice and attitude. "I have something important to tell you that you may already know: We're leaving tonight. This is final.”

…

"We jump at one o'clock. As I told you before, we'll assemble in an orchard near Hébert, pronounced Ayb-are. If you're lost and run across a Frenchman, ask the way to Hébert, not Herbert, as I've heard some of you pronounce it. If you've studied your maps and listened to your officers, you'll know that Hébert isn't even a town. It's a couple of houses and a crossroads surrounded by apple orchards. The Germans have planted antiairborne poles and mines in most of the other jumpfields in our sector, but as far as we know, our fields and orchards are clear. I guess they didn't think we'd be crazy enough to jump near orchards, but they don't know how crazy we are. If we were sane, we wouldn't be here.”

[captain-price-unofficially]

Jack H. Pulliam from Company G / 513th PIR just after being liberated by men of the 4th Infantry Division. He wears the cap of a German NCO he killed. Prüm, Germany, 13 February 1945.

[militarymenrbomb]

U.S. Army Warrior Fitness Team Member

Capt. Brian Harris

Capt. Brian Harris, was born in Edmond, Oklahoma and graduated from Edmond North High School in 2009. He was a member of the high school’s baseball and wrestling teams throughout high school. He enlisted in the Oklahoma Army National Guard in August of 2009 as a firefinder radar operator (13R) in field artillery. While serving in the Guard from 2009 to 2013, Harris attended the University of Oklahoma and actively participated in the Army ROTC program. During this time, he was introduced to functional fitness and began competing at a high level at various competitions around the country. In 2013, Harris commissioned into the Regular Army as a Medical Service Corps officer and that year was selected as one of twenty two medical service officers to attend flight training and be trained as an aeromedical evacuation officer (67J) / UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot.

Harris’ assignment history includes Fort Rucker, Alabama where he attended Army flight school followed by Fort Carson, Colorado as a section leader, platoon leader and staff operations officer for the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade. During his time with 4th CAB, Harris participated in several full-scale training exercises and served one nine-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation’s Freedom Sentinel and Resolute Support providing aeromedical evacuation services across RC-East and RC-North. In 2016, he was named the 4th Infantry Division’s “Junior Officer of the Year” for his efforts both in combat and garrison. After his time in Colorado, Harris returned to Fort Rucker to serve as the operations officer for their Air Ambulance Detachment (110th Aviation Brigade) known as “Flatiron” providing 24/7 crash rescue support to the Aviation Center of Excellence, as well as, routine support to 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Eglin Air Force Base and support to the local civilian population in accordance with the Wiregrass Letter of Agreement.

Harris is a CrossFit Level 2 certified trainer and master fitness trainer (phase 1) and has accumulated more than 700 hours of one-on-one and group coaching time teaching functional fitness methodologies to servicemembers and civilians enabling them to reach their fitness and lifestyle goals. He has competed at the local, regional and national level in functional fitness competitions. Under the old CrossFit season format, Harris was a 2 time regional qualifier and recently represented the United States of America as a member of the national team at the International Federation of Functional Fitness World Championships in Malmo, Sweden (2018).

His awards and decorations include the Air Medal with “C” device, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 2 bronze oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with 3 bronze oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Unit Citation (2-4 GSAB, 4CAB), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Basic Army Aviator’s Badge, Parachute Badge, and the Air Assault qualification badge.

[balladofthe101st]

Elements of the 1st and the 6th SS Panzer division have broken through in the Ardennes Forest. Now, they've overrun the 28th infantry and elements of the 4th. All officers report to respective HQs. All passes are cancelled. Enlisted men report to barracks and your platoon leaders.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

My first home at Fort Hood.

[qsycomplainsalot]

Lindybeige is Either an Idiot or an Asshole

Most Likely Both

--There could be more flattering ways to put it, but he's never once given us that favor so why should I. His videos are wildly speculative and often based in cherry-picked British sources, when they come with any sources at all - see his masturbatory piece about the Bren vs the “Spandau”.

--There are two videos that I absolutely loathe at the edges of my youtube recommendations, both just filled to the brim with misinformation and logical contrivances. Videos that neckbeards will endlessly quote at me without question, taking a frustratingly long amount of time to untangle by which point they'd have usually lost interest already. The first one is Shadiversity's video about boob armor, the other is Lindybeige's video about the French Resistance.

--This video will have you believe that the French Resistance on its own did nothing of worth, based in great part on the fact that De Gaulle glamorized its contribution to the war for political status. I cannot stress this enough, just because De Gaulle used the general idea of the Resistance to smooth over a lot of Vichy war crimes and restore national unity does not mean the Resistance did not exist as a capable fighting force. --The very first more specific argument he offers to support his view -if you ignore “ME AND ME PA FOUND THAT VERY FONNY”- is that most of the French armor was American-made and provided through the lend-lease policy, making French people less deserving of credit in winning World War 2. I assume that in his mind that would diminish the contribution of the French Resistance to war efforts, even though these tanks and armored fighting vehicles were used by the Free French Army, not the Resistance at any point of its existence, making the point moot while also conveniently ignoring that the United Kingdom received ten times the aid France did through that same program.

--The image is from War Thunder because it makes for a better glamor shot than having it stand behind a museum fence or in black and white.

--His next argument implies that De Gaulle was "allowed" to walk in the liberated Paris ahead of Allied troops to give a speech that solidified the myth of the Resistance I mentioned. Again, in this passing, deceptive comment, Lindybeige implies that De Gaulle walked in after the fact and that Allied forces did the heavy lifting, only allowing him to do his speech a their convenience. Even a cursory amount of research will tell you that Paris was in fact liberated by the FFI, the Parisian people themselves and Leclerc’s 2nd Armored Division composed of Metropolitan and Colonial French with Spanish elements, supported only on the very last day by the US 4th Infantry Division and a special British unit sent to gather intelligence. --Following this, he quotes the speech De Gaulle delivered in front of the town hall the day the German garrison surrendered, but cuts it short of the part in said speech mentioning “the help of our dear and admirable Allies” to then call De Gaulle ungrateful, which I have a hard time believing could be anything but intentionally deceptive. He then goes on to claim that the French Resistance was not organized by De Gaulle but by the British, justifying the ludicrous claim with 'they didn’t tell him because French intelligence services were bad and would have leaked all of it’. This is of course ignoring the fact that De Gaulle had personally sent Jean Moulin back to France for the exact purpose of organizing the five big Resistance movements into one organization, which he did, creating the Council for National Resistance that played a major role in the liberation of Paris. How the British would have any hand in this may be explained by his further comments, where he goes on to say that agents of the organization preceding the MI6 had been infiltrated in the Resistance to organize it, which begs the question of who's responsible for it being a non-effective combat force if it had been the case. He then gives us a voice in a sarcastic tone by saying, “of course you and your British bias would say that !” but does not really address it. Because honestly yeah, you and your British bias would say that.

--After quickly rambling that there were too many people in France and not enough bushes for all people to join the Resistance, which I have to admit is an extremely pointed and pertinent thing to say in a video downplaying the efforts and suffering of thousands of people fighting back against Nazi occupation under constant threat of torture and execution if caught, he mentions that the German forced labor system had severely depleted France’s manpower of fighting age. He says that by 1944, only teenagers and decrepit middle aged men were left to fight in the Resistance, to the great disappointment of the British agents he mentioned earlier. According to him, this meant France lacked the manpower and the communication capability required to pull the Resistance off, which is again contradicted by the actions of Jean Moulin, who had seemingly managed to access both before his death.

--There are a few problems with that argument. The Service de Travail Obligatoire, STO for short, was a system put in place by Vichy France to supply Germany with civilian manpower to make up for their own shortfalls due to the Eastern front. Because Vichy had negotiated a relative independence compared to other occupied country, its own government was responsible for the order, although it was in almost every point similar to forced labor orders in Denmark or the Netherlands. Now the STO did deprive France of over six hundred thousand young men, many of them skilled workers. However as an incentive given by the Nazis, every three forced laborer sent to Germany would lead to the release of one French POW, meaning that as far as manpower was concerned, France pretty much lost only four hundred thousand men and received qualified military personnel for its trouble. Not only is it hardly the manpower drain pictured by Lindybeige, it also ignores that many of these forced laborers, my grandfather included, immediately skipped work and joined either the Resistance or Allied military regulars after operation Overlord, as they were not as tightly surveilled as POWs and minorities in concentration/death camps. It also bears mentioning that it was teenagers, dismissed by Lindybeige as a negligible quantity, that acted as reconnaissance troops for the Free French using their motorbikes to scout and guide the way to the German Kommandantur. In any case, most members of the FFI integrated the regular French army after the liberation of Paris, meaning they were definitely of fighting age. Of course that whole argument is dropped as soon as he brings in British involvement, at which point he finally points out how the Resistance disabled most of the railway network and stopped the famously lightning-fast German army from facing the Allied invasion properly. For their role in this sabotage, a hundred fifty Resistance members working for the French national railway company were shot and another five hundred deported.

--To put it simply, Lindybeige dismisses the Resistance as a useless, wasteful and infighting group of functional morons, while every successful operation they carried out, every display of good mobility and coordination is attributed to British uniformed soldiers overseeing it. In reality most of that effort was done by either agents of the French government in exile or the Allied command under Eisenhower, with no account mentioning any significant autonomous British involvement which stands to reason as De Gaulle and Churchill could not stand one another. In fact Lindybeige tries to pass off operation Jedburgh as a purely British operation while it was specifically a joint one with American, British, French, Belgian and Dutch operatives all along the Atlantic coast.

--The next part is baffling. Lindybeige points at the Allies stopping their shipments of weapons to the French Resistance after July 44 and justifies it by saying the various cells were fighting each other and were uncoordinated. Thank god the Brits stopped sending arms or there would have been a civil war between these silly French Resistance members. Of course what happened in August was the liberation of Paris followed by the integration of the FFI into the new French army, which would go on to liberate the rest of the country. But Lindybeige pushes this civil war angle pretty hard, calling at this point of the video both Vichy France and the Resistance to be pro French in a way and underlining the conflicts between the two as a reason why the weapon shipments stopped coming, with examples such as Resistance members exacting reprisals against Nazi collaborators, which is a completely moot point because Vichy France and collaborators had nothing to do with the Resistance and were in fact, at this point of time, recognized as the enemy by all Allied forces, meaning acts of resistance against them would in no way prompt Allied command to stop supporting the French Resistance. Lindybeige goes so far as to say that the OSS and British secret service stopping the weapon shipments in August 1944 legitimately prevented an outright civil war between the different cells of the French Resistance, which was in actuality pretty unified in its support to De Gaulle at this point thanks to the efforts of Jean Moulin as discussed previously. This hardly gels with the events following August 1944, where the members of the Resistance and FFI were enlisted in the Free French Army and were therefore issued American military equipment and training to function as regular troops. Now stop me if I'm wrong but it appears that in Lindybeige's mind all French people were ready to tear each other apart until the British stopped sending them pipe guns, after which the Americans sent them tanks which obviously disabled their ability to start a civil war.

--Two French colonial soldiers using a blend of Allied gear during the winter of 1944-45. They are presumably thinking of killing each other.

--Much like the Phantom Menace review this is addressing a piece of media were essentially everything is wrong, hence the length of this post. Lindybeige has obviously researched the topic to great length, then ignored half of it to record 17mn of vague, dismissive and unsubstantiated claim that each take an equal amount of time to debunk. He present the facts as if everything that happened on British soil was under British orders so as to make the French Resistance only effective on their accord, all the while disregarding the French government in exile and slandering the efforts of French people but also inadvertently of the Americans. It is my honest belief that this sad excuse of an historian is either profoundly lacking in literacy or actively trying to justify his xenophobia by bending WW2 historiography around his bias, and whatever it may be he should be deplatformed to avoid spreading more harmful and disrespectful lies about a group of brave men and women who fought to liberate their country from fascism.

[walkingthroughthisworld]

FORT IRWIN, Calif. - U.S. Army Soldiers in a M1 Abrams tank assigned to 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, prepare to attack enemy forces during Decisive Action Rotation 16-05 at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., April 14, 2016. (Photo by Pfc. Michael Crews, Operations Group, National Training Center)

(via FORT IRWIN, Calif. - U.S. Army Soldiers in a M1 Abrams tan… | Flickr)