RESOURCES (WWII,
railroads, Red Oak
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
An after-action report on the North Africa Tunisia Campaign, in which
soldiers from Montgomery County Iowa, as part of the 168th Infantry Regiment,
34th ( “ Red Bull ” ) Infantry Division, participated:
"Time of attack: 0730 hours [01 FEB 1943]. At this juncture about 50 German dive bombers
suddenly appeared and started raining bombs down on the troops. No anti-aircraft artillery
was available! Only the 30 and 50 caliber machine guns mounted on half-tracks and tanks,
all of which went into action, as well as many of the rifles of the Infantry.
The desert was soon littered with burning tanks and half-tracks. Several planes plummeted
to earth in flames and many white parachutes dotted the sky as some were able to jump before
going down. After dropping their bomb loads, the Germans withdrew."
An after-action report on the Italian Campaign:
"Company "F" [of the 168th Infantry Regiment] reached the crest of hill 1168 at first light
[24 SEP 1944]. A dense fog has settled on the mountain-top. Captain Frank M. Cockett,
Company Commander, ordered the 1st Platoon to out-post the Company position...Before the
Platoon had time to organize a position...the enemy had set up a machine gun and opened fire,
forcing the Platoon to withdraw a short distance and dig in. No position was secure on the
hill that day.
With the limited visibility, the enemy could infiltrate through the thick undergrowth to
within a few feet of a position before being detected. One German walked within ten feet
of a position before he was observed and fired upon. The enemy persisted in his attempts
to infiltrate the Company's position throughout the day. A prisoner reported that the men of
his group wanted to surrender but after that their officer had threatened to shoot anyone of
them who made the attempt. Whatever the truth of this report, the Germans continued to run
toward the Company's position with their hands up, some with the hope of being captured,
and others only to drop and fire."
Read both of the above reports, in their entirety, plus news, and updates
about the 34th ( “ Red Bull ” ) Infantry Division: http://34infdiv.org/
The “ Red Bulls ” continue to carry-on a
proud legacy of commitment, sacrifice,
and the warrior spirit. Click on the following to read about their
present-day deployments and activities,
plus histories of the 34th ( “ Red Bull ” ) Infantry Division, including the 168th Infantry Regiment.
Present-day Red Bull soldiers and their deployments:
Official Iowa National Guard website:
http://www.iowanationalguard.com/Museum/IA_History/WW2.htm/
Official Minnesota National Guard website:
http://www.minnesotanationalguard.org/units/unit_template.php?unit=PUNRR/
How the Red Bull Infantry Division assists in addressing global security challenges:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/34id.htm/
From IPTV, WWII stories from the war front and home front:
http://www.iptv.org/iowastories/detail.cfm/wwii/
WWII casualties in the Red Bull Infantry Division:
http://34thdivdeathcasualties.homestead.com/HomePage.html/
History of the Red Bull Infantry Division:
http://www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/Units/Division34.htm
Montgomery County Iowa military research website:
http://iagenweb.org/montgomery/militarycenter.htm/
“Red Oak waits – waits for its youth to come back” (LIFE Magazine, 13 SEP 1943):
“The town of Red Oak,
of a
Red Oak today there are only older people and children. When the war came the young men
enlisted. They did not wait to be drafted. They distressed the urban intellectuals by their
seeming unconcern with war aims and idealogies. But idealogies do not need to carry brand
labels or be formidably unintelligible. These boys had a system of beliefs – not simple
indeed, but very old and deep-lying, which require them to fight, as their fathers and grandfathers
did, as soon as it becomes clear to them that trouble is rolling down their land.
Their war aims are to stamp out that trouble, to see for themselves Berlin and Tokyo as captured
capitals – and then come home…Meanwhile Red Oak waits – waits for its youth to come back.
“Return to normalcy” is not a suspect phrase there. It means simply when the young men and
women are home again, and the stores that the draft and the shortages have closed reopen, and
the children go to bed in their parents’ new small houses, and early evening is a bustle of shopping
and young laughter. Evenings are quiet now. The grandparents’ tend to drift to the green near the
courthouse. It is a pleasant place for talk or a game of checkers, in summer. And big in the center,
much bigger than the plaque which lists the dead of 1917-18, stands the boards that give the names
of the Red Oak men in the service. The dead are marked plainly, but every father and mother in
Red Oak can tell you too just who has been wounded or taken prisoner.”
RAILROADS
The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad: http://depothill.net/depot05.htm/
RED OAK
Historic auto trail - U.S.
Highway 34 within
http://www.iowadot.gov/autotrails/bridges.aspx?34th%20Infantry%20Division%20Highway/
Red Oak Iowa websites of the
Chamber and Industry Association,
Red Coach Inn &
Restaurant
(located on U.S. Highway 34):
The Restored Burlington
Northern Depot and WWII Memorial Museum
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