It has been 70 years since the war in Europe, seven decades since my great-grandfather was there. But I have this map, and during this anniversary of Tonice’s time as a combat medic, I’m revisiting of what the 137th Infantry Regiment did. (He’d disapprove of all of this, I’ve no doubt.) He was a very humble and modest man in general who went out of his way to not discuss the war. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion, he was in. This is only a regimental overview with some movements down to the company level.

So, then, for Dec. 29:

The 137th Infantry attacked again in the Surre Woods against bitter machine gun and tank fire. The Regiment attacked to the northeast in its zone, bounded by the 134th Infantry on the left and the 320th on the right.

The 2nd Battalion met heavy tank and self-propelled gun fire. The 1st Battalion jumped off at 0810 and ran into heavy fire also. Companies C and A led the attacking troops and advanced toward the town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau. The 2nd Battalion had Companies E and G forward, with Company E in Surre. The CO of the 3rd Battalion estimated that he had knocked out at least nine heavy machine gun emplacements during the day.

Enemy artillery fire was very heavy in the Regimental area during the night, with the Regimental CP area receiving several barrages of rockets.

You can scroll around and click all of the pins in the map below to see more of the unit’s day-by-day notes.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. Any errors are mine alone.

Two years ago I put this map together. Thirteen years ago we got an inkling of where he was and what he did. Seven decades ago he was there. Two years ago I put this map together. And on this, the 70th anniversary of Tonice’s time in Europe as a combat medic, we’re revisiting what the 137th Infantry Regiment did. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion Tonice was in, so this is only a regimental overview with some movements down to the company level.

So, then, for Dec. 28:

The 137th Infantry attacked north of Surre, against all types of heavy enemy fire and drove eastward to assault Villers-la-Bonne-Eau.

The 1st Battalion was located in Surre and the 2nd Battalion with Companies E, F, and G, in that order, on the edge of Surre Woods. The 3rd Battalion was pushing northeast toward Livarchamps.

The 3rd Battalion launched its attack to get into Villers-la-Bonne-Eau. The 1st Battalion moved out of Surre at 1405, with the mission of encircling the 2nd Battalion’s left flank. At 1745 the 3rd Battalion, after a bitter battle, was in the town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau.

The Corps Commanding General warned all units to beware of enemy counterattacks during the night or early morning. The Surre Woods still contained many German troops.

You can click all of the pins in the map below to see more of the unit’s day-by-day notes.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. Any errors are mine alone.

Seventy years ago my great-grandfather, and maybe some of your relatives, were being shot at in Europe during World War II. It was the Battle of the Bulge, the coldest winter anyone there could remember and altogether not the kind of place a country boy would want to be. But he, and so many others were there, shivering.

Tonice was a combat medic, but he never really told his family about his experiences. We learned at his funeral how he took off his field jacket one day in the coldest winter Europe could recall and gave it to another soldier. It could have been this day for all we know. It could have been every day. He was in the 137th Infantry Regiment, but we don’t know which company, or even which battalion, so this is only a regimental overview with some movements down to the company level.

So, then, for Dec. 27:

The 137th Infantry jumped off at 0800, with the 2nd Battalion on the right and the 3rd on the left. The 2nd crossed the Surre River and entered the town of Surre. Company E was held up by enemy machine gun fire. The 1st Battalion left Tintange and moved toward Surre. Late in the afternoon the entire Battalion was on the road to Surre and the point was receiving machine gun fire from its left flank. Company A was at the point and in contact with Company G in the town.

The 3rd Battalion was driving ahead on the left flank, under small arms fire and mortar barrages. In the afternoon, the 3rd Battalion was hit by a terrific artillery barrage.

The 1st Battalion had two companies in Surre that evening and was securing the town. Company E pushed out into the woods that night to run into strong enemy dug-in positions. The 1st Battalion CP moved into Surre late that night. And the 3rd Battalion reported enemy dug-in positions, the 5th German Paratroop Division, to its front.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates and are meant only to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.

We’re following along with my great-grandfather’s time in Europe. He never told us much about it, and we only found out the regiment after his death. I’ve cobbled together some general troop movements from the unit history and assembled the map, below. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion he was in, but you can get a general idea of the places the 137th Infantry Regiment occupied during the Battle of the Bulge.

So, then, for Dec. 26:

The 137th Infantry Combat Team moved through Arlon, Pontellange and into the vicinity of Nothomb, Belgium. Upon its arrival, the Regiment moved forward and relieved elements of the 6th Cavalry Squadron, in its zone.

Regimental Headquarters was established in Nothomb, while the battalions moved on into Luxembourg and the 1st Battalion closed into Roodtles Ell, southeast of Holtz. The 3rd Battalion billeted itself in Perle, and the 2nd Battalion in Holtz.

You can scroll around and click the pins in the map below to see other dates, as well.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates and are meant only to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.

Christmas in France sounds better today than it did 70 years ago. Tonice was there as a combat medic in the 137th Infantry Regiment and we’ve been following along based on some research I’ve been able to cobble together. I did that so we could give it to my grandfather, his son, as a birthday gift last year. We got his dad’s medals, had a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol — on the anniversary of the end of the war, no less — and I put about 36 pages of documentation and maps and pictures together.

A lot of that started with the stuff you have been reading here. As I’ve said, we don’t know which company, or even which battalion he was in, because he kept all of those experiences to himself, so I have this view from a bit too high, but still it is more than we knew otherwise. Some of it is from other units altogether. Today you’ll read from a different medic, who was in a sister unit, just a few miles away.

When I gave all it to my grandfather I said, “I’ve put all this together like a diary, day-by-day. Some of this reading may be boring or dry. You don’t have to read it all, just promise me you’ll read through Christmas day. I think you’ll like what you find there.”

When he read that, he’d find this other medic Mike Linquata. He was young man from Massachusetts who found himself at peace in a strange place on this important day.

So, then, for Dec. 25:

The 137th remained assembled in the German barracks in Moulins.

The Regiment rested, and cleaned and repaired equipment. They also attended movies and washed clothes, uniforms, and spent Christmas in this location.

Another medic from the 134th Regiment wrote about Christmas in Metz:

Not far behind us, we hadn’t much noticed, was a French family, father about 40 years of age, his wife, a little younger, and two children, a girl about 9 years old and a boy about 6 years old.

As a family, they sang the same carols in French. We then sang together, they in French, and we in English.

We were then invited to their home, where we were each offered, and accepted, a glass of home-brewed schnapps.

That evening it was truly Christmas. We enjoyed a Christmas Mass, carols, snow and a family to remind us of home. That night we were at peace.

(Scroll to the north if you would like to jump ahead to December 26.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates and are meant to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.