Photo By Master Sgt. Craig Zentkovich | Commanding General Maj. Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, 4th Infantry Division and Joint Task...... read more read more
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WORMS, Germany - Dignitaries and residents from Worms, Germany, joined 4th Infantry Division and German soldiers to mark the 70th anniversary of the division’s crossing of the Rhine River during World War II March 29.
The ceremony, held on the Worms riverfront just south of the original crossing point on the river’s west side, recognized the efforts of the Allied Forces in breaking through the western front in Germany.
The crossing of the Rhine also signified the end of the Rhineland Campaign and start of the Central Europe Campaign that, five weeks later, concluded with the surrender of all German forces on May 9, 1945.
The ceremony included remarks from LaCamera, as well as German Brig. Gen., Markus Laubenthal, U.S. Army Europe chief of staff, and Michael Kissel, lord mayor of Worms.
“It’s not lost on me just how hallowed this ground is right here, where both German and U.S. lives were lost some 70 years ago,” commanding general Maj. Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, 4th Inf. Div. and Joint Task Force Carson, said. “[Seventy] years ago, we stood here as enemies, today we stand here as friends, as comrades.”
The division stormed Utah Beach on June, 6, 1944. It fought through France and into Germany, to include the Battle of Huertgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge.
“March 1945, was a trying time for the Ivy Division, starting with … the Prum River crossing, ending on the 29th when the division crossed the Rhine just meters from this location,” LaCamera said. “At this time in the campaign, the 4th Infantry Division in France had nearly a 50 percent casualty rate … but it did not hinder their crossing of the Rhine.”
Laubenthal said the crossing of the Rhine by U.S. troops was, “…the end and the beginning at the same time.”
“On one hand, the Rhine crossing headed toward the final defeat of the Nazi terror regime,” he said. “On the other hand, the crossing marked a new beginning that Germans believed, at that time, hardly possible.”
Following the remarks, LaCamera and Laubenthal conducted a streamer ceremony, placing campaign streamers for both the Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns on the 4th Inf. Div. colors.
On hand for the ceremony was Worms resident Johann Gispert, who was 9 years old and lived in the town when U.S. troops reached the Rhine.
“We were not sure what was happening,” he said, through an interpreter. “(U.S.) Soldiers looked like aliens to us. It was very exciting.”
Gispert said, at first, not all Germans welcomed the arrival of allied forces, but most came around to see that their presence would bring an end to years of war and secure peace in the war-torn region.
Laubenthal, like LaCamera, touted the strong relationship between U.S. and German forces today.
“This bridge at Worms … reestablished the bond between Germans and Americans which has increased in strength and structure over 70 years,” he said. “Enemies became allies; allies became friends.”
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2015 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 158837 |
| Location: | WORMS, DE |
| Web Views: | 487 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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