Courtesy Photo | Howard C. Blazzard as a lieutenant in 1941 (courtesy photo).... read more read more
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by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
On November 18, 1944, Maj. Howard C. Blazzard, the regimental S-2 for the 22d Infantry, took command of the 2d Battalion during the hard-fought battle in Germany’s Hürtgen Forest. Two days earlier, Col. Charles T. Lanham’s regiment attacked as part of the 4th Infantry Division’s move toward the Roer River.
By November 1944, the 25-year-old Blazzard had been with the 22d Infantry for more than three years. With service in the Arizona National Guard while attending Arizona State Teachers College, he entered the U.S. Army as a sergeant in September 1940. A year later, he graduated from Officers Candidate School and joined the 22d Infantry as a platoon leader in Company L. He landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. The next day, he was wounded, receiving his first of five Purple Hearts. On June 10, he assumed command of Company M. In the fighting around Cherbourg in late June, he received both a Silver Star and Bronze Star.
In August 1944, Col. Lanham brought now-Captain Blazzard to his regimental staff as the S-2. Like most regimental-level intelligence officers, Blazzard directed the regiment’s intelligence and reconnaissance platoon, coordinated its patrolling, and supervised the attached Interrogation of Prisoner of War (IPW) Team #35. He continued, however, to find his way to the front. In early September, as the regiment neared the Belgium border, he personally reconnoitered a way over the Canal de la Sambre. Under small arms fire, he located an abandoned railway trestle and determined it was suitable for crossing. The crossing allowed Lanham’s men to trap retreating Germans while the reconnaissance earned Blazzard his second Silver Star.
Just two weeks later, Blazzard assisted Colonel Lanham in rallying a stalled battalion attack in the Schnee Eifel just inside the border of Germany. Seeing the unit falter because of a fierce artillery barrage, he pressed forward and took control of one part of the assaulting forces while Lanham personally took command of another. The Arizonian moved from group to group and reorganized them for a renewed attack. Out in front of the men, he inspired them to storm the German defenses. Although once again wounded, he refused evacuation until the objective had been secured. For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Moving to the north, the 22d Infantry began its attack into the hilly and heavily forested terrain of the Hürtgen Forest on the afternoon of Thursday, November 16. For the first two days, Lanham’s men made good progress despite the muddy terrain and well-placed minefields. As the battalions closed in on the German lines, artillery, and mortar fire increased. Lanham lost the commanders of the 1st and 3d Battalions from German artillery. Still the regiment moved forward.
On Saturday November 18, 2d Battalion suffered near catastrophe. As it moved to cross a stream and seize the hill beyond, German artillery landed on the forward command post (CP), wounding Lt. Col. Glenn D. Walker and most of his battalion staff. Within five minutes after arriving at the CP, German artillery wounded Maj. Joseph Samuels, the battalion executive officer, and killed the acting S-3. Then Capt. James Clark of Company F died shortly after he arrived to take command. Finally, Capt. Arthur Newcomb reached the CP to assume battalion command from Company E. In a single hour, four officers had commanded the battalion, now two were wounded and one dead.
Since both the regimental commander and his S-2 were cut from the same cloth and led from the front, it is not known whether Lanham sent Blazzard or the S-2 took the initiative to move to the stricken battalion. Whoever proposed the action, it was taken quickly. Blazzard reached the battalion CP within an hour of Colonel Walker’s wounding.
When he arrived, no original member of the battalion staff remained in action. Not only was the battalion leadership decimated, the CP’s communications were shattered. Until more personnel and radios arrived, Blazzard had to rely on a single operational radio to stay in contact with the regiment. Nevertheless, using Captain Newcomb and a single runner, he was able to regain control of the battalion. By late afternoon, he had reorganized the battalion and resumed the attack. Before five o’clock, he had the battalion over the stream, and digging in on its objective.
Blazzard remained in command of 2d Battalion until 20 November when a replacement could be found. His leadership and ability to quickly assess the situation allowed the battalion to remain in the fight and move to its objective. He would remain in the intelligence job until he returned to the States in March 1945.
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2022 09:57 |
| Story ID: | 433276 |
| Location: | FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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