[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2972-S2973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 677--RECOGNIZING THE EXEMPLARY SERVICE OF THE 
  SOLDIERS OF THE 30TH INFANTRY DIVISION (OLD HICKORY) OF THE UNITED 
            STATES ARMY DURING WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II

  Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Braun) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Armed Services:

                              S. Res. 677

       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division of the United States 
     Army, nicknamed Old Hickory, was first activated in October 
     1917 for service in World War I;
       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division was nicknamed Old 
     Hickory in honor of General and President Andrew Jackson;
       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division was composed of troops 
     from Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina 
     and was instrumental in breaking the Hindenburg Line in World 
     War I;
       Whereas, when the 30th Infantry Division was reorganized at 
     Fort Jackson in 1941 for service in World War II, the 
     division included two North Carolina National Guard infantry 
     regiments, one Tennessee National Guard infantry regiment, 
     and other elements;
       Whereas Company B of the 117th Regiment of the 30th 
     Infantry Division was composed of members of the Tennessee 
     National Guards from Athens, Tennessee, who also served in 
     World War II;
       Whereas Company B was composed of 5 officers and 100 
     troops, all of whom were from Tennessee;
       Whereas 22 of those troops became officers in prominent 
     positions in the Army;
       Whereas, in 1940, one year after Nazi Germany invaded 
     Poland to trigger World War II, the War Department 
     reactivated the 30th Infantry Division;
       Whereas, in 1944, the 30th Infantry Division was deployed 
     to Great Britain to participate in the planned Allied landing 
     in Europe;
       Whereas, after arriving in Europe during World War II, the 
     30th Infantry Division engaged directly in battle alongside 
     the British armed forces;
       Whereas, during World War II, the 30th Infantry Division 
     landed at Normandy on June 14, 1944, participated in the 
     advance across Northern France, joined the invasion of the 
     German Rhineland, defended the Ardennes-Alsace, and fought to 
     the final defeat of Germany in May 1945;
       Whereas the 823rd and the 743rd Tank Destroyer Battalions 
     were periodically attached to the 30th Division throughout 
     its campaign in Europe;
       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division played a key role in the 
     breakout of the Allied forces from Normandy at St. Lo and the 
     subsequent advance across Northern France;
       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division is remembered for its 
     role in the defense of Mortain and St. Barthelmy, France, and 
     Hill 317 against a German counterattack in August 1944, 
     actions in which three infantry regiments of the division 
     (the 117th, 119th, and 120th) and a part of a fourth regiment 
     and other elements of the division participated;
       Whereas the 30th Infantry Division also played a key role 
     in stopping the German advance in the Battle of the Bulge and 
     recaptured Malmedy and Stavelot and its vital bridge over the 
     Ambleve River;

[[Page S2973]]

       Whereas, in March 1945, the 30th Infantry Division crossed 
     the Rhine River and quickly advanced to Madgeburg by April 
     17;
       Whereas, while the 30th Infantry Division moved eastward 
     into Germany, it liberated Weferlingen, a subcamp of the 
     Buchenwald concentration camp, on April 12, 1945;
       Whereas, at Weferlingen, the troops found 421 inmates who 
     were in poor physical condition due to malnutrition and in 
     dire need of medical attention;
       Whereas representatives of the 30th Infantry Division 
     arranged for mayors of the German towns neighboring 
     Weferlingen to immediately furnish food for the starving 
     inmates;
       Whereas, in the report prepared for General Dwight D. 
     Eisenhower rating the American combat units that fought in 
     the European Theater, the Army's official historian, S.L.A. 
     Marshall, rated the 30th Division as first among the infantry 
     divisions that had performed the most efficient and 
     consistent battle service;
       Whereas, in 2012, the 30th Infantry Division was recognized 
     as a liberating unit by the United States Army Center of 
     Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum;
       Whereas, in recognition of its exemplary service during 
     World War II, the Headquarters Company of the 30th Infantry 
     Division was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation and 
     the French Croix de Guerre; and
       Whereas the proud fighting tradition of the 30th Infantry 
     Division is perpetuated by the 30th Armored Brigade Combat 
     Team, North Carolina Army National Guard: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate recognizes the exemplary service 
     of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division of the United 
     States Army during World War I and World War II.

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