From: An Historical and Pictorial Record of the 87 Infantry Division in WWII:
A river crossing demonstration was put on to draw the enemy into their sector in front of us while three divisions to our left made full scale assault crossings of the Sauer River. Two “Tiger Patrols” from the Third Battalion, 346th Regiment, assaulted and captured the large city of Wasserbillig and held it until the Division was withdrawn from Luxembourg and sent back into
Belgium on January 27 to have the honor of chasing the German invaders completely out of Belgium and of “Cracking the Siegfried Line.”
The battles in the Saar, in the Belgian Ardennes, in Luxembourg, were past victories for the men of the 87th “Golden Acorn” Infantry Division on January 27 when Generals Patton and Middleton called upon them once more to fight a battle that was to test the mettle of every man in the division. The assignment: Drive the enemy out of Belgium and crack through the Siegfried Line.
From 346th Infantry:
On January 23 a strong patrol moved in and captured Wasserbillig since that town was the more important. WasserbiIlig was a critical town on the route between Trier and Luxembourg, and the Germans had established a bridgehead across the Moselle River.
BACK TO THE ARDENNES
On the 25th the Regiment moved from the area along the Sauer-Moselle Rivers to a sector in the vicinity of Hautbellain, Luxembourg. On the same day Colonel Richard B. Wheeler was relieved of command of the Regiment and Lt. Col. Donald C. Clayman, from the Ninth Division assumed command. January 26 found the Battalions moving into assembly areas and then relieving elements of the 17th Airborne Division south of St. Vith. Resistance stiffened as the Regiment moved on St. Vith. The First Battalion captured Thommen and Gruflange, Company B making the assault on both towns, and the Regiment moved into St. Vith late in the evening of the 28th, making contact with the Seventh Armored Division there.
Utter devastation greeted the eyes wherever one’s glance might stray. St. Vith was a vivid example of modern warfare, for St. Vith was a ghost town in every sense of the term, almost completely leveled. From St. Vith, the Regiment made a night motor march through the sector of the 82nd Airborne Division with a mission of moving south and southeast from Herresbach to cross the Our River, take Andler and Schonberg. The march was executed under the most difficult conditions, since all roads were drifted full of snow, and the weather, although clear, was bitter cold. Overhead, buzzbombs thundered through the night on their way to London.
Note: On Jan 31, 1945, Pfc. Donald V. Tappan was officially presented with his Silver Star Award for his actions in Tillet.
Belgium
January 29, 1945
Hello Family,
I sure want to get you a letter written today. I know there is no use apoligizing about my lack of writing because I have told you t’ll do my best. There have been a few times that I might have dashed off a letter but I try to get every minute of relaxation I can. You can see that I am just as lazy as ever.
I might even have written you a V-mail now had I not had a money order to send. As far as news goes, I won’t have enough to make this much of an air mail letter. You will have to just use your own judgement on the money. I can’t spend it or any part of it here. IF there is anything (watch, etc.) that I lack on you can finish it up on this. If not, I guess bonds are about the best place for it. But as I said, use your own judgement.
I got mail from you several days ago so before long I expect to be hearing again. I got letters up to January 8. I also want to tell Grandma Carver that I got letters from her dates Jan. 2 and Nov. 8 at almost the same time. I know you’ll let her know. I also got a few November letters from you.I guess they all got mixed up in England or somewhere.
I thought about Daddy’s birthday the other day but it wouldn’t have gotten there in time for the 25th anyway. That reminds me that I don’t think I ever did even mention Mary’s birthday. I hope you’ll forgive me for things like this.
About the only news I can and want to tell you about is that I had a little pass to the city of Luxemborg the other day. This was the first free time any of us have had since we hit France. The city hadn’t been hit too hard but of course there were only civilian necessities to sell. We couldn’t even buy anything to eat. We had to mooch enough to keep us going from some soldiers stationed there. They were real god to us though. I guess about the most good we got from the trip was seeing the civilians. They were well dressed (as a whole) and almost reminded us of home. Just about time to leave we found an air corps recreation room where we could buy sandwiches and coffee and just to be able to spend a little money for something did for us just what we needed.
If you look forward to mail as much as I do I hate to disappoint you so often. I got mail only 4 or 5 days ago and I am already wondering how things are going. It sure won’t be long before it will be basketball tourney time again.
Let’s keep trusting and praying. There is no use to worry. If you want to know how I feel about worrying, I think sometimes that I don’t worry enough. I guess I think too much about the future.
Lots of love, Donald