The 12th Armored Division, disbanded after World War II, continues a 70-year tradition of reuniting to share stories and remember those who have passed.
The 12th Armored Division was disbanded after World War II. However, that doesn’t stop its veterans, their family members and supporters from continuing to honor their service.
Eighteen veterans of the 12th Armored Division were joined by more than 200 family members and friends for the group’s 70th consecutive annual reunion July 21-24 in Arlington, Va. At the reunion, war stories were told and retold, the division’s history was shared and fallen comrades were remembered.
Vernon Foster, who was a 26-year-old first lieutenant during the war, recalled the first major battle the division faced in Herrlisheim in January 1945.
“The first day, two companies went into Herrlisheim and we were getting a lot of fire,” said Foster, who was a tank commander. “My tank was hit. It hit the engine and started a fire on the very first day. I got a lot of shrapnel in my face. I still have a piece near my eye that they couldn’t get out.”
The 12th Armored Division is known by its nickname, The Hellcats, symbolizing their toughness in combat. The division captured more than 72,000 POWs while liberating 8,500 Allied POWs and tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors. In the division’s 102 days of combat, it lost more than 900 men.
“The one guy who I miss the most is my first sergeant,” Foster said, recalling Mike Barnes. “There were snipers everywhere around us. I told my guys not to move. And then a captain came along and told them to move. It was my sergeant’s first day in action. He got hit and the tank exploded. He was the only one of mine who I lost. I think of him always. He was a fine guy.”
Foster wanted to give Barnes a commission. “But he refused,” Foster continued. “He said, ‘I’d rather be a sergeant with you than a lieutenant with someone else.’ And the first day in action we lost him. Everybody respected him.”
After the war, Foster ran a farm north of Baltimore for 50 years, starting with dairy cows then grew products such as soybeans. But Foster never forgot Barnes and attends these reunions to honor him and others. Such memories are what unite these veterans who focus their reunions around honoring and remembering their fallen comrades.
Charlie Fitts, Wesley Ferguson, Richard Keep and Tom Austin were selected to place a wreath on behalf of the group at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on July 23. “It was really tough,” Fitts said. “I lost it there for a minute, thinking about the guys.”
After the wreath-laying, the delegation walked about 100 yards for a brief dedication ceremony for the tree they planted to honor comrades who list their lives while serving with the division.
The division was also invited to a joint wreath-laying ceremony at the World War II memorial a day earlier. Friends of the National World War II Memorial held its first teachers conference at the same time and coordinated the ceremony.
Anne Marie Thompson, a teacher from New Jersey, read off a long list of family members who served and personally thanked the members of the 12th Armored Division.
“I am proud to say that I am a teacher,” said Thompson, who added that she used the GI Bill for her education at Villanova University. “Thank you all for your service. Without you, none of us would be here. I am so proud to be here with you at this memorial here today. And I am proud to be an American.”
On the first full day of the reunion, the veterans and supporters held a private memorial service. Representatives from the various units that made up the 12th read names of those who had died in the past year, then placed a single rose in a vase in front of a plaque representing their unit.
“The memorial is a way to honor the Hellcats and Hellkittens (veterans’ spouses),” Ferguson said. “I knew some whose names were read today. I’ve lost some real good friends.”
- Honor and Remembrance