John W. O'Daniel - World War II

World War II

In January 1941 he became commander of the Second Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (United States) at Fort Benning with which he participated in the Third Army maneuvers in Louisiana – a critical test of logistical and combat capabilities for the later fighting in World War II. At the onset of World War II, in December 1941 he was promoted to Colonel and became Assistant Chief of Staff for operations of the Third Army and Director of the Junior Officers Training Center in San Antonio, Texas. In June 1942 he was named Operations Officer of the Amphibious Training Center at Camp Edwards Massachusetts.

In July 1942 General O’Daniel was transferred to Allied Force Headquarters in Europe as Commander of the American Invasion Training School in the British Isles. In September 1942 he assumed command of the 168th Infantry Regiment (United States) in the North African theater and led that unit on November 8–9 in the capture of Algiers. He was also rewarded with his first star on the 20th of November. In December 1942, he was assigned to organize the U.S. Fifth Army Invasion Training Center in Africa which trained the forces for the landings in Sicily and at Salerno.

General O’Daniel in June 1943 was named Deputy Commander of the Third Infantry with whom he landed in Sicily. On July 24, 1943 he returned to Algiers and was attached to the 36th Division for the Salerno landings. Although not required to do so, he chose to land with the troops at Salerno. He became officer in charge of amphibious operations for the Fifth Army on October 1, 1943 and the following month was reassigned as Assistant Commander of the Third Infantry Division.

He took part in the landings at Anzio in January 1944 and assumed command of the Third Infantry Division while still on the beachhead in February 1944. While under his command the division repelled furious German counterattacks, finally breaking out of the beachhead encirclement and driving to Rome, where he was rewarded with his second star. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in Italy.

Much publicized, if not completely reported, was the comment he made at a staff meeting in response to a question from British Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, commander of the Allied Armies in Italy. “I believe your division did not give an inch”, said Alexander. “Is that true?” The reply was “Not a God-Damned inch.”

He served there until August 1944 when O’Daniel and his Third Division landed at the St. Tropez Peninsula in Southern France and drove north through the Vosges Mountains to Germany. General O’Daniel led the Third Division up the Rhône Valley to Strasbourg, in the Colmar Pocket where it decimated German forces in January 1945 and when it smashed across the Siegfried Line at Zweibrücken in March 1945. He frequently flew over the front lines in a light airplane dropping notes to the troops below, exhorting them to advance. He led the division across the Rhine and participated in the capture of the Nazi citadel at Nuremberg on April 20, 1945 after ruthless house to house fighting. General O’Daniel hoisted his flag over Adolf Hitler Square in the center of the city and paid a rousing tribute to the exhausted infantrymen around him for having “driven the hun” from one of the last remaining Nazi strongholds.

Just before noon on April 20, 1945 -Adolf Hitler's birthday- the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Infantry reached the Adolf Hitler Platz in the center of the town after taking its ground in a building-to-building fight. The street markers in the square were replaced by others bearing the name "Eiserner Michael Platz" (Iron Mike Square) in honor of the 3d Division's Commanding General Maj. Gen. John W. O’Daniel who was known to his intimate friends and to thousands of Marnemen as "Iron Mike."

At 1830, in the battered Adolf Hitler Platz, a rifle platoon from each regiment, as well as tanks, TDs, and Flak wagons, stood in silent array. Old Glory ascended an improvised flagpole and the band played the National Anthem. Maj. Gen. John W. O’Daniel then spoke.

"Again the 3d Division has taken its objective," he said. "We are standing at the site of the stronghold of Nazi resistance in our zone. Through your feats of arms, you have smashed fifty heavy antiaircraft guns, captured four thousand prisoners, and driven the Hun from every house and every castle and bunker in our part of Nuremberg.

"I congratulate you upon your superior performance. . .

The band broke into "Dogface Soldier." A few bewildered civilians contemplated the red, white, and blue banner flying at half-staff in mourning for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Third Infantry Division went on to conquer Augsburg, Munich, and Salzburg. It ended the war with the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s mountain stronghold in May 1945. Representatives of German Field Marshal Kesserling surrendered to him and he turned them over to General Jacob L. Devers near Munich on May 5, 1945. One of O’Daniel’s proudest trophies from the war was a pair of Hermann Göring’s trousers. He called them “a lot of pants”. At war’s end it was reported that O’Daniel’s “Rock of the Marne” Third Division had been awarded one fourth of all Medals of Honor presented during the war for its feats in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany.

In July 1945, General O’Daniel was assigned temporary duty with Army Ground Forces Headquarters in Washington DC. Later that month he became the commandant of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, and in November 1946 was also appointed Commanding General there.