Post War Service
May the 7th found the battalion, minus Company B, at Leutasch and Ober Leutasch, Austria. Company B was in Moserne and later moved to Telfs. Here the battalion was able to rest. On 12 May, General McAuliffe pinned Silver Stars on Captain Walter S. Smith, 1st Lt. Serreo S. Nelson and Lt Christopher J. Sturkey, while his staff pinned the ribbons of the Distinguished Unit Citation on members of the 3rd Platoon of Company C. Officers and men had passes and furloughs until early July when the unit was alerted to move. On the 10th they were ordered to move to Marseilles, France. Here it was found the battalion was to be broken up and the men sent to service units, but after General McAuliffe and others had intervened, the orders were changed and the battalion awaited orders to ship to the Pacific or be assigned to occupation duties in Europe. But, the war in the Pacific ended too and on 10 September, 1945, the battalion received orders to return to Germany. On the 25th, the battalion CP was established at Hofheim with the companies occupying nearby towns.
The battalion was reactivated as a Negro General Reserve Unit at Camp Hood, Texas, on 30 June, 1946, pursuant to General Orders No. 20, Headquarters, 2nd Armored Division dated 27 June, 1946. Activated under the command of Lt. Col. Delmer P. Anderson, the 614th received its first shipment of fillers on 1 July from the Overseas Replacement Depot, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, all of whom were regular Army re-enlistees originally intended for European duty. Additional personnel arrived during July and August. On August 19, Lt. Col. Henry W. Allerd assumed command, relieving Lt. Col. Anderson. A 13 week individual training program was started the 3rd week of July. On 3 September, the battalion received two M18 Hellcat tank destroyers to be used for preliminary training. Effective 1 November, 1946, per General Orders No. 43, Headquarters, Second Armored Division, dated 19 October, 1946, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was deactivated.
Read more about this topic: 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Famous quotes containing the words post, war and/or service:
“Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I say unto you: it is the good war that hallows any cause.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Let not the tie be mercenary, though the service is measured in money. Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)