C O N F I D E N T I A L
Headquarters 106th Infantry Division
A. P. O. 443
U. S. Army

21 January 1945

Recognition of Accomplioshment.

The Officers of the 106th Infantry Division

With the withdrawal of the 424th Infantry from the line on 13 January, the major portion of the elements of this division completed a period of thirty-four (34) days of practically continuous close combat with the enemy.  Our Artillery is still engaged.  The events of that period are still fresh in your minds and in those of your men.  The physical hardships endured, the constant exposure to rain, sleet, and snow in freezing temperatures, and on terrain over which it was once considered impossible to wage effective warfare, have, so far as I know, rarely, if ever, been demanded of soldiers of any nation.  These twin enemies - weather and terrain - have been our greatest problem, for certainly, wherever we have met the German, we have found that he is in no sense our equal, and your men have met these demands and overcome them by a stubbornness of will, a fixed tenacity of purpose, and a grit and determined aggressiveness of body and spirit.  You have accomplished your missions, and no higher praise can ever be spoken of any military organization.

I want you and your men to know that these accomplishments have not be unobserved or unappreciated by higher headquarters.  Assuredly, I am quoting here what the higher commanders has said to, and about us.

     a.  The following message was received from General Eisenhower, through the Commanding General, First United States Army, to the Commanding General, 106th Infantry Division;  "The magnificent job you are doing is having a great beneficial effect on the whole situation.  I am personally grateful to you and wish you would let all of your personnel know that if they continue to carry out their mission with the splendid spirit they have so far shown, they will have deserved well of their country".

     b.  The following statement was made by the Secretary of War at a press conference and reproduced in the press and radio of our country:  "Although partly overrun, our 106th Division made a gallant stand in Ardennes at the Center of the German drive."

     c.  In keeping with the foregoing statement, and relative to the German attack on 16 December, the First Army Commander, Lieutenant General Hodges, made the following statement personally to me:  "No troops in the world, disposed as your division had to be, could have withstood the impact of the German attack which had it greatest weight in your sector.  Please tell those men for me what a grand job they did.  By the delay they effected, they definitely upset von Rundstedt's time table".

     d.  On 19 January the XVIII Corps Commander, Major General Ridgway came to our Division Headquarters and gave me the following message regarding the operation we have just completed:  "Your division has done a grand job.  Please tell the men so for me".

3.  In addition to the foregoing there have been many statements by personnel in rear areas and by our British Allies, indicating they have heard of our accomplishments, and the admiration they felt for the deeds our soldiers have done.  It is a gratifying thing to any man to know that the organization to which he belongs is highly regarded.  It is as heart warming to me as I know it is to you.  I am proud of this division and the personnel who compose it.  In my service I have belonged to many organizations in which I have been proud to claim membership because of their prior deeds of valor and success.  My greatest pride is that I can wear the Lion on my shoulder, for all the world to know that I am a brother in arms of the men of the 106th Division.  I know you share that pride with me, as well as the calm confidence that we will always accomplish whatever we are asked to do.

S/Herbert T. Perrin
T/HERBERT T. PERRIN
Brigadier General U. S. Army
Commanding

Distribution: "C" plus
                 one each Off. in Div.