bravest of the brave: The 3rd Infantry Division in World War II, The

Army, Nov 2003 by Broadwater, Robert P

The first member of the 3rd Division to earn a Medal of Honor was 2nd Lt. Robert Craig. On July 11,1943, near Favoratta, Sicily, Craig attacked and silenced a machine gun that had been holding up the advance of his company. Shortly thereafter, his platoon was attacked by an enemy force of over 100 men, and Craig ordered his platoon to withdraw, while he covered its retreat himself. In an attempt to draw all enemy fire to himself, Craig charged the German force, killing 5 and wounding 3. He had advanced to a position a mere 25 yards from the enemy line and was able to hold their attention long enough for the rest of his platoon to reach the relative safety of the crest of a hill. The concentrated small arms fire of the enemy finally shot him down. His courageous act had saved the platoon at the cost of his own life.

First Lt. David Waybur earned his Medal of Honor near Agriento on July 17, 1943. Waybur had been ordered to take three vehicles to search for a Ranger unit that had been trapped behind German lines. His patrol was to depart at night to give it some hope of eluding the numerous road blocks and machine-gun nests that the Germans were known to have placed along the route. Waybur was successful in avoiding these, but the patrol was suddenly cut off and surrounded by four German tanks, and it looked as if the only rational course of action was to surrender. Waybur, however, decided to make a fight of it. He ordered his vehicles to disperse and fire on the tanks with .30- and .50-caliber machine guns. Three of his men were quickly wounded, and Waybur himself was seriously wounded, but he picked up a Thompson machine gun and charged the lead tank, killing the crew and causing the tank to run into a small bridge and into the stream bed below. Despite overwhelming odds, Waybur continued to battle against the tanks and was able to hold his position until the following day when he was relieved and his wounded men could be evacuated.

The capture of Messina by Patton's army signaled the end of the fighting in Sicily. A large number of the German and Italian troops had escaped capture and fled to Italy and the mainland. The 3rd Division would have the opportunity to face these foes again. After a brief rest, they were ordered to prepare for their fifth amphibious landing of the war: the invasion of Italy.

Mainland Europe was invaded by the Allies when they landed at Salerno on September 9, 1943. The Germans and Italians were forced to give ground, and by early October the 3rd Division, along with the 7th Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne had captured Naples.

The strong German position at Monte Cassino held up Gen. Mark Clark's 5th Army, however, and it was determined to launch another amphibious landing behind the Germans in an effort to break the stalemate. The 3rd Division boarded ships for their sixth time of hitting the beaches and were landed at Anzio on the morning of January 22, 1944. The move had taken the Germans completely by surprise, and the 3rd Division only had to contend with a single company of Germans when they came ashore. Troops rapidly pushed inland, but when resistance stiffened near Cisterna, the troops were ordered to hold their positions and consolidate before the final push was made. The American high command was unaware that the roads to Rome were only lightly guarded and that the city could easily have fallen with a concerted effort. The week of inactivity that followed allowed the Germans to bring up 13 divisions. The opportunity for an easy capture of Rome had vanished, and five months of hard fighting would be necessary before the city finally fell on June 5,1944.