EDITORIAL (Austin American Statesman)
The story of war -- and all of its valor and horror
Monday, May 29, 2006
In Italy's Liri Valley lies a metaphor for all wars. There, in January 1944, Texans of the 36th Infantry Division suffered and died in a battle that for so long was unheralded. To have told the story when it happened would have forced society to confront war's ugly choices and even uglier consequences.
The story of the bloody river crossing is one we should all know because it is a tale of callous stupidity in issuing orders and unparalleled bravery in executing them. The story shows that in war, nothing is certain except suffering and that valor alone won't turn the tide.
'ANYONE CAUGHT ABOVE GROUND WAS GONE.'
Bill Hartung, a member of Texas' 36th Infantry Division who participated in the second assault on the German fortifications at the Rapido River in 1944.
       
The Rapido River crossing was a disaster that was eminently predictable, but hubris overruled reason as is often the case in even "good" wars and into the valley of death the Texas division went, just like Tennyson's Light Brigade.
Of the millions of stories that could be told on Memorial Day, the saddest of America's national holidays, this one is especially poignant and relevant given the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Years from now, the Rapido River crossing memory will be replaced by something that happens today or will happen next week in Iraq or Afghanistan. That is the nature of war: Good people die.
Whether good people die for good reasons is war's eternal debate. Combat soldiers don't have the luxury of debating philosophy. Theirs is but to do or die.
The push to Rome
In January 1944, the invasion of Europe was just under six months away, and 5th Army Commander Gen. Mark Clark's desire to get to Rome before the Normandy landing was stuck in the Italian mud. German defenders, under the able command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, dug in behind the Gustav Line and were putting up a stubborn resistance. Clark and his staff came up with a plan to land at Anzio, behind enemy lines. For the plan to work, though, pressure had to be applied on the Gustav Line.
To do that, the planners envisioned an armor attack through the Liri Valley, and the key to the valley was the Rapido River, a natural obstacle that had to be breached.
That meant an infantry assault, and the 36th Division was picked for the assignment. The 36th, a mobilized Texas National Guard outfit, had been in plenty of tough fights. The troops had landed in North Africa and Sicily and had seen enough action that their numbers had been seriously depleted.
The first river crossing
The division's top brass had doubts about the plan to send what was left of the 36th across in boats, but put them aside and ordered a reconnaissance patrol.
Leading the recon mission was Lt. Gabriel Navarette of El Paso. As author Raul Morin recounts in his book, "Among the Valiant," Navarette's patrol "could make out the heavy concentration of troops and fortifications (despite the darkness). The banks on the German side were strewn with barbed-wire entanglements. Large trees had been felled and their trunks offered protection of the enemy and obstacles for the Americans. Gun emplacements that could rake the river with crossfire were revealed when the patrol ventured further."
The Germans discovered the patrol. One man was killed and Navarette and another soldier, Manuel Rivera, were wounded but made it back to report the horror that waited.
Moving into a slaughter
Navarette's warning was ignored. The assault was on.
"Tonight, the 36th Division will attempt to cross the Rapido opposite San Angelo. . . . We might succeed, but I do not see how we can. The crossing is dominated by heights on both sides of the Valley where German artillery observers are ready to bear down heavy artillery concentrations on our men. The river is the principal obstacle of the German main line of resistance," Maj. Gen. Fred Walker, the 36th Division commander, wrote in his diary.
Walker opted to attack after dark. At 1800 hours (6 p.m.), the 141st Infantry regiment left its assembly area and moved to the Rapido and slaughter.
Under fire, the rubber boats ferrying the Texans across the Rapido capsized, dumping the hapless infantrymen into the river. Weighted down by their winter clothing and equipment, many drowned in the freezing water.
Failure is not an option
Despite the odds, a few Texans managed to make it across the river. They dug in as best they could and waited for help. Walker wanted to mount a rescue operation. Higher headquarters ordered another assault, this time in daylight. Failure, one company grade officer was informed, was not an option.
Bill Hartung, an enlisted man, described the second attempt to cross the river: When "the Germans spotted us, all hell broke loose . . . mortars, artillery fire and machine gun fire about six to eight inches above ground hit us. We still didn't know how bad off we were because when they stopped firing for a few minutes, we would stand up and try to see what was going on. All we could see were GIs being lined up and taken prisoners. The enemy also had tanks dug in up to the barrel, and fortified as bunkers with steel and concrete about two feet thick. Anyone caught above ground was gone."
Rivera of El Paso, the other soldier wounded on the recon patrol, summed it up succinctly, if grimly: "If you didn't get wounded, if you didn't get killed, if you weren't captured, you weren't at the river."
The Texans who were lost
A third assault was contemplated but never materialized. The opposing forces declared a truce to clear the field of the dead and wounded.
In the battle, the 36th suffered 2,877 casualties, including 1,681 killed.
After the war, Texans raised enough hell that a congressional hearing into the assault was convened. The committee finally concluded that, in the end, the Rapido River crossing was a legitimate military operation requiring no further action by Congress.
In other words: In war, stuff happens. People die.
Remember them.
(This article can be found at Austin American Statesman web site www.statesman.com/search/..._edit.html
with really wonderful maps and graphics showing the battle field.) God bless the veterans.
The story of war -- and all of its valor and horror
Monday, May 29, 2006
In Italy's Liri Valley lies a metaphor for all wars. There, in January 1944, Texans of the 36th Infantry Division suffered and died in a battle that for so long was unheralded. To have told the story when it happened would have forced society to confront war's ugly choices and even uglier consequences.
The story of the bloody river crossing is one we should all know because it is a tale of callous stupidity in issuing orders and unparalleled bravery in executing them. The story shows that in war, nothing is certain except suffering and that valor alone won't turn the tide.
'ANYONE CAUGHT ABOVE GROUND WAS GONE.'
Bill Hartung, a member of Texas' 36th Infantry Division who participated in the second assault on the German fortifications at the Rapido River in 1944.
       
The Rapido River crossing was a disaster that was eminently predictable, but hubris overruled reason as is often the case in even "good" wars and into the valley of death the Texas division went, just like Tennyson's Light Brigade.
Of the millions of stories that could be told on Memorial Day, the saddest of America's national holidays, this one is especially poignant and relevant given the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Years from now, the Rapido River crossing memory will be replaced by something that happens today or will happen next week in Iraq or Afghanistan. That is the nature of war: Good people die.
Whether good people die for good reasons is war's eternal debate. Combat soldiers don't have the luxury of debating philosophy. Theirs is but to do or die.
The push to Rome
In January 1944, the invasion of Europe was just under six months away, and 5th Army Commander Gen. Mark Clark's desire to get to Rome before the Normandy landing was stuck in the Italian mud. German defenders, under the able command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, dug in behind the Gustav Line and were putting up a stubborn resistance. Clark and his staff came up with a plan to land at Anzio, behind enemy lines. For the plan to work, though, pressure had to be applied on the Gustav Line.
To do that, the planners envisioned an armor attack through the Liri Valley, and the key to the valley was the Rapido River, a natural obstacle that had to be breached.
That meant an infantry assault, and the 36th Division was picked for the assignment. The 36th, a mobilized Texas National Guard outfit, had been in plenty of tough fights. The troops had landed in North Africa and Sicily and had seen enough action that their numbers had been seriously depleted.
The first river crossing
The division's top brass had doubts about the plan to send what was left of the 36th across in boats, but put them aside and ordered a reconnaissance patrol.
Leading the recon mission was Lt. Gabriel Navarette of El Paso. As author Raul Morin recounts in his book, "Among the Valiant," Navarette's patrol "could make out the heavy concentration of troops and fortifications (despite the darkness). The banks on the German side were strewn with barbed-wire entanglements. Large trees had been felled and their trunks offered protection of the enemy and obstacles for the Americans. Gun emplacements that could rake the river with crossfire were revealed when the patrol ventured further."
The Germans discovered the patrol. One man was killed and Navarette and another soldier, Manuel Rivera, were wounded but made it back to report the horror that waited.
Moving into a slaughter
Navarette's warning was ignored. The assault was on.
"Tonight, the 36th Division will attempt to cross the Rapido opposite San Angelo. . . . We might succeed, but I do not see how we can. The crossing is dominated by heights on both sides of the Valley where German artillery observers are ready to bear down heavy artillery concentrations on our men. The river is the principal obstacle of the German main line of resistance," Maj. Gen. Fred Walker, the 36th Division commander, wrote in his diary.
Walker opted to attack after dark. At 1800 hours (6 p.m.), the 141st Infantry regiment left its assembly area and moved to the Rapido and slaughter.
Under fire, the rubber boats ferrying the Texans across the Rapido capsized, dumping the hapless infantrymen into the river. Weighted down by their winter clothing and equipment, many drowned in the freezing water.
Failure is not an option
Despite the odds, a few Texans managed to make it across the river. They dug in as best they could and waited for help. Walker wanted to mount a rescue operation. Higher headquarters ordered another assault, this time in daylight. Failure, one company grade officer was informed, was not an option.
Bill Hartung, an enlisted man, described the second attempt to cross the river: When "the Germans spotted us, all hell broke loose . . . mortars, artillery fire and machine gun fire about six to eight inches above ground hit us. We still didn't know how bad off we were because when they stopped firing for a few minutes, we would stand up and try to see what was going on. All we could see were GIs being lined up and taken prisoners. The enemy also had tanks dug in up to the barrel, and fortified as bunkers with steel and concrete about two feet thick. Anyone caught above ground was gone."
Rivera of El Paso, the other soldier wounded on the recon patrol, summed it up succinctly, if grimly: "If you didn't get wounded, if you didn't get killed, if you weren't captured, you weren't at the river."
The Texans who were lost
A third assault was contemplated but never materialized. The opposing forces declared a truce to clear the field of the dead and wounded.
In the battle, the 36th suffered 2,877 casualties, including 1,681 killed.
After the war, Texans raised enough hell that a congressional hearing into the assault was convened. The committee finally concluded that, in the end, the Rapido River crossing was a legitimate military operation requiring no further action by Congress.
In other words: In war, stuff happens. People die.
Remember them.
(This article can be found at Austin American Statesman web site www.statesman.com/search/..._edit.html
with really wonderful maps and graphics showing the battle field.) God bless the veterans.
