Memorials and Monuments

From the inception of the 103rd Infantry Division Association, the veterans knew that one of their primary goals would be to honor the men who died fighting with the division in Europe. In addition to constructing a Master Honor Roll which recorded the names of the men who died in combat, so their memory could be preserved, a primary goal of the 103rd Infantry Division Association was to construct monuments and memorials dedicated to their fallen comrades. Below is a list of monuments either constructed by the Association or dedicated in their honor. Many of these monuments contain a list memorializing the men who died while serving with the division. The “Call to Duty” monument located in Gainesville, Texas highlights the service of all men who served in the 103rd Infantry Division, but it also is dedicated to memorialize the 848 men who died in combat. Other overseas monuments in France and Germany highlight locations where the 103rd Infantry Division fought in Europe and the men who died in those towns.

“A Call to Duty” - Interstate 35 Travel Information Center, Gainsville, Texas

Three devoted veterans, B. Melton “Mel” Wright, Lejeune “Rabbit” Wilson, and Robert N. “Bob” Powers, made the initial contributions and established the Texas World War Two Historical Monument Fund. This corporation accumulated the funds, designed the monument, selected and obtained a prime location, and constructed and dedicated this beautiful monument to preserve this vital history for future generations. Located at the Texas Department of Transportation Travel Information Center on US Interstate 35, it is just across the street from the former location of Camp Howze, where many World War Two soldiers were trained in the arts of war. It will be visible to thousands of travelers a year.

The monument honors the service of the 103rd Infantry Division combat veterans, especially the 848 that made the ultimate sacrifice and never returned home. The project was eight years in the making. It was developed by the efforts of a dedicated group of individuals, the bulk of whom were combat veterans of the 103rd Infantry Division.

The memorial was dedicated on November 11, 2006. It honors veterans of all wars, those who served with the 103rd Infantry Division, and those who fell in all wars. Since the dedication, a ceremonial wreath laying is performed on Memorial Day.

Board members included - B. Melton "Mel" Wright (411th, Co. G), Robert N. "Bob" Powers (411th, AT Co., Note - Powers passed away November 11, 2005, exactly one year prior to the monument's dedication), John T. Poole (409th, Co. C), Kenneth Kaden (former mayor of Gainesville, Texas), Lejeune "Rabbit" Wilson (328th Eng., Co. C), Marsha L. Powers (daughter of Bob Powers), Arthur M. "Art" Flynn (409th HQ Co., 3rd Bn.), Edwin "Ed" McGhee (409th, Co. B), James E. "Jim" White (409th, Co. B), and George Grounds (commander, VFW Post 1922).

Sigolsheim , Alsace - France

In 1995, the Rhine and Danube Association erected a World War Two memorial honoring the American soldiers who fought to liberate Alsace. This monument is located near the top of Hill 351 above the village of Sigolsheim, Alsace, France. The impressive monument, with a floodlit American flag flying every day and night, overlooks the Alsatian Plain and the Rhine River flood plain. Listed on the flag base are the American divisions that took part in liberating Alsace. Along the right-hand wall are the insignia patches of those units who took part in the liberation of this area, including the 103rd Infantry Division. Close by, on the top of the hill is the Nécropole nationale (military cemetery) of the French First Army, established in 1965. On a cemetery wall is the inscription translated into English: "In remembrance of our comrades of the Allied armies who nobly fell for the liberation of France.”

Saint Die des Vosges, France

Saint Die des Vosges is one of the largest cities in the Vosges Mountain region of Alsace and Lorraine. Right after the 103rd Infantry Division liberated Saint Die on November 22, 1944, Mayor Evart declared in a ceremony marking the event, that this site would be named "Square of the 103rd Infantry Division." During a visit in 1986, Joe Edwards (a veteran of the 103rd) reported how hard it was to find the square and that the square was in a state of disrepair. As a result, a four-year effort was mounted to erect this memorial. On July 13, 1992, the monument was dedicated amidst much celebration, as this day was also Bastille Day for the French. Elements of the French and U.S. Armed Forces, and veterans, including a considerable contingent of representatives of the 103rd Infantry Association, gathered to honor those who liberated the city in 1944.

The monument is made of Vosges Mountain granite and was sculpted by Saint Die resident Zimmerman Marberie. On the reverse side of the monument is the Saint Die city logo under the words "Ville de Saint Die Des Vosges." On the right side of the monument is a plaque in English which reads: "In grateful remembrance of the sacrifices of citizens of Saint Die des Vosges and the gallantry of the soldiers of the American 103 Infantry Division in the Battle of the Vosges 1944-1945. Presented by 103 Infantry Division Association of World War II July 13, 1992 Through the generous cooperation of the citizens of St. Die des Vosges." On the left side of the monument is a plaque with the same wording, only in French.

St. Giles Church In Howarth, France

Company I, 410th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division placed this plaque in the Alsace town of Howarth, France. Howarth is located eleven kilometers northwest of Selestat. It commemorates the liberation of the city on November 28, 1944. The plaque also honors three men who were killed in action during its liberation: Carl Minnear, Howard I. Schwenden, and Raymond Voss. Robert D. Quinn (Company I, 410th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division) made all the arrangements regarding manufacturing the plaque. It was dedicated May 20, 1994.

Lutheran Church In Uhrwiller, France

Another plaque developed by Robert D. Quinn honors the liberation of another Alsace town: Uhrwiller, France. Uhrwiller was liberated on March 15, 1945. The plaque is affixed to the wall of the Lutheran Church. It honors those who were killed in action during the liberation of the town: Hale R. Burnham, Francis M. Passaro, and Robert E. Savory. Note that Robert Savory's name is not on the plaque, because information about his dying of wounds on March 17, 1945, was not available to Mr. Quinn at the time the plaque was made. The plaque was dedicated May 21, 1994.

Saulcy-Sur-Meurthe, France

This plaque was dedicated in 1989 to those men from Company A, 411th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division, who fell during the liberation of the town of Saulcy sur Meurthe, France on November 22, 1944. It is located at 19 Rue du Mal Lattre de Tassigny , 88580 , Saulcy-sur-Meurthe , 88-Vosges , Grant Est , France; along the North side of the D58A just outside a French WWI cemetery.

The plaque reads: "Soldiers came to this place and died in full youth and far from home." PFC Rosendo Cardenas (Simonton, Texas), S/SGT Frank Carraccio, Jr. (Centerville, Iowa), PVT Edward V. Ciricillo (Newark, New Jersey), PFC Bayard Dodge, Jr. (Bronx, New York), S/SGT Russell Fuccy (Detroit, Michigan), PVT Henry Gaynor (Brooklyn, New York), PVT William James (Metropolis, Illinois), and PVT James H. Vanover (Independence, Missouri). Erected October, 1989, by comrades no longer young, Company A, 411th Infantry, United States Army. "At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them." "Erige en ces Lieux a perpetuite, Grace a la Genereuse cooperation des habitants de Saulcy sur Meurthe." Memorial Committee - Daniel T. MacMillan, Douglas H. Stellner, and John Wuensche.

Monument At Pfaffenhoffen, France

Pfaffenhoffen is located in Alsace, a heavily Germanic region of France. The Alsace lies between the west bank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Mountains. Alsace shares its northern and eastern borders with Germany. The southern border of Alsace is along Switzerland and the western border is the Lorraine region.

Pfaffenhoffen underwent changes in control between Germany and France four times in the past couple of decades. Historically, Pfaffenhoffen and the Alsace region were part of the Germanic area of central Europe. Today, a substantial majority of the population speak and understand Alsatian, a German dialect very closely aligned with the German spoken by the Swiss. Alsace and the city of Pfaffenhoffen were annexed by Germany in 1940 and incorporated into the German Reich. Alsace was merged with Baden, and Lorraine with Saarland, to become part of a planned Westmark region. The annexation subjected this region to Nazi dictatorship.

The 103rd Infantry Division fought fierce battles in the Vosges Mountain region and into the Moder River Valley. While units fought for twisted roads and mountain villages in subfreezing temperatures, German Obstfelder's First Army committed the 6th S.S. Mountain Division to restart the advance on the Saverne Gap. In response, the U.S. 6th Army’s General Alexander Patch shifted the 103rd Infantry Division eastward from the XV Corps' northwestern wing to hold the southeastern shoulder of the Vosges defense. By January 5, 1945, the S.S. soldiers had managed to push to the town of Wingen sur Moder (about ten miles short of Saverne), but there they were stopped. With the Vosges' key terrain and passes still under American control and the German advance held in two salients, Germany’s Nordwind Offensive failed. American soldiers fought and won some of the most critical battles of World War Two in the Alsace and Vosges region.

In 1989 Harley Richardson (Company I, 409th Infantry), along with his wife, and one hundred and forty-eight other Cactus veterans and wives attended a reunion in Pfaffenhoffen. This meeting was attended by Richardson, Joseph Edwards (Battery B, 928th Field Artillery), Carl Reed (Company C, 411th Infantry), and Pierre Marmillod, resident of Pfaffenhoffen. At the conclusion of this meeting, the groundwork was laid to establish a monument to the 103rd Infantry Division for its part in liberating the Moder River Valley.

The monument was designed by Carl L. Reed, and the bronze ornamentation for it was crafted by his son, Carl A. Reed. The monument is constructed of Oklahoma granite. The monument was shipped from Granit, Oklahoma to Houston, Texas where it was loaded on the ship Bravery to arrive in Le Havre, France and then was trucked to Pfaffenhoffen. The monument dedication was conducted on June 30, 1991, and was attended by one hundred and fifty persons, mostly 103rd veterans and their wives, along with thousands of grateful French citizens of Pfaffenhoffen and other towns in France’s Moder River Valley.

Memorial in Landsberg, Bavaria

As the 103rd Infantry Division advanced into Bavaria, elements of the 411th Infantry discovered a Nazi Concentration Camp just outside of the city limits of modern-day Landsberg. It was one of the eleven sub-camps in the Kaufering Concentration Camp complex, in the towns of Kaufering and Landsberg. For their part in liberating these camps, the 103rd Infantry Division was accorded “liberator” status in 1985 by a joint program of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the U.S. Army Center of Military History. These entities researched and recognized U.S. Army units that took part in freeing prisoners from Nazi Concentration Camps. This memorial in Landsberg honors the men of the 103rd Infantry Division who liberated the camp. General Eisenhower got it right when he ordered, "document everything because sometime in the future there will be those who will deny this ever happened."

Photo Credit: Photo of the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in France from 103rd Infantry Division Association Archival Collection, Special Collections at McCain University Library and Archives, the University of Southern Mississippi.