Blue Devils; Dogfaces in the Sand
The 168th Chemical Smoke Unit was my father's unit, Walter W. Smith, Sr., unit during WWII. The following citation was for him and the many others who fought during the battle called "Pocket of Colmar" during WWII.• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for COLMARThe citation reads: "The 3rd Infantry Division with the following-attached units: 254 Infantry Regiment, 99th Chemical Battalion, 168th Chemical Smoke Generator Company, 441st Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP), 756th Tank Battalion, IPW Team 183, fighting incessantly, from 22 January-6 February 1945, in heavy snow storms, through enemy-infested marshes and woods, and over a flat plain crisscrossed by numerous small canals, irrigation ditches, and unfordable streams, terrain ideally suited to the defense, breached the German defense wall on the northern perimeter of the Colmar bridgehead and drove forward to isolate Colmar from the Rhine. Crossing the Fecht River from Guemar, Alsace, by stealth during the late hours of darkness of 22 January, the assault elements fought their way forward against mounting resistance. • French Croix de guerre with Palm for COLMAR• French Croix de guerre, World War II, Fourragère Wikipedia source• French Croix de guerre with Palm for COLMAR• French Croix de guerre, World War II, Fourragère Wikipedia source…
