Hart, Robert Warren, CPT

CPT Hart joined the Army in 1943, and in October of 1944, after crossing the Atlantic and encountering a Hurricane off of Bermuda, landed in France with the 100th Infantry Division.

The Division began moving into the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, and sent its first elements into combat at St. Remy in the Vosges Mountains on 1 November 1944. The division as a whole began the relief of the 45th Infantry Division at Baccarat on 5 November, and assumed control of the sector on 9 November. CPT Hart's unit, the 397th Infantry, jumped off on attack on 12 November, and the division drove against the German Winter Line in the Vosges Mountains. CPT Hart was wounded by German Artillery on 14 November, and was able to rejoin his unit a week later.

The 100th took Bertrichamps and Clairupt, pierced the German line, and seized Raon-ltape and Saint-Blaise between 16 November and 26 November. Later in November the division moved into the Vosges region, elements assisted in holding the Saverne Gap bridgehead while the bulk of the division went into reserve. The unit was relieved from assignment to VI Corps and transferred to the US XV Corps on 27 November 1944. It then moved into the Moselle region.

In December 1944, the division went on the offensive in the vicinity of Bitche, France. The division occupied the nearby areas of Wingen and Lemberg after fierce fighting on December 6-10. The division then advanced to Reyersweiler, which fell after fighting on December 11-13. Fort Schiesseck, a major defensive work in the region, capitulated after a heavy assault by the 100th on 20 December. The division was ordered to halt its attack and to hold defensive positions south of Bitche as part of the Seventh Army during the Battle of the Bulge. Thanks to a stout defense, the men of the 100th later became known as the "Sons of Bitche".

The German counterattacks by the 17th SS Panzer Division of 1 January and January 8-10, 1945 were repulsed; after heavy fighting at Bitche. After further attacks stalled and the Germans began to withdraw, the sector was generally quiet and the division prepared to resume its offensive east.  CPT Hart remembers feeling sorry for the Germans, as they were advancing towards their positions across deep snow, and being mowed down by the heavy machinegun sections of the 397th Infantry Regiment.  CPT Hart remembers that one machinegun section cut down around 100 Germans during the counterattacks.

On 15 March 1945, the attack jumped off and on 16 March, Bitche fell to the 100th Infantry Division.The unit was then relieved from assignment to XV Corps, and transferred to XXI Corps on 22 March 1945. Taking Neustadt and Ludwigshafen, the division reached the Rhine River on 24 March. On 25 March 1945, the unit was returned from XXI Corps back to VI Corps. On 31 March 1945, the 100th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine and moved south in the wake of the 10th Armored Division and then east across the Neckar River, establishing and enlarging a bridgehead from 4 April to 11 April.

Heilbronn fell in house-to-house fighting on 12 April.  CPT Hart remembers that the fighting was close and vicious in Heilbronn, and that at one point they were cornered in a church in the city.  The men managed to fight their way out, and the city fell to the 100th.  CPT Hart says that he will never forget that experience.

In early April, CPT Hart was able to go on R&R in Paris, and was able to attend a memorial service held at Notre Dame Cathedral for President Roosevelt.  The memorial service was led by none other than Charles De Gaulle.

By May 1945, CPT Hart was on occupation duty, and was reassigned to the 278th Engineers and later to the 514th Water Supply Company.  His primary function was pulling security, and he finally acquired enough points to rotate home in March of 1946.  After a short R&R trip to Switzerland, CPT Hart boarded the USS General J.R. Brooke at Le Havre, France, and sailed home.

Upon his return to the United States, CPT Hart used the GI Bill to attend college at the University of Baltimore, and also enlisted in the Maryland National Guard - in the 115th Infantry Regiment, and served as the message center chief for Headquarters Company while in school.  He later transferred to the 175th Infantry Regiment, and served as the weapons section NCO for Company A.  By this time, he was a Staff Sergeant - and upon his graduation from college, he was granted a direct commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army National Guard.

CPT Hart went on to serve as a weapons platoon leader, Regimental Range Officer, and was the Assistant G2, Air, for the 29th Infantry Division.  CPT Hart was working for Xerox in civilian life, and business travel and work pressures forced him to resign his commission in 1963.

CPT Hart is currently retired, and lives with his wife, Marianne, in Maryland.  He has approached life with the aim of being a good citizen, a good neighbor, and a good father and grandfather.  His survival from combat has made him keenly aware that life can end in a split second.

He was born December 23, 1925 in Towson, Maryland, son of Edward F. Hart and Eleanor P. Hart. Two older brothers and one older sister, all deceased.

CPT Hart and his wife have three sons, all middle-aged and settled.   There are seven grandchildren, five boys and two girls. The older granddaughter and her husband have a son, their first great grandson and another second great grandchild arrived.

 

WAR DEPARTMENT
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE
RECORDS ADMINISTRATION CENTER
4300 Goodfellow Boulevard
St. Louis 20, Missouri

IN REPLY REFER TO
AGRS-DA-201 Hart, Robert W.                                                        15 March, 1948
(25 Oct 47)         13 138 497

Subject: Letter Orders



To:                  Mr. Robert W. Hart
                        2730 Louise Avenue
                        Baltimore 14, Maryland


            1.    By direction of the President, under the provisions of Executive Order 9419, 4 February 1944 (Sec. II, WD Bul. 3, 1944), a Bronze Star Medal is awarded for exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy to Private First Class Robert W. Hart, 13 138 497, 397th Infantry during the Rhineland Campaign in the European Theater of Operations.

            2.    Authority for this award is contained in Para. 15.1e AR 600-45 and is based upon General Order 18, Headquarters 397th Infantry dated 29 December 1944.

            3.    The Commanding Officer, Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, will forward an engraved Bronze Star Medal to the recipient at the address shown above. This office will forward a Bronze Star Medal Certificate, under separate cover, direct to the recipient.


BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY


S/
Alfred E. Bonneville
Adjutant General