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William M Hildreth, Normandy Tough Ombre.


tdogchristy90
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tdogchristy90

William M. Hildreth was born to Leslie and Velva Hildreth on February 27, 1923. After spending his childhood in Illinois, the Hildreth family moved across the state line to St. Louis, Missouri.

 

While living in St. Louis, William M. Hildreth attended Blewett High School where he was involved in the engineering and drama clubs. He graduated from Blewett High School in 1941.

 

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In the fall of 1941, Hildreth enrolled at the Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, Missouri. After two years at the Academy, He graduated from Kemper in May 1943.

 

Following his graduation, Hildreth enlisted in the United States Army at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis on June 23, 1943. He was assigned to Company K, 358th Infantry regiment, 90th Infantry Division.

 

On June 8, 1944, two days after the initial invasion of Normandy, France, William Hildreth landed with the 90th Infantry Division on Utah beach.

 

Hildreths regiment, the 358th, moved inland from the Normandy beach, characterized by bitter combat in the hedgerow country. As they secured the bridge at Chef du Pont and pushed on toward Pont LAbbe, the 90th Division fought against stiff German resistance.

 

On the 12th of June the 358th assaulted the town of Pont LAbbe and with artillery support was able to capture it quickly, helping to crack the German line.

 

Following a defensive action near the Douve river in late June, the 90th Division prepared for its next test.

 

Foret De Mont Castre was a hill that dominated the Cherbourg peninsula and its taking was vital to breaking out of hedgerow country into wider France.

On July 3rd the battle of Foret De Mont Castre began as the 90th Infantry Division pushes toward the base of Hill 122. The division faced the mahlmann line, a formidable defensive line made up of elite German paratroopers.

 

On July 8 the Battalion moved into position near Hill 122 in the Foret De Mont Castre. It was here that the Battalion ran into the toughest fight it had in Europe earning it the Presidential Unit Citation.

 

Two days later on July 10th the Third Battalion, which had been occupying a defensive position on the edge of Foret De Mont Castre, was ordered to attack. In the face of dense woods that obscured their movement and vision, a fanatical enemy, heavy machine gun and mortar fire, and fierce hand to hand combat, the 358th regiment suffered 59% casualties. The 90th Division as a whole suffered 5,000 casualties, accounting for 1/4 of all casualties for that week in the war.

 

On July 12th, rifle companies of the 358th's Third Battalion helped drive the Germans out of the forest, cracking the mahlmann line. The 90th division then set up a defensive position between July 12th and the 15th, 1944 along the Seves River, facing toward the enemy.

 

It was on the night of July 14th while the 358th infantry regiment of the 90th infantry division was bivouacked near the Seves river that William M. Hildreth was killed when the enemy shelled the position.

 

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William M. Hildreth was 21 years old when he was killed in action in Normandy, France.

 

He was buried in the VIII Corps Cemetery at Blosville, France, Plot M, Row 4, grave 70. His family had him reinterred at the Hoult Cemetery in Chrisman, Illinois.

 

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Well written. Many of us face the difficulty of compressing a lot of information into a concise story of the man and the medal. Details are very attractive and important but with a constraint of a high-level documentation requirement, winnowing it down without losing either the personality or of the combat is challenging. Again, well rendered.

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