Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel    
    
        Special Victims Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Deployed Guard Soldiers mark Dachau liberation with WWII vets By Maj. Jean Kratzer
                New York National Guard
 CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT – The COVID-19 global lockdown prevented 42nd Infantry Division veterans who liberated the Nazi’s Dachau concentration camp in World War II from returning to Germany for the 75th anniversary of that event. Instead the eight veterans, who are now in their 90s, marked the anniversary April 29 by speaking with the commander of the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Steven Ferrari – 10 time zones and two continents away in Kuwait, where he commands the Army’s Task Force Spartan – about their experiences that day. The commemorative event at Dachau, which is now a historic site, was to include veterans, survivors, families and members of the 42nd Infantry Division. The 42nd, along with the 45th Infantry and 20th Armored Divisions, are credited with liberating Nazi Germany’s first concentration camp. Ferrari took the phone call from a small conference room with Brig. Gen. Thomas Spencer, deputy command general for sustainment, and Division Command Sgt. Maj. Corey Cush. Other members of the division staff listened in. The veterans who joined the call were Dee Eberhart, Frank Burns, Hilbert Margol, Elbert Dobbs, Gerald Eaton, Chester Pettey, Russel Fielding and Fidel Mendoza. Their service spanned all three infantry regiments of the World War II division and the division artillery. The event was coordinated through the efforts of the Rainbow Division Veterans Foundation. Each man recounted his memories from liberation day at Dachau, ranging from being part of the lead combat elements to the Soldiers who came afterward and saw the consequences of Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution.” “I want to thank all the veterans on the call today. Thank you for your service,” Ferrari said after hearing their accounts. “After every meeting we say, 'Rainbow, never forget!' and we will never forget the history of this division.” The 42nd Infantry is known as the “Rainbow Division” for its service in World War I as a multistate National Guard division that was said to span the country like a rainbow. Elbert Dobbs was a sergeant in the 222nd Infantry Regiment and was with the leading units of the division arriving at Dachau on that Sunday afternoon in 1945. “When our convoy arrived and opened the gate, we were able to look into the camp,” Dobbs said. “We were looking at a large open area. Several prisoners walking slowly, doing what looked like policing the grounds and what looked like flat cars stacked high with bodies in front of low buildings.” Dobbs, 99, who lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, said he’d never forget the image of those victims. The Army’s 42nd Infantry Division deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Henning Linden, accepted the surrender of the concentration camp. The 45th Infantry “Thunderbird” Division also had forces arrive at Dachau April 29, approaching the camp from another direction and fighting through an adjoining SS training compound. The 20th Armored Division had its combat commands in support of both infantry divisions, with tank, armored infantry and anti-tank battalions all employed with the American forces advancing to Dachau. The liberating Americans discovered more than 32,000 prisoners in a camp originally intended for only 5,000. Just a day before liberation, in their haste to evacuate prisoners from other camps, a train with about 40 railway cars arrived at the camp. It had left Buchenwald concentration camp filled with 5,000 prisoners, but 2,310 of them died on the three-week journey to Dachau. “When we arrived at Dachau, there was corpses in each car,” Fielding recalled. “It was cold, but they did not have clothes to cover them. They were not nude, but they died of cold and malnutrition.” The lengthy rail transport to Dachau was intended to eliminate as many prisoners as possible from exposure or starvation. “What is the complaint about man’s inhumanity to man?” said Fielding, 99, and living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nearly every Soldier of the 42nd Division arriving at the camp passed what has become known as the “Death Train,” said Pfc. Chester Petty, a driver and radio operator for the commander of the 2nd Battalion, 232nd Infantry Regiment. “I noticed a lot of gaunt, hollow-eyed and starving people walking around in prison garb. There was an overpowering odor in the air, and I wanted to find out where it was coming from,” Petty said. “I followed it and came to the rail yard. I saw the boxcars with corpses piled in and hanging out of the doors. That memory has stayed with me the rest of my life,” said Petty, now 94 and living in Abita Springs, Louisiana. Petty stayed in the Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel after 26 years, including additional combat service in Korea and Vietnam. The 42nd Division liberation of Dachau was completed within a matter of hours, and the division continued its advance toward Munich, the birthplace of Nazism. “The next morning, we were on our way to Munich,” Fielding said. “As we approached Munich, we found balconies and doorways covered with the white sheets of surrender. Perhaps not officially, but the war was over, and Dachau would never be forgotten,” he said. “We thank you for all that you did,” Ferrari told the group of veterans. “We thank your families for supporting you, and again I want to say thank you for your service.” “We take it upon ourselves to be good stewards of our Army profession and the history of this division and to make sure that we continue it and make sure the Soldiers, past and future, will know the sacrifices you made,” Ferrari said. As the 42nd Division marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau, 650 New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the Rainbow Division are deployed to the U.S. Central Command theater of operations as the lead element of Task Force Spartan. The division Soldiers are leading the effort to maintain a U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia to strengthen defense relationships and build partner capacity.
 SHARE
 PRINT
  Dachau
 42nd Infantry Division
 New York National Guard
 
 NY National Guard Strengthens Bonds with Allies in Morocco
 By Avery Schneider,
  42nd Infantry Division marks 103 years of service
 By Sgt. Andrew Winchell
  NY's 42nd Infantry Division liberated Dachau 75 years ago
 By Col. Richard Goldenberg
  More
 Tennessee Guard Rescues Hiker in Great Smoky Mountains Park Guard News • 2 hours ago
 Champions Repeat at NH National Guard Marksmanship Match Guard News • yesterday
 West Virginia Air National Guard Wing Conducts ’Super Drill’ Guard News • yesterday
 Idaho Medical Airmen Train in Field to Boost Readiness Guard News • yesterday
 Alaska Air National Guard rescues 6 plane crash victims Guard News • yesterday
 2024 (189)  2023 (427)  2022 (526)  2021 (697)  2020 (936)  2019 (387)  2018 (323)  2017 (346)  2016 (245)  2015 (356)  2014 (399)  2013 (469)  2012 (556)  2011 (533)  2010 (1071)  2009 (357)  2008 (638)  2007 (295)  2006 (188)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil