The following is an After Action Report of my findings on historic documents related to the recommendation of the Presidential Unit Citation (formerly Distinguished Unit Citation) for the 90th Infantry Division in World War II for the reduction of the Metz Fortress and Moselle River Crossings, 9-19 November 1944.
In this report, I have exceeded the requirements for resubmission of the award and simplified the process of reviewing the information, and why the award was never presented as it should have been (note the highlighted text within each tab for relevance and credibility of the information).
After eight months of exhausting research into the historical files of the 90th Infantry Division from WWII, I have traced the original award recommendation made by MG Walton H. Walker, Commander of XX Corps, European Theater Operations, (of which the 90th Infantry was assigned at the time of the recommendation during WWII).
His initial recommendation went on to receive an endorsement from LTG George S. Patton, Jr., Commander, Third U.S. Army. I would also like to add that LTG Patton made public and documented comments of the actions cited in the award recommendation as “the greatest military achievement of the war” (see Maps Tab and Other Docs Tab for supporting text).
The recommendation then went on to European Theater Operations Command, where it was endorsed by Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower along with seven other divisions and forwarded to the War Department for approval.
(Note – the European Theater Historian, S.L.A. Marshall himself also concurred with the findings of all the endorsee’s, and himself concurred that the unit should receive the award).
Following the extensive series of paper trails of the award recommendation, I have concluded the following:
1) The 90th Infantry Division met the requirements for the Distinguished Unit Citation at the time it was recommended by MG Walton H. Walker, Commander of XX Corps in accordance with Executive Order 9396, 22 November 1943 from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
2) The award recommendation was held up by the War Department in 1945 due to a problem with interpretation and returned to the European Theater Operations Command on 8 February 1946 for further action. LTG Eisenhower then directed his Chief of Staff, MG Bull to submit the reaffirmation of the award submission back to the War Department for approval on 2 August 1946 and again on 10 September 1946; however, it appears it was never acted upon. (Note – this is the last correspondence known to exist concerning the 90th Infantry Division Award).
3) The 96th Infantry Division also received the same return notice on 8 February 1946; however, since that time, the 96th also received subsequent letters of denial of the Distinguished Unit Citation on 6 July 1951 and 7 August 1951…and has since been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation on 27 July 2001. (Note – the 96th Division was cited for actions that occurred from 1 April 1945 to 30 June 1945, approximately six months after the 90th Division had been recommended for the same award.
Recommendation:
Pursuant to the relevant facts of the documents obtained through historical research during this history training project, along with the president set forth by the recent Presidential Unit Citation award of the 96th, I hereby provide my concurrence of the facts contained herein as consistent with the official records of the European Theater and Theater Historian S.L.A. Marshall.
As the acting Command Historian of the 90th Regional Readiness Command, United States Army Reserve, I hereby provide this document for resubmission of the Presidential Unit Citation award in accordance with current U.S. Army Awards and Decorations Branch guidelines.