FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
Atop Hill 204 in Chateau-Thierry, France, a large double colonnade stands in memorial to the actions of Americans who fought to liberate the country during World War I. While Chateau-Thierry is most well-known for the defense fought by American and French units along the banks of the Marne River, Hill 204 itself marks the first combat actions of the 28th Division in the World War.
The 28th Division landed on ground in France in May 1918 and saw service in the rear areas under the watchful eye of British and French instructors. While the doughboys learned valuable lessons from their combat-hardened allies, many in the Keystone Division itched to get into real action.
On the evening of June 30, 1918, while marching with French troops to a new training area, Col. Edward Shannon of the 111th Infantry Regiment received a request from French forces to provide two platoons to join French troops in a raid on the German lines.
Shannon ordered two lieutenants from the lead companies, Lt. Cedric Benz of Company A, and Lt. John Shenkel of Company B, to assemble a platoon each for action with the French.
Sgt. Bob Hoffman recalled that as the lieutenants looked to select volunteers for the raid “the entire company, like one man stepped forward” and that “men who did not get to go on this trip cried real tears” as their comrades left them behind to become the unit’s first combat veterans.
The platoons moved into position on the slopes of the hill in the early hours of July 1 with soldiers of the French infantry leading the way. After hours of heavy artillery barrage, the allied soldiers leapt forward from the wooded edge of Hill 204 and began a climb toward German positions.
Almost immediately the platoons came under German machine gun fire. French commanders would later write that “from the beginning of the attack the American detachments were marked by their ardor, bravery and their enthusiasm.”
As the men of the patrol advanced, they entered into almost immediate hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Hoffman recalled that after a bullet ricocheted off of his helmet he “forgot the line of combat groups and we fought just as our ancestors had always fought … rushing forward, stopping to shoot, rushing again, and shooting again.”
Sgt. William Felix of Avalon, Pa., grabbed an abandoned French Chauchat automatic rifle and ordered his runner, Pvt. James Early of Pittsburgh, to “follow me with ammunition.” The pair leapt forward through the fire and suppressed the enemy guns, covering the advance of the remainder of Company A’s platoon allowing them to reach the first German trench line.
On the right of the American advance, Company B faced a similar situation. Shenkel’s platoon was met by a barrage of concealed machine gun fire which rapidly pinned down his advance. The lieutenant and seven of his men pushed past the first line of German trenches and quickly found themselves cut off and surrounded.
As German troops demanded their surrender, Shenkel felled the lead German with his pistol, and his men fought their way back to the trench in a brutal hand to hand contest. For hours, the remnants of these platoons held their positions, repulsing a flanking counterattack and inflicting heavy losses on the advancing Germans before turning over the position to French reinforcements.
The action on Hill 204 was a costly first contact for the 28th Division. Of the 116 men who stepped off from French trenches the day prior, only 63 would walk down Hill 204 unscathed.
The action would see Shenkel and Benz become the first wartime heroes of the 28th Division, decorated with both the Distinguished Service Cross and French Croix de Guerre. Several other members of the patrol would receive individual decorations, and both platoons would receive unit awards of the Croix de Guerre.
The French commander wrote to Shannon in the aftermath of the attack that, “The attitude of all American ranks, especially the noncommissioned officers participating in the attack… were superb in their enthusiasm and courage…with such admirable soldiers as yours, and ours, the defeat of the Germans is certain in the near future.”
While overshadowed only a few weeks later by the actions where the 28th would earn the title “Men of Iron,” the fight for Hill 204 would mark a moment when the mettle of the Keystone Division was tested, and they proved to ally and foe alike that the men of the Division were ready for action.
(Editor’s note: Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Heft is a former platoon sergeant with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Philadelphia. He is currently the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Army National Guard Leader Development Program in Arlington, Va.)