2nd Engineer Battalion (United States)

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2nd Engineer Battalion
2 Eng Bn CoA.jpg
Coat of Arms
Active1861 - 2005
2008 - Present
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
BranchFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army
Type Combat Engineer Battalion
SizeBattalion
Part of United States Army Corps of Engineers, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division
Garrison/HQFt Bliss
Motto(s)Sapper Steel, Ardeur et Tenacite
Engagements
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia 2 Eng Bn DUI.jpg

The 2nd Engineer Battalion is an engineer battalion in the United States Army which can trace its lineage back to 1861.

Contents

Lineage

Organized 31 December 1861 in the Regular Army at Washington, D.C., from new and existing companies of engineers as a provisional engineer battalion (constituted 28 July 1866 as the Battalion of Engineers)

World War 1

The 2nd Engineer Regiment was deployed to the Mexican border prior to US involvement in the First World War. On the US entry to the war the 2nd Engineers deployed to the Western Front in France as the organic Engineering element of the 2nd Division.

The regiment arrived in theater under strength. On 15 December 1917, 400 men from Companies D, E and F of the 116th Engineers (Idaho National Guard) assigned to the 41st "Sunset" Division. The remainder of the 116th Engineers formed the cadre of new military training depot in Angers, France.

The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 2nd Engineers participated in the Battle of Belleau Wood in direct support of the 4th Marine Brigade of the US Army's 2nd Division. Elements of the 2nd Engineers provided combat engineer support and fought as infantry throughout the battle. In the words of author and U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Thomason, "There were always good feelings between the Marines of the 2d Division and the Regular Army units that formed it, but the Marines and the 2d Engineers – 'Say, if I ever get a drink, a 2d Engineer can have half of it! Boy they dig trenches and mend roads all night, and they fight all day!'"

Korean War

In late fall of 1950 Chinese forces surprised and overran U.S. and U.N. troops, including the U.S. Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division. By the last week of November, U.S. and U.N. troops were forced to withdraw south. The 2nd Engineer Battalion was the organic combat engineer battalion assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division. The battalion was ordered to hold the town of Kunu-Ri protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retreated. Companies from the battalion were attached to two infantry regiments, the 9th and 38th, to fill gaps in the defending lines. The lines eventually gave way to brutal assaults by three Chinese divisions. By 26 November, after three days of heavy fighting, the three enemy divisions had grown to five, with more on the way. On 29 November, the battalion received orders to relocate south to Sunchon, but the Chinese had blocked the only escape route south at a mountain pass. The 2nd Engineer Battalion moved forward to clear a path through the obstacle and open the road. Once the road was cleared, the battalion was told to hold the line with the 23rd Infantry Regiment and A Battery of the 503rd Field Artillery. Early on 30 November, the massive 2nd Infantry Division convoy began to slowly make its way across the mountain pass through a six-mile gauntlet of Chinese sniper and mortar fire. Within hours the situation turned from bad to worse as swarms of Chinese troops engulfed the retreating column. The 2nd Engineer Battalion was the only unit left to oppose the massive Chinese assault. The engineers successfully held off the enemy long enough for the remainder of the 2nd Infantry Division to evacuate through the pass.

Burning of the colors

Unfortunately, by this time the engineers' window of opportunity to escape had closed. At 7:30 p.m. on 30 November, Col. Alarich Zacherle, battalion commander, ordered all equipment destroyed. Magnesium grenades were dropped on heavy equipment tracks and engines. Tires were filled with gasoline, thrown inside vehicles and set ablaze. Zacherle then ordered the battalion colors, its custom-made box, and the 25 combat streamers that adorned it soaked in gasoline and set on fire. He wanted to prevent the Chinese from capturing it as a war trophy. About 30 minutes after Zacherle gave that order, the Chinese forces overran the engineers. "Burning the colors and getting the hell out of there" were the only two things on their minds, but very few escaped. When the battalion regrouped after the battle, just 266 of the original 787 Soldiers remained. One officer was present; all others had been killed "331 members captured and only 117 survived captiveity The Battalion was reconstituted after Kunu-ri and served gallantly through the remainder of the war

Reenactment

Every year since the mid-1990s, the battalion has held a solemn nighttime ceremony where those actions are remembered and the unit's colors burned. During the re-enactment, a roll call is taken for the soldiers who endured the battle. Soldiers of the current 2nd Engineer Battalion answer by calling out the status of each, most often "Killed in action, sir." Retired Major Arden A. Rowley, one of many soldiers captured during the battle by the Chinese, answered for himself during the roll call of 22 November 2013. [2]

Campaign participation credit

Civil War: Peninsula; Antietam; Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Wilderness; Spotsylvania; Cold Harbor; Petersburg; Appomattox; Virginia 1863

Philippine Insurrection: Streamer without inscription

Mexican Expedition: Mexico 1916–1917

World War I: Aisne; Aisne-Marne; St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne; Lorraine 1918; Ile de France 1918

World War II: Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe

Korean War: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea, Summer-Fall 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953

Decorations

See also

References

  1. "Final Goodbyes". Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  2. Janessa Maxilom (24 November 2013). "White Sands Missile Range burns colors, re-enacts Korea's 'Battle of Kunu-Ri'". Stars and Stripes . New Mexico: Alamogordo Daily News. On Friday, the White Sands Missile Range 2nd Engineer Battalion commemorated actions performed by their battalion 63 years ago during the Korean War's 'Battle of Kunu-Ri' by burning their unit colors.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from 2d Engineer Battalion Lineage and Honors. United States Army Center of Military History.