HEADQUARTERS TASK FORCE LINDEN
31 January 1945
To the Officers and Men of the Rainbow Infantry Regiments:
You men of the 42d Infantry Division and our gallant comrades who fell on the battlefield have just written Chapter 1 of Volume II of the history of the Rainbow.
By your courage and ability you have demostrated that the Infantry of the Rainbow Division of World War II is a tough, hard-hitting team, capable of destroying the enemy any place and any time it meets him.
Your baptism of fire was fast and furious; and received in carrying out the mission of holding an important Seventh Army sector against experienced German troops intent on regaining Alsace. You fought the powerful 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions and you and the troops who fought with you prevented these units from reaching their objective.
At Gambsheim, Hatten and Sessenheim you showed that you have what it takes to meet the German and destroy him. At Schweighausen and Kaltenhouse you repulsed strong German attacks, as a result of which the enemy drive was stopped cold on the Haguenau positions with approximately 1,100 Germans dead. His effort to retake Alsace was a failure.
No single effort of an individual or an organization need be singled out to illustrate your courage and your strength. Everyone had a job to do, and everyone did it to the best of his ability. For this I am proud of all of you.
Now we are in a period of training. Your experiences against the enemy should prove to you that you cannot win with courage alone. You must have skill. You must know everything there is to know about your job, and you can never know too much.
The tricks that you learned in combat - and you learned many of them - must be taught to your new comrades, for it is they who will revitalize your squads and platoons. Welcome these men into your organization. Together you will write Chapter 2 of Volume II of the history of the Rainbow.
You and your new comrades must prepare in this short training period to drive again towards Berlin and the destruction of the German. Mistakes in war cost human lifes. Profit by the mistakes that you made in your first engagements. TRAIN, TRAIN, and TRAIN that the same mistakes shall not re-occur.
This is a period in which you can take out life insurance. Make every minute of it count.
Henning LindenBrugadier General, U. S. Army
Commanding
39121287
20th Depot Repair Squadron
SPO #528 % PM NY, NY
Co D 253d Inf - APP #410
% PM, NY, NY.
