The Story of the 10th Armored Division cont.
In 30 days of hell, these men of CC B had earned the Distinguished Unit Badge.
Von Rundstadt's spearhead first had been blunted when it struck CC B, labeled by the division, "Stone of Bastogne." Beseiged now from all sides, the Germans reluctantly withdrew the tattered and bleeding Wehrmacht. The scars of that fight never healed.
Patton Said "Terrify and Destroy"
To this end the 10th Armd. Div. had trained on Georiga's burning red sands. With the exception of the summer of 1943, the 10th Armoraiders labored two years in the pine woods and sand hills of the Peach State; had jokingly dubbed themselves as the "Georgia State Guard."
However, behind the jocular cynicism was the work that fashioned raw steel and green men into a blend of armored might. The late Maj. Gen. Paul W. Newgarden was largely responsible. A Patton disciple, he molded a Pattonized armored division. "Terrify and destroy!" became the 10th's cry in its battle with a ruthless enemy.
The Tiger Cubs rehearsed diligently for their combat debut. Ft. Benning's Chattahoochee River crossings prepared them for France's racing, yellow Moselle. Camp Gordon's Boggy Gut Creek and its fringe of "defensive fortifications" were crossed and stormed just as would be Germany's Saar River and its Siegfried Line pillboxes. Buffalo Valley and the Tennessee Mountains were proving grounds for battle along Bavaria's highways.