Distinguished Service Cross Archives

Distinguished Service Cross

New Years Battle at Ludweiler: Delaying Operation Nordwind

By Patrick J. Chaisson

“Lieutenant Rochester, take a look at this.”

The American patrol halted next to an abandoned industrial building. Read more

In August 1944, the Allies followed up the massive Normandy Invasion with another in southern France known as Operation Dragoon.

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Rampage on the Riviera: Operation Dragoon

By Glenn Barnette and André Bernole

Early in 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the defeated hero of North Africa and now head of Army Group B in France, was tasked with strengthening the Atlantic Wall defenses against Allied invasion. Read more

In the struggle for the French city of Metz, General Patton threw the U.S. 90th Infantry Division at the study walls to crack the German line.

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Patton’s Fight for Fort Koenigsmacker

By Brig. Gen. (U.S. Army Ret.) Raymond E. Bell JR.

In his autobiography, War As I Knew It, Lt. Gen. George S. Read more

A veteran of the famed 10th Mountain Division recounts combat in Italy with America’s specially trained mountain and winter warfare division.

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Skiing Off To War: A Squad Leader in the 10th Mountain Division

By Bruce K. Campbell with Glenn Barnett

I was born in Los Angeles in 1924 and attended local schools. In high school I enrolled in ROTC and, when I could, I went skiing for fun. Read more

Despite Japan's element of surprise, American airmen rose to defend Pearl Harbor, causing the Japanese to lose 29 planes.

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How Many Japanese Planes Were Shot Down During Pearl Harbor?

By Tom Yarborough

On a serene Sunday morning the residents of Oahu enjoyed the dawning of another gorgeous day in paradise. Read more

In March 1945, courage and luck enabled U.S. forces to seize an intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen and thrust into Germany.

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Assault on Ludendorff Bridge: The First Allied Crossing of the Rhine

By Jon Diamond

On a cold March evening in the Goldenrod Café in West Point, Nebraska, Mary Timmermann, a waitress there, picked up the telephone receiver when her boss told her it was Omaha calling long distance for her. Read more

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Pearl Harbor: The Sleeping Giant Awoken

By Flint Whitlock

It was, as the phrase goes, another perfect day in paradise. As the sun rose above the Pacific in the clear, cloudless sky east of the Hawaiian Islands, on December 7, 1941, the giant U.S. Read more

American airpower barely escaped total destruction but lived to fight another day in the Philippines.

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Japanese Attack on the Philippines: The “Other” Pearl Harbor

By Sam McGowan

While the surprise Japanese attacks against U.S. military bases in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941, are certainly the best-known aspect of the opening of hostilities between the two aLess well known today were the Japanese attacks on Clark Field and Iba Field on the opening day of hostilities in the Philippines. Read more

After Normandy, the U.S. 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment spearheaded Operation Varsity, the March 1945 airborne jump across the Rhine into Germany.

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The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Varsity

By Dominique Françoise

At the beginning of 1945, Nazi Germany was on the ropes. Being pounded by the Allies from both east and west, it was believed that Hitler’s Third Reich was near collapse. Read more

As a POW in Oflag, Lieutenant Herndon Inge, Jr., had a front-row seat to Operation Baum, the disastrous attempt to liberate the camp.

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Witnessing Patton’s Failure: A Prisoner’s View of the Task Force Baum Raid

By Eric Nideros

In December 1944 the vaunted Third Reich was in its death throes, crushed by Allied forces on all sides. Read more

In January 1945, an American infantry battalion fought for its life in the frozen hills near Reipertswiller in Alsace-Lorraine.

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Battle of Reipertswiller: The 157th Infantry’s Heroic Stand During Operation Nordwind

By Christopher Miskimon

By mid-January 1945, the famous Battle of the Bulge, a massive and fatal failure for the Third Reich, was virtually over. Read more

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Medal of Honor Recipient Michael Daly: Heroism in the Colmar Pocket

By Stephen J. Ochs, PHD

On the morning of April 18, 1945, amid street fighting in rubble-strewn Nuremberg, Germany, 20-year-old U.S. Read more

Nijmegen bridge, and another over Holland’s Waal River, were the scene of two important battles in Montgomery's Market-Garden Campaign.

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Battle of Nijmegen Bridge: Taking the Crossings Over the Waal

By Jan Bos

The city of Nijmegen, in the southeastern part of Holland and about six miles from the Dutch-German border, is believed to be Holland’s oldest city, going back some 2,000 years. Read more

American airborne and ground troops swiftly captured the fortress island of Corregidor in Manila Bay with a coordinated operation in early 1945.

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Rock Force Assault: MacArthur’s Invasion of Corregidor

By Gene. E Salecker

Among the many objectives facing General Douglas MacArthur on his return to the main Philippine island of Luzon in 1945 was the recapture of the tiny island of Corregidor. Read more

The Pointe du Hoc Rangers of the U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion were involved in one of the most daring episodes of D-Day

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The Pointe du Hoc Rangers: a Madman’s D-Day Mission

By Daniel R. Champagne

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder, began its ascent of a sheer 100-foot precipice called Pointe du Hoc. Read more

From Around the Network

Pancho Villa: Rise of a Revolutionary

Battle of Tarawa: Don Crain and the First Marine LVT Assault

First Strike Against Japanese Industry

Salses, the Spanish Fortress