On February 18, 1945, G/274, in a tough fight over open terrain, had fought its way to the crest of Kreutzberg Ridge. Below them, on the up slope of the ridge, the Germans were dug in. Without artillery fire or tank support it was impossible to pin them down so that the GIs could advance without numerous casualties. Artillery support was out, due to the lay of the land - our own artillery would burst in the trees overhead and the shrapnel would fall on our troops. The tanks were from a different unit and refused to bring their vehicles forward to the wooded area. So there sat G/274.

G/274 was lucky in that it was commanded by one of the most popular officers in the Division, Fred J. "Casey" Cassidy. Already blooded at Wingen-sur-Moder (Casey would be awarded the Bronze Star Medal for that fight), Casey was by now an old hand at combat. According to his Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Wallace R. "Bob" Cheves, "Cassidy proved to us that he was one of the bravest officers in the Army (Page 50, "L'operation Nordwind et Wingen-sur-Moder," Wallace Robert Cheves, privately published, @1978).

Late that afternoon the 274th Infantry's Regimental Commander, Colonel Samuel G. Conley and his entourage came up to the area and gathered 274's Cassidy and three other Company Officers for a meeting. Col. Conley said he was getting a lot of heat from above to capture the ridge and advance to the Metz Highway so that General Patton and his tanks could blast through and capture Saarbrucken. He said the GIs would have that night.

After the Colonel's pronouncement there was dead silence. Finally Casey spoke up and said that to attack that night would require two changes of directions in the woods, and that as the Germans were dug in, the men would have only the protection of the trees. Such an attack, to Casey, would amount to a needless loss of men. Mind you, Casey was a Second Lieutenant and the other three CO Captains.

Casey, just off a stiff fight the night be Winkertsknopf Hill (renamed "Cassidy Hill"), was in no mood to be trifled with. The attacks of the night before had seen the Germans launch suicide attacks which carried almost to the gun muzzles of the defenders. The firing had been so brisk as to burn out the barrels of the machine guns defending the hill. Colonel Conley totally turned aside this line of reasoning and merely said. "Casey, fire and maneuver, just fire and maneuver." That of course was an old Army tactic which worked well against the Indians.

After Colonel Conley finished. Casey continued pressing his point. "Colonel. I will attack in the morning. However, if you order me to do it tonight. I respectfully ask that I be relieved of my command." More dead silence.

At that point. Captain Jerry Boyea, S-3 2nd Bn/274 spoke up and said. "Colonel. I agree with Casey. We should wait until morning." The Colonel finally bought the reasoning and postponed the attack until daylight.

On the morning of the 19th, Casey was standing in his foxhole enjoying a cup of coffee when a friend, Lt. Edward Crowson K/274, passed by with his platoon. Casey asked him where he was going and he replied that Col. Conley and his entourage had gotten lost ahead of the front lines and were pinned down. Further, he (Crowson) had been ordered to get them out.

Casey, with just a hint of his Irish wit showing replied," Just tell the Colonel to fire and maneuver and he should have no problem!" Little did he dream that that quip would come up again; almost a year later.

Some 30 minutes later Crowson came back along the line with three of his men wounded and said that he had had no luck. Shortly thereafter, a tank rumbled up to the tree line and started firing. At that point Casey grabbed one of his platoons and went over to see what was going on.

The tanker would not open his turret and was firing way too high to be of any help in getting Conley's group out. In an attempt at getting reinforcements, a GI in the Colonel's group had made a dash for the rear but had stepped on a German SHU mine. Those mines were about the size of the old match boxes and did not have to be planted, just laid on the ground and covered with leaves so they would not be detected. As happened to this young GI, when someone stepped on one, it took off the foot and leg up to the knee.

Casey ordered his men to get their bayonets, get down on their knees and probe for additional mines, and at the same time get the GI out so the medics could administer to him.

In the meantime, Casey climbed up on the tank track and banged his Thompson submachine gun on the tank turret. The tank commander opened the hatch about an inch and was told that if he wouldn't open up, he should at least look out his little peep hole and fire where Casey fired. Casey was fully exposed on top of the tank for 20 or 30 minutes under intense fire, firing his Thompson to show the tank crew where to lay their fire. Finally Colonel Conley's crew was lead to safety and the young GI given medical attention, thus ensuring his survival.

Fast forward now to the spring of 1946 with Casey having been transferred to another Division. His old outfit was still in Weisbaden on the Rhine River, while his new outfit was in Bremerhaven. It was Colonel Conley's birthday and a big bash was planned. Conley called Casey's CO and arranged with him to give Casey a leave to come to the party.

Let the party begin. Ninety percent of the attendees were Colonels or Generals, one being four star General Jake Devers, 6^th Corps Commander. In addition was Jerry Boyea, who along with Casey was seated way down the line. Colonel Cheves, the former Commander, 2^nd Bn/274 was the Master of Ceremonies.

Lo and behold, Cheves related the fire and maneuver story! Casey, kind of slunk down in his seat and glanced up at Colonel Conley (who wasn't exactly smiling). However, everyone next heard a belly laugh from General Devers! Then, of course everybody, including Colonel Conley laughed. Thank God for General Devers.

As a result of the aforementioned action, Fred Cassidy was recommended for the award of the Medal of Honor. There the matter stayed until 1972 when Casey met then-General

Bernie Nurrie at a reunion in Massachusetts. Nurre had been S-1 with the 274^th in 1945. He immediately asked, "Where is your medal?"

"What medal?" asked Casey rather mystified.

"Your CMH," Nurre replied. "It was sent forward, and there was no doubt in my mind that it would be approved."

On his next contact with Colonel Cheves, Casey raised the question. Colonel Cheves told him that when the 70^th was named to be a vehicle to bring high pointers home, General Allison J. Barnett (Division Commander) called in the Regimental Commanders and told them to destroy all pending recommendations for medals.

General Orders - 274th Honor Roll