All or most of the information on this page came from the contact listed below. If you have comments or can add any information, please send e-mail to the Webmaster, or postal mail to Rodney Young, 251 Pine Mdw, Spring Branch, TX 78070. Or you can contact Tim Unger directly. Thank you very much.

Association: 3rd 4.2 Chemical Mortar Bn Veterans Organization

Reunions:

2003 and later: None planned
2002: Oct 3-5, Ocala, Florida (Hampton Inn)
2001: Oct 4-6, Atlanta
2000: Oct 4-7, Newport News
1999: Sep 23-26, Indianapolis
1998: Sep 17-20, Atlanta

Contact: Tim Unger (Son of Quentin Unger WWII) updated 12 Nov 2019

Address: P.O. Box 2335, Healdsburg, California, 95448
Phone: 1-650-464-1202 (Mobile)
E-mail: tim.unger@gmail.com

Newsletter: Update

Activated: 1 Jan 1942 as 3rd Chemical Bn Motorized at Fort Benning, GA

Redesignated: 11 Mar 1945 as 3rd Chemical Mortar Bn

Inactivated: 2 Jan 1946 at Camp Patrick Henry, VA (see note below)

Overseas: Arrived BPE 20 Apr 1943, North Africa 28 Apr 1943, Sicily 10 Jul 1943, Italy 29 Oct 43, France-ETO 15 Aug 1944

Campaigns:

Sicily: 10 Jul 43 to 17 Aug 43
Naples-Foggia: 1 Nov 43 to 21 Jan 44
Rome-Arno: 22 Jan 44 to 9 Jul 44
Southern France: 15 Sep 44 to 24 Oct 44
Rhineland: 25 Oct 44 to 23 Dec 44
Ardennes-Alsace: 24 Dec 44 to 6 Feb 45
Central Europe: 7 Feb 45 to 9 May 45

Number of men killed in action: 54

Number of men wounded in action: 174

Number of days in combat: 447

Number of rounds fired: 171,612 (130,904 HE, 40,708 WP)

Individual decorations

Distinguished Service Cross - 2
Silver Star - 18
Bronze Star (for Valor) - 37
Bronze Star (for Service) - 94 (plus 3 oak leaf cluster awards)
Army Commendation - 3
Purple Heart - 228 (plus 36 oak leaf cluster awards)
Soldiers Medal - 4
French Croix de Guerre - 179 (8 with Palm, 27 with Silver Star, 144 with Bronze Star)

Units supported (trained in Africa with 3rd Inf Div for invasion of Sicily)

Sicily - 1st Armd, 3rd Inf, 9th Inf, II Corps, Seventh Army
Italy - 1st Algerian Mtn Div, 2nd Morrocan Div, 3rd Algerian Div, 4th Morrocan Div (all French CEF), VI Corps, Fifth Army
Southern France - 3rd Inf Div, 36th Div, 45th Div, 103rd div, 14th Armd Div, 442 RCT, 6th Cav Recon, VI Corps
Battle of the Bulge - 26th Div, 35th Div, 90th Div, 28th Div, 17th Airborne Div, 4th Armd Div, 6th Armd Div, III Corps
Germany - Ninth Army, XIII Corps, 102nd Div, 84th Div, 17th Airborne Div, 29th Div, Third Army, III Corps, XII Corps, 202nd Arty Gp, 14th Div, 18th Div, 11th Cav Gp

Memorial: The Battalion had placed a memorial monument to its men at Fort McClellan, Alabama. The Army closed that post on September 15, 1999, and all six (2nd, 3rd, 81st, 83rd, 86th, 91st) chemical mortar battalion monuments were moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, along with other Chemical Corps monuments including that of the 1st Gas Regiment. The monuments are now emplaced in a Memorial Park at Leonard Wood near the Chemical Corps Museum there. See photos of all memorial monuments at FLW.

Note: Quent Unger writes that the unit was reactivated as the 3rd Chemical Brigade on August 20, 1999, at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Maj Gen Ralph Wooten, commanding general of Fort McClellan, Alabama, and commandant of the Chemical School, presided at the reactivation ceremony and turned over command of the brigade to Col Allan Hardy. Two WW II veterans of the 3rd Chemical Mortar Bn, Quent Unger, D Co, and Lloyd Milabvitz, A Co, were honored guests of the Army for the reactivation ceremony and joined Col Hardy and Gen Wooten on the reviewing stand as a thousand troops of the three battalions making up the brigade passed in review.


Return to the home page for chemical mortar battalions.

 

This Page Was Last Updated: 06-Jun-2005 1:02