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Some of the desired information for this battalion is missing. If anyone is able to supply additional information; photos, journals, diaries, artifacts or memorabilia, please let us know. We can scan any items and return them promptly to you. You can help ensure that the true story of the brave men of this battalion will be preserved for future generations.
Shoulder patches: The men of the 83rd wore the shoulder patch shown above. The Patch Page displays all the patches we have been able to obtain of this and other chemical mortar battalions.
Code name: Longbow
Association: 83rd Cml Mortar Bn Veterans Assoc
Main contact: Bill Hoover, President/Treasurer of the Association
53 Camp Ave, Darien, CT 06820; phone 203-595-9325; email Bhoover@optonline.net
Additional contact: Gini Lemoine, Vice President of the Association
310 Mitchell Dr, Wilmington, DE 19808-1337; phone 302-998-7925;
Newsletter: Muzzleblasts, published three times a year by
the Association. Each issue, beginning with September 2004, is available
on the links below. To read and/or print a newsletter, you must have Adobe's
Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have it, you can
download it free from 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 Fort Leonard Wood near the Chemical Corps Museum there. See photos of all
memorial monuments at FLW.
Activated 10 Jun 1942 as 83rd Chemical Bn Motorized at Camp Gordon,
GA
Training: 10 Jun 1942 - 19 Apr 1943 Cp. Gordon, GA Redesignated: 31 Dec 1944 as 83rd Chemical Mortar Bn
Inactivated: 26 Nov 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, MA Overseas: Arrived BPE 29 Apr 1943, North Africa 11 May 1943, Sicily
10 Jul 1943, Italy 9 Sep 1943, France-ETO 15 Aug 1944
Campaigns: Anzio, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, Naples-Foggia,
Rhineland, Rome-Arno, Sicily, Southern France
Number of men killed in action: While the number of KIA is unknown,
Sam Kweskin, wartime editor of Muzzleblasts, advises that there were
876 Purple Hearts and 91 Oak Leaf Clusters awarded to men of the 83rd during
their service with the battalion in Europe during WWII. In the book Mark
Freedom Paid (ISBN 0-9657649-0-7), published by veterans of the 83rd
CMB in 1997, it cites the two figures just given plus the following:
Number of days in combat: 508
Number of rounds fired: 500,000 (estimated)
Rounds Away, a history of the 83rd Cml
Mortar Bn, by Robert Brimm
Mark Freedom Paid – A Combat Anthology,
edited by Lee Steedle and illustrated by Sam Kweskin, is a collection of
first-hand accounts from 30 veterans of the 83rd Cml Mortar Battalion with
many illustrations and sketches by the unit's artist. To read one of the
accounts or purchase the book, click here.
Darby's Rangers –
the 1st & 3rd Rangers in Italy. As the 83rd's history (above) shows, it
operated in support of the 1st, 3rd & 4th Ranger Battalions in Sicily and
the Italian mainland.
3 Distinguished Service Crosses
2 Legions of Merit
39 Silver Stars
9 Soldiers Medals
97 Bronze Stars
5 Croix de Guerre
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