One Hell of a War: General Patton's 317th Infantry Regiment in WWII

The history books do not say a great deal about the 317th Infantry. However, it was a regiment that accomplished rather startling results: first bridgehead across the Moselle, cleared out La Grande Couronne de Nancy, participated in the capture of Metz -- the first time in history that the fort had ever fallen to an assault, and, of course, participated in the Battle of the Bulge as one of the first regiments to arrive in the area after the German assault had broken the line. It suffered extremely severe casualties and contained some of the best men I ever known.

About the Author :
Dean J. Dominique is a Cajun raised in the swamps of Gheens and Grand Bois in South Louisiana. He enlisted as a private in 1988 and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1993. As an infantry officer, he completed both airborne and ranger training. Dean retired from the Army as a Major in 2009 after 20 years and two combat tours in Afghanistan and Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He is now living in Gainesville Virginia with his beautiful wife Elizabeth and their two wonderful children, Taylor and Nicholas. Colonel James H. Hayes was born in Constantinople in September 1916. At sixteen, he entered the Drexel Institute of Technology on a scholarship and earned a degree in Chemical Engineering. He joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in his junior year and secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy. In May 1942, he graduated second in his West Point class with a commission as a Second Lieutenant. After completing the Infantry Officer Basic Course in September 1942, he reported to the 80th Infantry Division at Camp Forrest, Tennessee and was assigned to the 317th Infantry Regiment as a platoon leader. Over the next two years, rising quickly in rank, he served in positions of increasing responsibility. On August 3, 1944 (D+58), the 80th landed in Normandy as part of Patton's Third Army. Over the next 10 months, he fought in some of the bloodiest battles in the European Theater - the Avranches breakthrough, the capture of Metz, the first bridgehead across the Moselle River, and the Battle of the Bulge, to name a few. By war's end, he was a Battalion Commander and had received a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart. In 1965, after twenty-three years of active duty, Colonel Hayes retired and moved his family to Los Angeles to begin a second career as a senior analyst in the Economics Department of the Rand Corporation. He was a prolific writer, producing a diverse portfolio of studies and articles. Among these were seminal works on officer and enlisted personnel management policies in the military. Colonel Hayes passed away in March 2008 at his home in Westlake Village, California, survived by his two grandsons, three sons, daughter, and wife of 61 years.