Crossing the Rhine River
March 27, 2012
Posted in 90th Infantry Division, Bootprints, Hobert Winebrenner, Rhine River, World War II
Tags: 90th Infantry Division, Bootprints, Hobert Winebrenner, Rhine River, World War II
Late March and the trees and flowers are already blooming. Spring has sprung. Looking back to World War II, late March marked the 90th Infantry Division‘s crossing of the Rhine River. Infantryman, Hobert Winebrenner, relived the moment in his memoir, BOOTPRINTS.
“We’d experienced much in our trek through Germany to the Rhine River,” Winebrenner wrote. “We’d fought in and passed through countless villages, crossed over several rivers. In less time than it took us to escape Normandy, we had tackled half the motherland.
“And now, there we stood, at the banks of the mighty Rhine. Perhaps more symbolic than anything else, our crossing meant much to both sides. For us, it marked the halfway point in conquering Germany. We were about to enter the final phase, one huge step closer to home. For them, it signaled another nail in the coffin. All knew their days were numbered. On March 24, 1945, on a bridgehead near Selzen, we walked across the Rhine River.”