1st Lt. Robert C. Adams
– Company L, 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division –

Robert was born in Green, Chenango County, New York on the 4th of October, 1919. He attended Greene High School and graduated in June 1938. He was a senior at Cornell University, preparing to teach agriculture when he entered service on July 10th, 1941. He was sent to Camp Croft in South Carolina where he was promoted to Instructor Corporal. In April 1942, he went to Fort McClellan, Alabama. On July 19th, 1942, Robert went to Fort Benning in Georgia where he entered officer’s candidate school. He was commissioned second lieutenant on the 10th of October that same year. He went home and married Ruth Harrington in Guildford on October 15th, 1942 and then returned to service.

Then, on the 10th of February 1943, while at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, he was promoted to first lieutenant. From here, Robert was sent overseas. Robert arrived in England on December 19th, 1943. Here he also trained as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion and the battle of France. Robert was now assigned to Company L, part of 3rd Battalion of the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. The 9th Infantry Division would not participate in the Normandy Invasion on D-Day, but came ashore in France 4 days after, from June 10th 1944 onward. Fighting through the Normandy fields and villages, Robert’s unit managed to keep advancing through France, then Belgium, and arrived at the German border early September.

The hell of the Hurtgen Forest

Here there 9th Infantry Division soon entered Germany, and began a hard, brutal fight in the darkness of the Hurtgen Forest. First Robert was taking part in the fighting of the Hofen Alzen Ridgeline villages, and then towards the end of September 1944, he and his men were brought to a location deeper into the forest. From here, they were to advance towards to the village of Germeter. L Company was to help cutting the main B399 road and advance on the northern part of the village, and move towards Vossenack. They would find themselves on the edge of a ridgeline overlooking Vossenack from the north.