HEADQUARTERS

989th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company

APO 513, U. S. Army

October, 1945.

Men and Officers, 989th Engineers;

     The History of the 989 compiles a record of a group of men who worked and fought together as a unit from basic training to the finish of the fight. The forty-odd months that took us from the West coast of California to the West banks of the Elbe are rich with memories.

     Though the unit never made headlines, very few rivers on the Western European Continent do not have at least one spot on which you provided the means for the assault during the "War of river Lines. "

     The "life" of the 989th has not been all a bed of thorns nor all a bed of roses, but the comradeship with which you worked together was the charge chat demolished all barricades to a victorious finish. When the going was the toughest and the chips were down, you fought your hardest and clicked your best.

     As you glance through the pages of this brief History may you realize that whatever your contribution and sacrifice might have been toward its making, it is very meager compared with the sacrifice of those who were killed in its making. May we never waver from the ideals for which they so nobly died.

     It has been a privilege for me to have served with you, the 989th Engineers, but more than that it has been an education.

Sincerely,

                         ARNOLD MAEKER,

              Captain, CE,

                         Commanding

On the 1 January 1942 this company was activated and designated as Co "E" 22nd Armd Engr Bn of the Fifth Armored Division and was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The cadre of this organization was taken from the 22nd Armored Engr Bn of the Fifth Armored Division.

In February 1942 this organization moved from Fort Knox, Kentucky to Camp Cooke, California. From March 1942 to July 1942 training was conducted which was principally basic with additional training for drivers and equipment operators.

The latter part of July 1942 the organization left Camp Cooke, California for the Mojave Desert, California for maneuvers. Operations on this maneuver consisted chiefly of bridge and raft building on the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. The highlights of the operations on this desert maneuver were the construction of a bridge at Blythe, California under most adverse conditions, and the recovery of two medium tanks from the bottom of the Colorado River. The last day of November 1942 the company returned to Camp Cooke, California by motor convoy.

In March 1943 the company moved by rail from Camp Cooke, California to Summitville, Tennessee for maneuvers that were to take place until the latter part of June 1943. During these maneuvers this company furnished bridge equipment to the 22nd Armd Engr Bn and bridges were constructed across the Duck River and Cumberland River, Tennessee.

July 1943 this organization moved by rail to Pine Camp. New York where it underwent intensive training with emphasis placed on firing, physical training and conditioning.

On the 20 September 1943 this organization was released from the Fifth Armored Division and redesignated the 989th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company,

The history on the following pages begins at this point with the exception of Commanding Officers which is shown since the activation of this organization.