Hard Fights Come Fast for ‘Seventh Armored’
By Kenneth L. Dixon, Associated Press – December 30, 1944
Editor’s Note: While sorting through supporting material for Jack’s Story, we came across a partial clipping of this Associated Press article written by Kenneth L. Dixon on December 30, 1944. The original story, titled “Hard Fights Come Fast for ‘Seventh Armored’,” paints a vivid and immediate portrait of what the men of the 7th Armored Division endured at St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge. Although the original clipping is incomplete, the version below is a carefully restored transcription, compiled using multiple sources and corrections for accuracy. It remains one of the clearest outside accounts we’ve found about the battle Jack and his unit fought in.
On the Belgian front, Dec. 30 (AP) — They’re all singing praises today for soldiers of the Seventh Armored Division — those oft-orphaned waifs of the Western Front who have been bounced from army to army and had their noses bloodied at almost every turn.
For it was the scrappy Seventh, slung swiftly into the breach when Field Marshal von Rundstedt’s spearhead was stabbing deeply into Belgium’s side 10 days ago, that put the brakes on the Panzer plunge and finally split the German penetration, forcing the enemy to fight a two-way battle.
More than that, the boys sat grimly there alone in the St. Vith sector, taking a terrific mauling from half a dozen German divisions, denying them the use of that vital road junction, keeping them partly cut off from their supplies, and never letting them relax a moment to fight elsewhere.
Often their own supplies were cut off. Sometimes they were sliced into separate segments by attacking armor. But they plowed through enemy lines to reach supply dumps, or traveled back roads at night. And when individual units were isolated, they formed into deadly bands and wrought havoc among the Germans until able to rejoin the main body.
Now commanded by Brigadier General Robert W. Hasbrouck of Kingston, N.Y., and boasting as its most famous “guy” young Lieutenant Will Rogers Jr., a popular platoon leader, the Seventh has fought under four armies, British and American, during its four months in combat.
It fought through Château-Thierry and the Argonne Forest, encircled Reims, and captured Verdun.
Somehow, the Seventh always got hurt. The last big wound was in late October when it was forced to hold a thin 88-mile line in the Weert sector of Holland and had to bear the brunt of an overpowering German attack which pounded it plenty.
On Sunday, December 17, it got word to come quickly. Swiftly, it split into two combat teams, one led by Brigadier General Bruce C. Clarke of Syracuse, New York, and another by Colonel Dwight A. Rosenbaum of St. Joseph, Missouri. Clarke’s crew struck into St. Vith; Rosenbaum’s covered the rear and north flank, both of which promptly became fronts.
General Bruce C. Clarke, who led the charge into St. Vith, went on to become one of the most respected battlefield commanders of WWII and a significant military leader in the postwar era. You can read more about his career and leadership legacy in this biography by Joshua Cline at the Army Historical Foundation.
Officially, the Seventh was ordered to hold the St. Vith sector for two days. It held for five, despite all that six surrounding Nazi divisions could do.
Although officially they scrapped almost alone without outside help, the Seventh’s troops actually accumulated one of the most savage little armies of soldiers ever seen on any front, straggling survivors of two semi-slaughtered units who had fought victoriously back into that sector.
They formed a semi-circle front facing eastward around St. Vith, which served as the hub of a vital road network. Slowly, German power closed in all around the Seventh.
Even back where the division’s supply center was set up, the Germans came by the thousands. Colonel Andrew J. Adams of Auburn, Alabama, was in charge of the supply transport, long lines of trucks carrying food and ammunition. Everybody turned in and manned the defense system.
From almost every command post, normally far behind the front, combat command leaders could literally look out at the battle, just a few hundred yards away, at any time.
Finally, after the fifth day, the Seventh was relieved and ordered into rest. That lasted only a few hours, the boys went back into battle elsewhere.
Why This Matters to Jack’s Story
This dispatch, filed on December 30, 1944, helps us understand what Jack and his fellow soldiers were facing in real time. It’s one thing to read about battle strategies in hindsight, but something altogether different to feel the urgency and disbelief in a war correspondent’s voice.
Kenneth Dixon’s account confirms just how critical the Seventh Armored Division’s stand at St. Vith really was, and why the story Jack never told still echoes powerfully today. As we continue sharing his legacy, pieces like this one remind us just how much history is hidden between the lines of silence.
Know a Teacher Who Should See This?
If you’re an educator, student, or simply someone passionate about how WWII history is taught today, don’t miss our recent interview with 7th grade teacher Tim Cerniglia. He shares how students respond to primary sources like Jack’s letters — and why the stories of divisions like the Seventh Armored still matter in the classroom.
👉 Watch the full interview on YouTube
👉 Read the blog post: Teaching WWII to Middle School Students
We’d love to hear how others are using personal history or primary documents to bring the past to life — and what stories still resonate today.