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106th Infantry Division Memorials:
SAINT VITH, BELGIUM MEMORIAL: On "Klosterstrasse" near the College School, stands a memorial to the 106th Infantry Division. Some new buildings replace the old ones which were destroyed and housed the Divisional Headquarters in December 1944. This monument erected by the 106th Infantry Division Association is cared for by the people of St. Vith. The building behind the flags is the original memorial which was built in 1950. That building is now being used by the school. In 1995 a new memorial was erected in front of the old. The large rock comes from the St. Vith region and is of special stone noted for in that region. A brass plate on the stone has an inscription in memory of the men of the 106th that says, "Dedicated to the Men of the 106th Infantry Division who fought and died for their country 1944-45."

CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA MEMORIAL: This memorial is located at Camp Atterbury, Indiana south of Indianapolis near Columbus, Indiana. From March 1944 to Oct 1944 the 106th Infantry Division trained there in their final days prior to combat. The Indiana National Guard, with assistance from the many divisions that passed through Camp Atterbury, built a Memorial Park dedicated to all those soldiers that passed through Camp Atterbury training to defend their country. It is a fine monument, enhanced by static displays of equipment used by the U.S. Army. This picture shows a wreath placed at the memorial by a group of 106th veterans from Arizona during the memorial services in 1995. Memorial Services are held every year at mid-summer.

SPINEUX (WANNE), BELGIUM MEMORIAL: This monument is located in the center of the village of Spineux, Belgium is dedicated to the men of the 424th Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division and the 112th Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division. These two regiments, working in concert as a Combat Team, liberated most of the Wanne area as they drove the Germans back to their lines in early January 1945. The people of the small village were so grateful for their liberation that they built a monument. A small hall is located across the road where the villagers honor any group of veterans that return here. In September 1995 we enjoyed good home cooking and friendship in the little village hall. We went back home with a warm feeling that the people of Belgium are truly grateful.

PARKER'S CROSSROADS MEMORIAL: At Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium - a small village at a crossroads south of Liege, Belgium, stands a memorial to the men of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion who were attached to the 106th Infantry Division during The Battle of the Bulge. The 589th had been driven from their front line positions at the onset of the battle. As the Germans were driving across the Belgium countryside, the 589th set their remaining three Howitzers at the crossroads. They were successful, along with supporting troops from elements of the 325th Glider Regiment, 509th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Armored Division and the 7th Armored Division, in holding the 560th Volksgrenadiers Division and the 2nd SS Panzer Division drive long enough to allow the 82nd Airborne Division to truck up. Encircled by numerously superior forces most men were captured. This place is called "Parker's Crossroads" in honor of Major Parker the commander of the 589th group. The holding action from the 19th to the 23rd of December 1944 by Major Parker and his men, and supporting troops, was memorialized in 1995 by the dedication of a United States 105mm Howitzer during the 50th Anniversary ceremonies. This Howitzer exists because of the insistence and hard work of Monsieur Pierre MAWET, who died September 1996. He was a dedicated member of a group of Belgians known as The Center for Research and Information of the Battle of the Ardennes. (C.R.I.B.A.) Across the street from this memorial is a small delightful hotel, L'Auberge du Carrefour owned by Madame Marie LeHaire. The hospitality of Marie and her daughter Bernadette are known well by the men of the 589th Field Artillery Battery and their comrades of the 106th Infantry Division. Many men of our Division have sampled their hospitality. Our group of 28 - 15 veterans, wives and guests, along with a group from CRIBA, had a delightful dinner there on 23 September 1995. There were 71 people in attendance. Honors were paid, by our Association, to CRIBA and Marie Le Haire for all that they have done for the Americans soldiers that pass through Baraque de Fraiture in the search of memories of those dark days of 1944-45.

ERIC F. WOOD, JR MEMORIAL: In a remote secluded area in the Ardennes south of the town of Meyerode, Belgium stands a monument built by Belgians dedicated to 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr. Executive Officer of "A" Battery, 589th Field Artillery Battalion. As the Germans were breaking through the American lines, during the onset of the Battle of the Bulge, they succeeded in surrounding our artillery units. The commander of "A" Battery, 589th FAB, Captain Aloysius J. Menke had been overrun at his forward Observation Post (OP). Lt. Wood was the acting battery commander, standing in place of Captain Menke. As the German tanks approached to within a few hundred feet of the battery, Wood's unit destroyed the lead tank with two shots by direct fire. They hit the next tank, damaging it and sent it scuttling with its remaining companion for cover, hull down. [Comment by John Kline - John Gatens, a current member of our Association, was the gunner in command of the Howitzer in this incident. The gunner is always in charge of the Howitzer when it is being used in direct fire such as this - it is the gunner's responsibility to fire when on target.]

On the 18th of December, 1944 the battalion pulled trails and headed for Schönberg, along with the two regiments, the 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments. The regiments had been surrounded and were trying to break through to St. Vith via the Schoenberg-St Vith road to join the rest of the Division there. When Wood and the twelve men with him rolled down the steep hill into Schönberg, Belgium, a German tank stuck its nose out. Wood's truck screeched to a halt, but the tank disappeared into the village. Germans pursuing them fired at them as they raced through the village. Then, immediately in front of the racing Americans appeared another German tank, only a stone's throw away. The situation was hopeless. The men raised their arms in surrender, but Eric Wood ran dodging bullets as he disappeared into the forest. Later, he appeared in the woods near Meyerode, with another soldier. A Belgian woodsman, Peter Maraite, who was in the forest to cut a Christmas tree, saw them at a trail crossing. He took the two Americans to his home where his wife Anna Maria and his daughter rushed to pour hot coffee. The villagers warned them that the country between Meyerode and St. Vith was full of Germans. This did not seem to discourage Wood. He said, " I'll either fight my way back to my outfit or I'll collect American stragglers and start a small war of my own."

For weeks the villagers heard sounds of gunfire from within the dense forest. Searching patrols were sent into the forest by the Germans, but none returned with prisoners. Daily, wounded Germans came out of the forest. The Germans gossiped, "Those damned bandits flitted like ghosts through the trees, you never knew when a bullet might come singing your way." Days went by until the middle of January. The Americans had began slashing back through the area, the Germans were on the run. When the Germans left, the people of Meyerode combed the woods. In a dense thicket southeast of Meyerode they found the body of an American officer. Near him lay the bodies of seven German soldiers. They all had been dead about the same length of time. An American graves registration team later fixed the time to be about 22 January, 1945. They attested that the body found was that of 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, who must have been the leader of the American guerrillas that had been harassing the German troops in the area. He still had in his clothing, his papers and 4000 Belgian Francs, a sum that any looter would not overlook. It seems that he died as he lived - a free man, taking with him as he went, the last of his pursuers.

Records and statements of eye-witnesses prove that the only officer of the 106th Infantry Division unaccounted for from 16 December 1944, onward, that was neither dead nor alive or as a free man or as a prisoner of war - was 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr. The abbreviated facts above, of the Eric Wood story, were taken from a 20 Dec 1947 issue of the Saturday Evening Post written by R. Ernst Dupuy, Colonel (USA Ret).

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Installed 3 April, 1996
Revised: 06 November 2006
Copyright © 1996 --- John Kline