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March 24, 1945. The war in Europe was entering its final, brutal phase. The once-mighty German war machine was crumbling, retreating further into its homeland, but it was not going down without a fight. For the men of the 100th Infantry Division, the mission was clear—push forward, break the enemy’s defenses, and reach the Rhine. Among them was I Company, 399th Infantry Regiment, a hardened unit that had fought its way through the Vosges Mountains, endured the bitter cold of winter campaigns, and now faced one of its most critical objectives.
The Rhine was more than just a river; it was the gateway to Germany’s heartland. For years, the Nazi propaganda machine had declared it an impenetrable barrier, a natural fortress that no invader would cross. The men of the 100th were about to prove them wrong.
As the division advanced, resistance stiffened. German forces, desperate to slow the American drive, turned to last-ditch defenses—machine-gun nests hidden in the ruins of bombed-out villages, ambushes in dense forests, and artillery barrages that rained steel from the sky. But the men of I/399 had seen it all before. They pushed through every obstacle with the same relentless determination that had earned the 100th the nickname The Century Division.
By the time March 24 arrived, the division was closing in on its objective. The battered German troops opposing them—many of them hastily conscripted old men and Hitler Youth—could do little to stop the momentum. In the final push, the 399th Infantry fought street to street, clearing out enemy strongpoints with grenades and rifle fire. German defenders who refused to surrender were met with the full force of American firepower.
As night fell on March 24, 1945, the 100th Infantry Division had done what many thought impossible—they had reached the Rhine. The river that had stood as a symbol of German invincibility was now in Allied hands. For the exhausted men of I Company, it was a moment of triumph. They had marched through fire and blood, crossed the battle-scarred landscape of France and Germany, and now stood on the edge of victory.
Ahead lay the final battles of the war. But for the men of the Century Division, the message was clear—their march would not stop until the war was won.