The 3rd Infantry Division Memorial in Section 46 of Arlington National Cemetery commemorates this unit’s battles during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. But one action from World War II stands high on the unit’s list of accomplishments. After Adolf Hitler took his own life on April 30, 1945, and Soviet forces captured Berlin on May 2, only one prize remained for the Allies: Berchtesgaden, the town near Adolf Hitler’s mountaintop retreat, the Obersalzberg (Eagle’s Nest), where many of the highest-ranking Nazi leaders had homes. While the 101st Airborne Division and the French 2nd Armored Division were supposed to capture the historic landmark, it was the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, under the command of General John “Iron Mike” O’Daniel, who took the prize.
O’Daniel’s soldiers arrived in the area first. More importantly, they controlled the only two bridges over the Saalach River, the gateway to Berchtesgaden. Although his requests to advance were denied, on the morning of May 4, 1945, O’Daniel disobeyed orders and told Colonel John Heintges’ 7th Infantry Regiment to capture the town.
Lieutenant Sherman Pratt, in command of Company L, helped lead the attack. A seasoned veteran, Pratt had fought with the division from North Africa, to Sicily, Italy, and into Western Europe. “I was most apprehensive,” Pratt later wrote about the trip to Berchtesgaden, as his men advanced though a gorge flanked by high hills, the perfect spot for an ambush. Yet nothing happened. The march went along peacefully until an American tank blasted a German scout car.
Pratt and his men reached Berchtesgaden around 4:00 p.m. on May 4, 1945, and found it to be something out of a Hansel and Gretel story. “Its houses were of Alpine architecture and design,” he recalled. “Some had gingerbread decorations.” When one of his German-speaking soldiers told him about an installation atop the adjoining mountain, Pratt remembered reading about the Eagle’s Nest. He ordered a platoon to mount tanks and check it out.
The area contained numerous homes and an SS barracks. Atop the mountain stood the Teehaus (tea house), with a remarkable view of the surrounding countryside. Pratt joined the platoon and soon found himself at Hitler’s main residence, the Berghof, where momentous decisions about the war had been made. It was here that Hitler and his staff planned to Nazify Germany, take over Austria, invade the Soviet Union and implement the Holocaust. The Americans also found underground tunnels, wine lockers, stolen artwork and luxury items. Pratt took for himself a white table cloth and a silver cream pitcher initialed “AH.”
While Pratt and his men explored the area, Colonel Heintges met with Colonel Robert Sink, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who told him his unit would be relieving Heintges’ 7th Infantry Regiment. With that, the Heintges’s men moved on and Sink’s paratroopers swarmed into the town and up the mountain.
After the war, Sherman Pratt stayed in the Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He and his wife, Anastasia, eventually settled in Arlington, Virginia. Pratt passed away on September 23, 2013 and is buried in Section 66. Colonel Sink also remained in the Army and rose to the rank lieutenant general. He passed away on December 13, 1965, and is buried with his wife Margaret, in Section 1. Although the popular book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” have supported the myth that it was Sink’s paratroopers who took Berchtesgaden, it was really the infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Division who made it to the top first.
TO LEARN MORE
- American Courage, American Carnage: The 7th Infantry Regiment’s Combat Experience, 1812 Through World War II by John C. McManus
- Autobahn to Berchtesgaden: A View of World War II from the Bottom Up by an Infantry Sergeant by Sherman W. Pratt
CAPTION: Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division enjoy “liberated” Champagne outside Adolf Hitler’s home at Berchtesgaden. The infantrymen beat the famed paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division there. (Credit: National Archives and Records Administration)
Author: Kevin Hymel, Historian