General Orders 1946 - Fort Benning

F.4R DEPARTMENT
WASlXINGTaN 25, D. C.. 14 June 1946
Seetlon
GENERAL COURTS MARTIAL-Authority to appoint granted I
BATTLE HOMORS--Citation of unit 11
I..GENERAL COURTS MARTIAL.-By direction of the President, the mm-
mauding officer of each of the following air forces is empowered, pumant to the
eighth article of war, to appoint general courts martial:
Tenth Air Force.
Fourteenth Air Force
IAG 260.4 120 May 48)l
II..BATTLE HONORS.-As authorized by Executive Order 9390 (see. I, TVD
,
Bul. 22,18131, superseding Exeeutix e Order 9075 (see 111, WD Rnl. 11,1942), cltation
of the fallowinr! . unit as aoDrored by the Commanding Geoeral. European
~ ~
Titeorer, Is corlflrmrd umirr the provisiuns of seetiou IV. WD Cireulnr 333. 1943,
lo the name of rhc I'rusidenl of rile Tnirm' Sr:lres 3s public eridence of deserved
hon?r.and distinction. The eitntion reads as follows:
The ZOth Tank Battalion (leas Compan: B and 3d Platoon, Company D), with
the ~ollowing-attached units and personnel :
Company B, 65th Armored Infantvy Battalion:
Anlltanl; Platoon. Company A, Gjth Armored Infantry Battalh;
Antltnnk Plotoon. Comoana 6. 6Zth Armored Znfantw Battalion:
Battalion;
Four forward ohserver teams (total four 06icer8, 15 enlisted men) UStL
Armored Pield Artillery Battalion,
which constituted Task Force 20, distin6uished themselves in mbat by extraordinary
herolsm nod gallantry during the perid from 28 April to 1 May 1943.
They displayed soldierly courage and irrepressible determination in their flrst
combat mission by pushing an armored spearhead 46 miles beyond the Danube
Rirer to the outskirts of IInnich, Germany, destroying a supply train, capturing
almost S!M prisoners, and securing 4 bridges intact orer the Amper Rirer. On
and 30 April, Task Force 20 advanced against an enemy entrenched in elnborately
prepared dugouts and firmly established behind the thick walls of an
SS trainiue " center and an antitank school. which were defended by smnli arms.
machine guns, hundreds of panzeriausts, and twelve 8&mm guns. More than 700
88 troops, who fought stubbornly and fanatically, were killed. The gallant action
of the task force destroyed the main defenses of Munich and, by ~emoving German
resistance to the entry of American troops, ssrnred the inevitable fall af that
Important city. The determination and indomitable fishting spirit of the morngeons
officers and men of the 20th Tank Battallon (less Company B and 3d Platwn,
Comoan~ - - D) . and attached units and wrsonnel exemDlify -. the fluest traditions oi
the military service.
BY oaDm w THE SETBETAW w WU:
Ommu. :
EDWARD F. WITSELL
Xajor Gaerai
The Adjtrtont Genera2
AGO 390-June 806323"-4C