Major General John Francis Regis "Jeff" Seitz (May 22, 1908 – October 10, 1978) was a career United States Army officer who, after serving in World War II and the Korean War, retired as Deputy Commander of the First United States Army in 1966. Seitz graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1929. He served in several assignments before commanding a battalion at Schofield Barracks at Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the United States entered the Second World War, Seitz served in important staff positions from early 1942 to late 1943. He was highly decorated for his service as colonel commanding the 26th United States Infantry Regiment in combat in the European Theater of World War II for most of the remainder of the war, which was especially distinguished.
From November 26, 1943, to April 9, 1945, Seitz commanded the 26th Infantry Regiment (organized for the 1944–1945 campaign in France, Belgium and Germany as Regimental Combat Team 26 or Combat Team (CT) 26). CT 26 was a unit of the 1st Infantry Division (United States). Seitz commanded the combat team at Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings on D-Day, in the breakout from Normandy and at the approach to close the gap in the Falaise Pocket. The First United States Army, including Seitz's regimental combat team, hotly pursued the fleeing German Army divisions across France to the border of Germany by September 7, 1944. On October 11, 1944, after heavy fighting during the Battle of Aachen, Seitz led two of the three battalions of the regiment into heavily defended Aachen, Germany. They seized the first German city to fall to the Allies of World War II after 8 days of urban combat. In November 1944, Seitz led the regiment during the opening phase of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. Starting only 10 days after the regiment was withdrawn from this bloody and costly battle, Seitz directed CT 26's heroic, successful stand at the Battle of Bütgenbach, an important part of the Battle of the Bulge that followed the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge.Weingartner, Steven, ed. Gorman, Paul F. Blue Spaders: The 26th Infantry Regiment, 1917–1967. Wheaton, IL: Cantigny First Division Foundation, 1996. . Retrieved August 5, 2016. p. 113. With many replacement soldiers due to losses in the Hürtgen Forest, and with skillful artillery support, Seitz and the outnumbered 26th Infantry Regiment team prevented the Nazi 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, 3rd Parachute Division (Germany) and the 12th Volksgrenadier Division, which were supported by dozens of tanks, from breaking the Allied line at Bütgenbach.
After the Battle of the Bulge, Seitz led CT 26 during operations to clear remaining German forces from positions in Belgium. Then on February 1–3, 1945, he directed an attack on the Siegfried Line or Westwall German border defenses on the German-Belgium border. The 26th Infantry Regiment broke through the German defenses to capture Hollerath, (Hellenthal-Hollerath), Germany. CT 26 under Seitz's command pushed on to cross the Roer River on February 25, 1945, and the Neffel Creek and Erft River by March 4, 1945. On March 8, the 16th United States Infantry Regiment and 18th United States Infantry Regiment captured Bonn, Germany, while the 26th Infantry Regiment secured the flank. On March 15, CT 26 crossed the Rhine River at the Remagen bridgehead and on March 17 began an attack to the northeast. On March 25, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment and the 18th Infantry Regiment captured Ukerath, Germany, which was used as a base for the 1st Infantry Division's participation in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket.More than 317,000 German soldiers surrendered to the 1st U.S. Army in the Falaise pocket in late March and early April 1945. Wheeler, 2007, pp. 379–80. On April 9, 1945, Seitz was appointed to a brigadier general's position as assistant division commander of the 69th Infantry Division (United States). The 69th Infantry Division met the Soviet Union's 5th Guards Army at the Elbe River in Germany on April 25, 1945.
Due to the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945, the freeze of promotions, the subsequent reduction in the size of the U.S. Army and the return of Regular Army officers to their previous Regular Army grades, Seitz did not receive promotion to the grade of brigadier general until just before his service in the Korean War in 1953. One of his assignments after World War II was to return to Germany in 1950 for another tour as commander of the 26th Infantry Regiment on occupation duty. In the final weeks of the Korean War, Seitz was appointed Assistant Division Commander of the 45th Infantry Division (United States) at his new grade of brigadier general. He remained in Korea after the war and soon was appointed Commanding General of the 2nd Infantry Division. Seitz's duties during the tense aftermath of the Korean War armistice included intensive training of the Republic of Korea Army. He returned to the United States in September 1954 and was promoted to major general. Among Seitz's assignments after his service in Korea and before his assignment as Deputy Commander of the 1st U.S. Army were Commander of Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and Chief of the New Jersey Military District, 1954–1956; Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Iran, 1956–1958; Chief of Staff of the 1st United States Army at Fort Jay on Governors Island, New York 1958–1961; and Chief of Staff of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Forces, Southern Europe 1962–1964.
Early life and career
John F. R. Seitz was born on May 22, 1908, in Wilmington, Delaware, where he attended elementary school and Salesianum High School. His parents were George Hilary Seitz and Margaret Jane Collins Seitz. He had five siblings.Thompson, William J. "John F. Seitz" in Assembly (West Point, NY) , September 1979. Retrieved July 26, 2016. A brother, Collins J. Seitz, was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1966 until 1998.Thompson, Assembly, 1979, p. 137.
Seitz was appointed to the United States Military Academy (West Point) at West Point, New York by United States Senator Thomas F. Bayard, Jr. of Delaware. Seitz entered West Point in July 1925 at the age of just 17 years, 40 days. As a play on his initials, Seitz's classmates nicknamed him first "Jeffer", then "Jeff." Seitz liked the nickname and it stayed with him throughout his life.The nickname was passed along to a son and grandson of the same name. Thompson, Assembly, 1979, p. 137.
After his graduation from West Point in the Class of 1929, Second Lieutenant Seitz was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Hamilton, New York. Soon thereafter, he became an aide de camp to Brigadier General John H. Humphreys at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Assignments to the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, in the Philippines and in 1939 as a captain of the 30th United States Infantry Regiment at the Presidio in San Francisco followed.
World War II
Pearl Harbor and staff assignments
Major Seitz was in command of an infantry battalion at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, when forces of the Empire of Japan launched their surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor and nearby U.S. military installations. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Seitz was called to Washington, D.C., to serve as deputy director of the International Division, Army Service Forces, originally the United States Army Services of Supply, in 1942 and part of 1943. On March 24, 1943, a plan was prepared for the military government of Sicily after its expected occupation by the Allies.Coles, Harry L. and Albert K. Weinberg. United States Army in World War II Special Studies. Volume 6. "Civil affairs: Soldiers become governors". Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1964. . pp. 162–63. Upon completion of the plan, at the conclusion of his service in Washington in May 1943, Seitz served on the staff of the 15th Army Group in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. According to a subsequent report by Brigadier General Charles Spofford, the three key officers for implementation of the plan in supply, public safety and public health, including Lieutenant Colonel Seitz, as Director of Civilian Supply and Resources, did not arrive in the theater until the end of May due to transport problems.Coles, 1964, p. 164.
Colonel 26th U.S. Infantry Regiment
From November 8, 1942, to August 16, 1943, the 26th Infantry Regiment, as a unit of the 1st Infantry Division, fought in the North African campaign and the Allied Invasion of Sicily.Wheeler, James Scott. The Big Red One: America's Legendary 1st Infantry Division from World War I to Desert Storm. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2007. . pp. 144, 258.Lieutenant General George S. Patton, commander of the 7th United States Army, specifically requested that the 1st Infantry Division be assigned to the Sicily operation. Wheeler, 2007, p. 228. On August 6, 1943, Major General Clarence R. Huebner took command of the 1st Infantry Division.Wheeler, 2007, pp. 256–57. Huebner remained commander of the division until December 11, 1944, when he was promoted to assistant commander of the V Corps (United States). In January 1945, Huebner became V Corps commander. The 1st Infantry Division's role in the Sicily Campaign ended on August 16, 1943.Wheeler, 2007, p. 258. The division stayed in Sicily until late October while Huebner made efforts to restore the division's morale and self-confidence through measures to protect against or recover from malaria, and to provide for rest, recreation, training and physical conditioning.Wheeler, 2007, pp. 258, 261.
On October 18–21, 1943, the 1st Infantry Division boarded transports for England.Wheeler, 2007, p. 262. They arrived in Liverpool on November 5, 1943, and, after a few weeks, Huebner ordered a resumption of training.Wheeler, 2007, p. 263. After brief service as executive officer of the 26th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Seitz took command of the regiment on November 14, 1943.United States Army. Order of Battle of The United States Army World War II, European Theater of Operations, 1st Infantry Division (ETO-OB). December 1945. p. 1. Retrieved October 5, 2016.Thompson, 1979, p. 136 gives the date as November 26, 1943.Thompson, 1979, p. 136 states that Seitz was promoted to full colonel on May 6, 1944. This was his Regular Army grade. The U.S. Army Order of Battle for the European Theater of Operations, 1st Infantry Division, p. 1 shows Seitz as a colonel on the date of his appointment to regimental command, which would have been his grade in the Army of the United States at the time.
Training
In 1940, the 1st Infantry Division converted to a "triangular" structure with a complement of about 14,000 soldiers assigned to various units. The division's units were a headquarters, the 16th Infantry Regiment, 18th Infantry Regiment and 26th Infantry Regiment, battalions of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment and 33rd Field Artillery Regiment and the 1st Reconnaissance Troop with support by the 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Quartermaster Company, 1st Signal Company and 1st Ordnance Company.Wheeler, 2007, p. 4.After large scale maneuvers in 1940, the Regular Army adopted the triangular division structure. National Guard divisions adopted this structure in 1942. Wheeler, 2007, p. 131. In the Sicily Campaign, the division mixed infantry and armor and also supported the combat teams with the division's artillery and combat service support units.Wheeler, 2007, p. 5. Tank and tank destroyer companies later were directly assigned to the regiments for campaigns in France.Weingartner, 1996, pp. 53–54.