Remembering a Veteran: Lt. Col. Clarence R. Huebner, 28th Infantry, 1st Division, AEF

Lt. Col. Huebner in Washington, DC, 1919

Of all the officers commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants around the time of America's declaration of war, onetime sergeant Clarence Huebner ended the war with the highest ranking. He was promoted from Lieutenant  to  Lt. Colonel in a little over a year's time. Part of this rapid advance is explained by his two Distinguished Service Crosses for valor, Distinguished Service Medal for leadership, and other decorations. In the Second World War he repeated his rapid advance, commanding V Corps of the First Army on VE Day.

Clarence Ralph Huebner was born in Bushton, Kansas, on 24 November 1888. He was the first child of Martha Rischel and Samuel Huebner, a farmer of German descent. Early in Clarence’s educational career he showed an aptitude for math and grammar, participated in many sports, and was a student leader. It appears that early on Huebner knew he wanted to join the army, but before doing so he attended Grand Island Business College in Nebraska. After graduation, in 1908, he was hired by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad as a typist. It is fairly clear that this desk job wasn’t able to keep his attention for long, since in 1910 he enlisted in the army as a private and was sent to Fort McKenzie in Wyoming for training. After completing training, Huebner was assigned to the 18th Infantry Regiment. During this time he worked his way up to the rank of sergeant, with some sources stating his first taste of combat was during the hunt for Mexican outlaw Pancho Villa in 1916. Huebner also received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant during 1916, then being quickly promoted to 1st lieutenant, along with a transfer to the 28th Infantry Regiment.

Major General Huebner at the Siegfried Line, 1944

During World War I Huebner served on the Western Front and was sent to France with his regiment, the 28th Infantry, which later became part of the 1st Infantry Division. The following year he participated with distinction in the first major AEF assault at Cantigny, and again with distinction in the division's operation near Soissons, where he was wounded. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry at Cantigny after his commanding officer was killed, and was promoted to major. He returned to fight at Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne. He eventually commanded the regiment, one of the youngest regimental commanders in the AEF.

Remaining in the army after the war, Huebner attended the United States Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1924 and served on its faculty from 1929 to 1933. In 1943 at the end of the Sicily campaign, First Army Commander General Omar Bradley gave Clarence Huebner the difficult task of commanding the 1st Infantry Division after General Terry Allen, who was particularly popular with the troops, had been relieved. 

In 1944 Huebner and His Staff Visit the First Division's
WWI Monument Near Soissons

After imposing his stricter regime of discipline on the men, First Division subsequently spearheaded the landing at Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944 and then took part in the Normandy campaign, particularly in the area of ​​the town of Saint-Lô, which it freed after furious and costly fights. In August 1944, Huebner and his men defeated a German counterattack before continuing the offensive toward Germany. They took part in the battles of Aachen and the  Huertgen Forest.

In January 1945, Clarence Huebner took command of the Fifth Corps which he led from the Rhine to the Elbe, where he made the junction with the Soviet troops. He retired from the Army in 1950 and led New York State's Civil Defense Commission, until January 1961. His wife Florence died in 1966, and Huebner married Anna Imelda Mathews two years later.  Clarence Huebner died on 23 September 1972 at the age of 83 and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery with both his wives.

The Huebner Burial Plot

Clarence Huebner's Major WWI Awards

Distinguished Service Cross, for his efforts at Cantigny:

For three days Lieutenant Colonel Huebner withstood German assaults under intense bombardment, heroically exposing himself to fire constantly in order to command his battalion effectively, and although his command lost half its officers and 30 percent of its men, he held his position and prevented a break in the line at that point.

Distinguished Service Cross, for his efforts at Soissons:

Huebner displayed great gallantry, and, after all the officers of his battalion had become casualties, he reorganized his battalion while advancing, captured his objective and again reorganized his own and another battalion, carrying the line forward. He remained continuously on duty until wounded on the second day of the action.

Distinguished Service Medal, for leadership:

As Captain, Major, and Lieutenant Colonel of the 28th Infantry, 1st Division, throughout its training and active operations in France, Lieutenant Colonel Huebner successfully commanded all echelons of the Regiment, participating with distinction in every engagement from Cantigny to Sedan, reorganizing his Regiment after its heavy losses in the first phase of the Meuse-Argonne offensives, and inspiring it with the will and dash that carried it to the heights of Sedan. By his sound tactical judgment, his unusual leadership, and indefatigable energy he contributed in a marked manner to the American Expeditionary Forces most conspicuous services in a position of great responsibility.

Sources:  Rock Island Arsenal; Wikimedia; First Division Association; CRH: An American Military Story of Achievement; Military Times Hall of Valor