An radio article on National Public Radio was aired on July 20, 2018 on the 30th Infantry Division and they described the Battle of Mortain.  Here is the link: 

NOEL KING, HOST:

All right. Now, we have the story of what Army historians after World War II called the best-performing infantry division in the entire European theater. Only a few of its veterans are still alive, and they're petitioning the army for an honor that somehow their division never received. It's called a Presidential Unit Citation. Jay Price of member station WUNC has the story.

JAY PRICE, BYLINE: The 30th Infantry Division was sent into Normandy right after D-Day. The National Guard outfit soon faced some of Germany's toughest units in a battle at the French town of Mortain. Ninety-four-year-old King Kenny was then a young private.

KING KENNY: The tanks, you could hear them during the night. You could hear the track and the squeak.

PRICE: His small anti-tank unit was ordered to block a key road that German attackers were determined to force their way through to stop the Allies' momentum.

KENNY: Custer and the Indians (laughter).

PRICE: The Germans had entire armored Panzer divisions with 300 tanks and other armored vehicles, 80,000 soldiers, many of them elite SS troops. The Americans were outnumbered almost 7 to 1.

KENNY: And a German tank fired. And he fired back and hit it. And it caught on fire and came down the hill. I saw another one poke his nose around a house up on this hill.

PRICE: Nearby, Tony Jaber, who is now 93, was with part of the 30th atop a hill that was key to controlling the area. His unit was surrounded, and supplies got so scarce that other Americans tried to send in medicine by artillery shell. At one point, Jaber watched as a German delegation under a white flag approached his commander.

TONY JABER: They were asking him to surrender. He told them, no, I'll surrender when every bayonet's broken in you bastards' bellies.

PRICE: Historian Robert Baumer wrote a book about the 30th called "Old Hickory" after the unit's nickname.

ROBERT BAUMER: The size of the attack on the 30th Division was replicated nowhere else during World War II.

PRICE: The battle went on for more than five days. In the end, the roadblock held, as did the rest of the American positions, including the hill. The outcome was devastating for the Germans. Baumer said Old Hickory found that out later when they captured the spokesman for the German army.

BAUMER: And he said that the German High Command knew that when they lost Mortain, they lost the homeland.

PRICE: The 30th went on to fight at the Battle of the Bulge and other key battles. After the war, the Pentagon started the process for the highest honor a unit can receive - a Presidential Unit Citation - but it stalled.

BAUMER: The paperwork fell through the cracks because the Army had so many other priorities at the time - getting the GI bill in place, getting people relocated.

PRICE: And when Old Hickory was disbanded after the war, that left no one to advocate for it. Until recently, when some of the aging veterans and North Carolina Guard leaders persuaded the Army to reboot the review process. Then, this week, without explanation, the Army told National Guard leaders there will be no citation. Hearing the news, King Kenney said it was a shame.

KENNY: They're all entitled to some recognition. Maybe we should try again at a higher level.

PRICE: They need to move quickly, if they do. More than 34,000 men served in that division at some point in World War II, but only a few hundred are left, nearly all in their 90s. The 30th just held its annual reunion. Only six members of one of the best fighting divisions in American history were able to come. For NPR News, I'm Jay Price in Raleigh, N.C.

Mortain is a battle that few Americans know about, but was a significant battle that helped turn the tide in WW2.  After the breakout in Saint Lo, the Americans were advancing on two fronts - one with General Patton headed to liberate Avranches and General Hodges with the 30th Division headed to Mortain.  (Note:  Dad was not in Europe yet.)

The Germans, under direct order of Hitler, organized a counterattack with 5 German divisions of infantry and 2 mechanized divisions (Codename: Operation Luttich) to halt the American breakout and keep them bottled up in northern France.  The counterattack was to go through Mortain, with Avaranches as the goal, cutting off the head of the American advance. 

The 30th Division (about 20,000 infantrymen) arrived in Mortain on early August, expecting it to be a relatively quiet sector, and they could rest after some difficult fighting after the breakout in Saint Lo.  What they didn't expect was over 70,000 German soldiers with armor headed directly at them. 

The 30th Division battled the oncoming Germans for weeks, ultimately halting the German counteroffensive and pushing the Germans back.  Mortain was lost, but the Americans re-took the city with fierce determination.  Air superiority helped the American cause and the infantry's contribution to the fight was key. 

One of the heroic stories of the Battle of Mortain was the fight for Hill 314.  This hill was a strategic point overlooking Mortain, with a commanding view of miles of territory in every direction.  The 120th Battalion, a brother unit of the 119th, was sent to fortify and hold this hill.  The Germans attacked it day and night for 5 and a half days, before the garrison was finally relieved.  It was a life and death struggle, with reports of fierce hand to hand combat. They held this hill against all odds.  Supplies of food, water, medicine and ammunition were dropped by air.  Artillery support was critical.  Only 350 of the total 950 men of the 120th Battalion were able to walk off the hill.  This story is one that rivals Bastogne, but few know of it. 

The Battle of Mortain changed the entire German strategy.  Instead of fighting in northern France, they began a headlong retreat across France, barely escaping through the Falaise Gap, finding some respite behind the Seine and ultimately the West Wall.  The 30th Division stayed in constant contact with them, continuing to push them eastward.

Below is a photo of the memorial on Hill 314.  There is a chapel that overlooks the valley. 

The 30th acquired several nicknames as they fought through Europe.  They were called "Old Hickory" because of their roots in Kentucky and Tennesee.  After this battle, they were also called "The Rock of Mortain" by the Americans, and they were called "Roosevelt's SS" by the Germans, a tribute to the 30th's fighting ability. 

I believe the defense of Mortain was as important as the defense of Bastogne (in terms of WWII events), yet Mortain does not have any of the publicity and attention that is should have.  The town of Mortain is in a beautiful setting, but the battle site (Hill 314) was difficult to find.  We were the only visitors to the the site, save one other person.  Mortain itself could use some of the visitor trade that Bastogne has, as we found it to be one of the poorer communities we visited.