on 20 December 1944. Stavelot, like Mortain, was the key to the Sixth Panzer Army's attack in the Ardennes. It was estimated that at least 1000 German dead lined the bank of the Amblève River which was mute testimony to the heroic actions of the 1st battalion, 117th Infantry Regiment. Again the 117th Infantry Regiment had defeated the elite 1st SS Adolf Hitler Division, which was never again to do battle. The 117th Infantry Regiment moved into Germany and arrived in Varlautenheide, Germany at 2:00 am, 3 February 1945. On 19 February 1945 Major General Leland Hobbs, CG 30th Infantry Division, for the Saint-Barthelemy (Mortain) Performance awarded the Presidential Unit Citation the regiment for actions in France at Saint-Barthelemy. They were also awarded the Belgian Fourragere for its performance in the Ardennes and for the regiment's part in the liberation of Belgium 4–10 September 1944. On 23 February 1945 the 117th Infantry Regiment crossed the Roer River and continued to move into the heart of Germany. On 27 February 1945 elements of the 83d Infantry Division and the 2nd Armored Division passed through the regiment to exploit the Roer River breakthrough. The regiment spearheaded the Ninth Army's crossing of the Rhine River at 02:00 hrs on 24 March 1945. They drove west into Stockum, Germany, then crossed the Autobahn and went on to Hunxe, Germany. They captured a German Airfield here on 27 March 1945. On 31 March 1945, the 117th Infantry Regiment captured the Lippe Canal, then motored to Brensteinfurt, Germany. Here they encountered a mass German surrender with German soldiers, hands up and running towards POW cages in the rear. Here they met the first of the streams of Allied prisoners, thin as skeletons, liberated from German prison camps along with laborers from Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and France. During the month of April 1945, the regiment continued its dash to towards the east. At 06:00 on 7 April 1945 the 117th Infantry Regiment attacked and took the town of Hamelin, Germany. Hamelin is famous for the Brothers Grimm story of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" a children's fairy tale. Here the regiment captured hundreds of German soldiers as prisoners of war. On 17 April 1945 the regiment seized the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. The regiment moved east on the morning of 18 April 1945 and by noon had closed on the Elbe River