Regiment stopped the German assault. Determined and stubborn Tennessee riflemen and machine gunners held their positions and stopped the German Infantrymen. Company B from Athens, Tennessee bore the brunt of the attack. Private Timothy L. Birt of Company B was a platoon runner and ended up as the runner for all the platoons. Through heavy enemy fire he carried orders, ammunition, rations and mail from the company command post to all the platoons. On six occasions he repaired telephone lines between the CP and the platoons. He helped evacuate seriously wounded soldiers from an open field under intense enemy fire. Twice he went with litter bearers to help evacuate the wounded. Once during the battle he served as observer and adjusted the company's 60 mm mortar fire. Private Birt, from rural Meigs County, Tennessee was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery. During combat at Mortain and Saint-Barthelemy, the 117th Infantry Regiment and the 30th Infantry Division became known as the Workhorse of the Western Front. It was also known as "Roosevelt's SS Troops," so named by German high command because of the consistent vigor and pressure the division brought to bear on the elite 1st SS Adolf Hitler Division. According to three of Germany's top generals interviewed after World War II, (Jodl, Keitel and von Kesslring) the battle for Mortain and Saint-Barthelemy was one of the two critical operations leading to the defeat of Germany in the west. Mainly the 1st Battalion, 117th Infantry at Saint-Barthelemy, absorbed the main drive of the Germany Army in Normandy, thus allowing Lieutenant General George Patton's armored forces to race forward through France, thereby shortening the war by many months. The 117th Infantry Regiment went over to the offensive again 11 August 1944 and forced back German gains to Mortain. The 117th Infantry Regiment along with the rest of the 30th (US) Infantry Division then pushed east behind the 2nd Armored Division, taking Nonancourt on 21 August 1944. The 117th Infantry Regiment was moved by truck on 14 August to the vicinity of Rouelle near Domfront France. German artillery fired on the battalions of the regiment forcing them to dismount and move on foot to l’Onlay-l’Abbaye, France. Tennessee's 117th Infantry Regiment crossed the Seine river near Mantes-Grassicourt west of Paris to relieve the 79th (US) Infantry Division, which had established a bridgehead across the Seine River. After two days of fighting the