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The above hat was donated to the website by a veteran of the 80th Infantry Division Blue Ridgers.  I had called him asking for information about Farebersviller.  I thought it only fitting to use it to illustrate this article about that battle.  It's just a trophy of war.  But, it is a trophy which symbolizes a hard-won victory for "Patton's Troubleshooters" against Hitler's fanatical SS in the little town of Farebersviller, France.  My deepest gratitude to Jeff Wignall for allowing me to use his research material for this article, as well as the many 80th Division veterans who so kindly contributed their memories.  My reason for wanting to delve deeper into the story of this battle is simple.  Most records of the time period barely mention this battle.  Take a look at my book, "Patton's Troubleshooters" and you'll see that Farebersviller barely gets mentioned.  That was not by intent, but by a lack of much source information on this battle.  For several months, I have been digging into this story, and have learned much myself.  Over the years, I have discovered that during the war when the 80th Infantry Division had it's darkest days, it's chroniclers were less than forthcoming about how bad things really were.  Possibly, they did not want to talk about the failures, or near-failures.  A good example is the Moselle River crossing.  That was without a doubt the closest the 80th Infantry Division ever came to total defeat on the battlefield.  Yet, it is glossed over by the 80th's official chroniclers who don't tell just how close they came to defeat.  So too, Farebersviller.  Farebersviller, France sat near the German frontier and the Germans were desperate to keep the 80th out of the Fatherland.