U.S. troops advance after crossing Roer River. Mortar crews and riflemen of the 84th Division, Ninth U.S.

U.S. troops advance after crossing Roer River. Mortar crews and riflemen of the 84th Division, Ninth U.S. Army, enter shell-blasted Baal, Germany, after crossing the Roer River February 23, 1945, in a new drive onto the Cologne plains toward the Rhine River. The Ninth Army stormed 15 villages during the first 24 hours of the push along a 22-mile front.