Understanding WWII military map coordinates/ locating WWII maps?

Thank you for your offer of help! Metz is in the immediate vicinity to the east as the action concerned occurred during the run up to the assault on that city. The villages of Amanvillers and Vernéville are mentioned in operations reports and after action reports.

Again, my thanks for your offer.

John

Yes, you've got it! The coordinates you supply agree entirely with the details of sketch maps drawn in the field and contained in National Archive materials. But those were hand-drawn, without coordinates, of course, leaving far too much to guesswork.

Below is a screen shot from Google Maps using the coordinates you supply with notations. Hill 339 is the vaguely crescent-shaped high ground in the lower left corner. The hill changed hands several times on 11.9.44. Initially occupied by the 2/2 5th ID on 10.9.44, the battalion had to withdraw to previous positions about 0400 on 11.9 in the face of a strong German counterattack. The 2/2 attacked again, reaching the base of the hill about 0630 and starting a drive up it at 0800, with two companies in place on the summit by 1640. Another German counterattack at 1815 forced the flanks back down the hill, but the center company managed to hold. It was apparently during this action that SGT Archie Vaughn, commanding a machine gun squad, and his twin brother PFC Otis Vaughn, a gunner in that squad, were both killed. Their posthumous Silver Star citations credit them with being "largely responsible for breaking up the enemy counterattack" by remaining at their guns until one jammed and the other's ammunition was exhausted. This despite German attackers falling within ten feet of their position.

I have shared your information with my friend whose great uncles the Vaughn twins were, and he has in turn shared it with surviving relatives. They are very appreciative. This will make my friend's visit this fall far more meaningful. Thanks for that, very much.

John