38^th Infantry Division

The 38th Infantry Division entered combat in the Philippines in December 1944 on Leyte, where the 149th Infantry Regiment assisted in clearing Buri Airfield after heavy combat by December 10 following Japanese paratrooper attacks on airstrips in the area. Moving to Luzon, the division landed at San Narciso on January 29, 1945, without opposition; a battalion of the 151st Infantry Regiment secured Grande Island and Subic Bay the same day as Olongapo fell on January 30.

Its most notable action came at Zigzag Pass, where all three regiments fought through a deeply fortified Japanese defense covering Highway 7 from February 1 to February 14. Dinalupihan fell to the 149th Infantry on February 3, and a reinforced 151st Infantry landed at Mariveles on February 15 and defeated a major Japanese counterattack that night. The division then cleared both coasts of Bataan, securing the peninsula by February 21. A battalion of the 151st Infantry was detached to relieve the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment on Corregidor on February 24.

Moving to Fort Stotsenburg on March 10, the division pushed west toward Mount Pinatubo, which fell to the 149th and 151st Infantry on April 15. The 152nd Infantry Regiment then assaulted Woodpecker Ridge through May in some of the most grinding close combat of the Luzon campaign, while the 149th Infantry drove on Wawa Dam, which the Japanese abandoned on May 26. Operations extended through the summer as remaining strongpoints were reduced across central and eastern Luzon. The division's campaign became closely associated with the liberation of Bataan and the destruction of Japanese defenses west of Manila.