104^th Infantry Regiment

The 104th Infantry Regiment was a Massachusetts National Guard regiment inducted into federal service on January 16, 1941 and assigned to the 26th Infantry Division. After stateside training and staging at Camp Shanks, it departed New York on August 27, 1944 and landed in France on September 7. In Third Army's Lorraine offensive, the regiment formed the left element of the 26th Division's November 8 attack. Reinforced by small tank, tank-destroyer, and engineer task forces, it drove into Vic-sur-Seille, seized bridges over the Seille, and helped open the division's route toward Chateau-Salins and the Petite Seille valley.

The 104th fought through Chateau-Salins, supported armored movement toward Rodalbe, and later helped force the Dieuze-Benestroff line. On November 21 it took Montdidier and Albestroff, but elements in Albestroff were isolated in the confused fight for the important road center. The regiment then joined the 101st Infantry in the house-to-house battle for Sarre-Union, completed by December 4. Moved north after the German Ardennes attack, it crossed into Luxembourg on December 20 and advanced from the Attert toward Grosbous, Dellen, Kaundorf, Buderscheid, and the Wiltz approaches. It fought through wooded ridges, direct tank fire, and repeated counterattacks as the 26th Division pushed toward Wiltz and the Wiltz-Bastogne highway.

After service in the Saarlautern sector, the regiment returned to the offensive in March 1945. It seized the Prims River bridge at Huettersdorf on March 17 and cleared Gresaubach, Thalexweiler, Aschbach, and Dirmingen in the Saar-Palatinate drive. Attached briefly to the 4th Armored Division, it crossed the Rhine and protected the armored right flank before returning to the 26th Division near the Main. In the final advance the regiment moved through Germany into Austria, crossed near Messnerschlag, advanced beyond Hauzenberg, and entered Czechoslovakia on May 6.