112^th Infantry Regiment

The 112th Infantry Regiment was a Pennsylvania National Guard regiment inducted at Kane on February 17, 1941 and assigned to the 28th Infantry Division. After training in the United States, it reached England in October 1943 and landed in France on July 22, 1944. The regiment entered combat with the division in Normandy, then joined the pursuit across France through Verneuil and Paris toward Belgium, Luxembourg, and the German frontier. In September it was attached to the 5th Armored Division and fought in the Wallendorf bridgehead, where it helped defeat German counterattacks against the Sauer River lodgment.

The regiment's most costly action came in the Huertgen Forest. On November 2, 1944, the 112th made the 28th Division's main effort toward Vossenack, Kommerscheidt, and Schmidt. Its 2d Battalion captured Vossenack ridge, and the rest of the regiment crossed the Kall River gorge to seize Kommerscheidt and Schmidt. The gain proved exposed and hard to supply. German armor and infantry counterattacked repeatedly, the Kall trail remained under fire, and the regiment was forced back after losing much of the force east of the river. The 112th suffered the heaviest losses in the division's Schmidt operation and was relieved from the sector later in November.

When the Ardennes offensive began on December 16, the 112th held the division north flank, much of it east of the Our River. It resisted attacks by the 116th Panzer and 560th Volks Grenadier Divisions around Lutzkampen, Sevenig, Ouren, and the Our crossings. With both flanks endangered, the regiment withdrew behind the river and then moved north after being cut off from normal division control. Attached to the 106th Infantry Division, it joined the St. Vith defense until the withdrawal from that salient. After the Ardennes, the regiment returned to the division for the Colmar Pocket and later advanced into Germany, reaching Goldbach during the March Eifel drive before ending the war in occupation duties.