119^th Infantry Regiment

The 119th Infantry Regiment was a North Carolina National Guard regiment activated at Fort Jackson on September 7, 1942 and assigned to the 30th Infantry Division. It trained in the United States, sailed from Boston in February 1944, and landed in France on June 10. During the Vire bridgehead operation on July 7, a battalion crossed at Airel to guard the left flank of the 117th Infantry's main assault. The regiment then fought through the St. Lo approaches, where German artillery and hedgerow defenses made the Hauts-Vents and Periers-St. Lo road fighting costly.

After the breakout, the 119th played a mobile blocking role during the Mortain counterattack. Operating with Combat Command B of the 3rd Armored Division, it fought near Reffuveille, Juvigny, Le Mesnil-Adelee, and Le Mesnil-Tove, helping prevent German forces from widening the penetration westward. The regiment then moved rapidly across France, entered Belgium and Holland, and reached the Wurm River north of Aachen in September.

In the West Wall battles the 119th crossed the Wurm near Rimburg and captured Rimburg Castle after fighting through woods, pillboxes, and close-in defenses. It drove into Bardenberg and North Wuerselen, where a German counterattack cut communications and briefly isolated forward elements. On October 16 the regiment made the main thrust toward Kohlscheid and Hill 194, and one of its patrols made contact with the 1st Infantry Division, closing the Aachen gap. In November it cleared Wuerselen during the Roer plain offensive.

The Ardennes crisis sent the 119th to the Stavelot-Stoumont-La Gleize sector, where it helped contain Kampfgruppe Peiper and cut the enemy line of communication along the Ambleve. On February 23, 1945, the regiment opened the 30th Division's Roer crossing near Schophoven with a patrol, engineers, and assault boats. It crossed the Rhine on March 24 southeast of Buederich, then served with the 2nd Armored Division in April during the push through Hameln, the Weser line, and the advance toward the Elbe.