149^th Infantry Regiment

The 149th Infantry Regiment was a Kentucky National Guard regiment federalized at Louisville on January 17, 1941 and assigned to the 38th Infantry Division. After training at Camp Shelby, Camp Carrabelle, and Camp Livingston, it sailed from New Orleans on January 1, 1944. The regiment trained in Hawaii and New Guinea before entering the Philippines. Its first combat came on Leyte, where 1st Battalion was attached to the 11th Airborne Division during the Japanese airborne and ground attack on the Burauen airfields. In the Buri airstrip fighting, the battalion gained the southwest edge, linked with glider infantry, and helped clear the field.

The regiment landed with the 38th Division near San Narciso, Luzon, on January 29, 1945. It moved quickly inland and secured San Marcelino Airstrip while XI Corps opened the Subic Bay-Bataan operation. During the battle for Zig Zag Pass, the 149th was ordered onto a northern trail intended to bypass the Japanese defenses on Route 7 and reach Dinalupihan. Bad maps, unreliable trails, and communication failures turned the movement into a difficult jungle march, but the regiment eventually reached the Dinalupihan area from the east. It then attacked westward while the 151st and 152nd pressed from the Olongapo side, helping close the fight for the pass.

After the Bataan base was secured, the 149th joined the clearing of the peninsula, patrolled north from Bagac, and later operated against Japanese positions west of Fort Stotsenburg. In April it helped take Mount Pinatubo with the 151st. The regiment then moved into the Shimbu Line fighting east of Manila. In May it relieved the 145th Infantry around Mount Pacawagan and took up the drive toward Wawa Dam. After the 152nd broke Woodpecker Ridge and Japanese forces began withdrawing, 1st Battalion occupied Wawa Dam on May 28, completing XI Corps' last major objective east of Manila.