175^th Infantry Regiment

The 175th Infantry Regiment was a Maryland National Guard regiment inducted at Baltimore on February 3, 1941 and assigned to the 29th Infantry Division. After training in the United States, it reached England in October 1942 and entered Normandy in the follow-up phase after the first Omaha assault waves. The regiment quickly received the mission of taking Isigny, a key point for linking the Omaha and Utah beachheads. Moving between the 116th and 115th Infantry, it advanced along the Longueville-Isigny road, took La Cambe, and captured Isigny during the night of June 8-9.

The regiment then pushed south from Isigny while Company K, reinforced by reconnaissance and tanks, forced a crossing of the Vire at Auville-sur-le-Vey. In the St. Lo campaign the 175th fought on the division's right near the Vire, attacking toward Amy, Les Buteaux, Hills 90 and 97, and the approaches northwest of St. Lo. After the breakout it moved with the 29th Division into Brittany for the siege of Brest. There the regiment fought on the Le Conquet-Penfeld side of the fortress. During the September assault, 29th Division attacks carried Kergonant and Penfeld, and a battalion of the 175th captured Fort Keranroux after air, artillery, and smoke support reduced its defenses.

In the Rhineland the 175th helped lead the division's attack toward the Roer. In November 1944 it fought for Bourheim, taking the village, losing it to German reaction, and retaking it during several days of counterattacks. When Operation GRENADE opened on February 23, 1945, the regiment crossed the flooded Roer at Juelich over engineer footbridges, cleared the ruined town, and left the Citadel for follow-up troops. It then advanced across the Cologne plain as German resistance broke apart. On March 1 the 175th combined with the 116th Infantry in the seizure of Muenchen-Gladbach and later performed occupation duties in northern Germany before returning to the United States in January 1946.