19^th Infantry Regiment

The 19th Infantry Regiment entered World War II at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, under the Hawaiian Division and joined the 24th Infantry Division on August 26, 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it served in Oahu's coastal defenses before leaving Hawaii in July 1943. The regiment trained in Australia and on Goodenough Island, then made its first assault landing at Tanahmerah Bay, New Guinea, on April 22, 1944. The narrow, swamp-backed beach and failed supply route forced much of the regiment to hold Red 2 and help move supplies while the 21st Infantry pushed toward the Hollandia airfields.

On October 20, 1944, the 19th Infantry landed on Leyte with the 24th Division in the Palo area. It came ashore under artillery and mortar fire, lost several landing craft, fought through pillboxes and automatic-weapons positions, and helped seize Palo and Hill 522. As the division drove inland, the 2d Battalion held a roadblock south of Limon during the Breakneck Ridge fighting. Late in 1944 the regiment was detached for Mindoro, landing near San Agustin on December 15 as the principal ground force of the Western Visayan Task Force. It then took part in the reduction of Verde, Romblon, Simara, and nearby islands.

The regiment landed again on April 17, 1945, at Parang on Mindanao. Poor roads, heat, and supply problems slowed its advance toward Fort Pikit, but the regiment later passed through Digos and drove north toward Davao. It occupied Davao on May 3 after Japanese forces withdrew from the ruined city, then cleared high ground, searched Samal Island for hostile guns, and advanced up the coastal road through Sasa, Panacan, Bunawan, and toward the Tagum River. In June the regiment turned west against Mandog, the last organized Japanese defensive position on the northern Davao Plain, and captured it on June 9 before shifting to mop-up and security duty.