23^rd Infantry Regiment

The 23rd Infantry Regiment served with the 2nd Infantry Division in the European Theater after stationing at Fort Sam Houston and training at Camp McCoy. It staged through Camp Shanks, sailed in October 1943, trained in England, and landed in France in June 1944. In Normandy the regiment entered the V Corps battle south of Omaha Beach and fought toward Hill 192, the dominant terrain north and east of St. Lo. Early efforts were stopped at the Elle River, but during the July attack a battalion of the 23rd crossed the eastern slope of Hill 192 and gained positions overlooking the Berigny highway while the 38th Infantry made the main assault.

After the St. Lo breakout, the regiment fought through the Northern France campaign and the division's movement into Brittany for the Brest operation. It crossed Belgium and Germany on October 3, 1944, then took part in the St. Vith and Schnee Eifel phase. During the Ardennes counteroffensive the regiment was briefly attached to the 99th Infantry Division and later to the 1st Infantry Division. In January 1945, while under 1st Division control, it helped clear Iveldingen and Rohrbusch before returning to the 2nd Division's offensive against the West Wall and the Roer-Urft dam region.

In March 1945 the 23rd Infantry occupied Malsbenden as the division crossed the Roer. Mounted on tanks and tank destroyers with the 9th Infantry, it helped clear 25 towns in the drive toward the Ahr and captured the Kreuzbach Bridge intact on March 7. The regiment crossed the Rhine on March 23 and then helped lead the division through Ransbach and the north flank of V Corps. In April it crossed the Weser at Veckerhagen, helped establish the Saale bridgehead, cleared Merseburg, and entered Leipzig before the division shifted toward the German-Czech border.