26^th Infantry Regiment

The 26th Infantry Regiment entered World War II as part of the 1st Infantry Division after prewar service at Plattsburg Barracks and training moves through Fort Devens, Camp Blanding, Fort Benning, and Indiantown Gap. It sailed in August 1942 and assaulted North Africa on November 8, landing at Les Andalouses during the Oran operation. In Tunisia the regiment cleared the Ousseltia Valley, occupied positions at Kasserine Pass, and fought in the division's renewed offensive from El Guettar. With the 18th Infantry it helped contain German counterattacks in March 1943, and in the final Tunisian drive it cleared Hill 575 and pushed toward Djebel el Anz.

The regiment assaulted Gela, Sicily, on July 10, 1943, and fought through the inland campaign with the 1st Division. After returning to England, it landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, while attached to the 29th Infantry Division. During the first week ashore, elements of the 26th tried to reach Formigny, then overran Tour-en-Bessin and Ste. Anne in the effort to close the gap between the U.S. and British beachheads. Rejoining the division's broader campaign, it helped seize Caumont, fought through the Normandy breakout, and crossed Belgium before entering Germany on September 15.

The 26th Infantry played a central role in the Aachen battle. While the 18th Infantry pushed through Verlautenheide and the 16th held near Eilendorf, the 26th attacked through the city itself, fought for the factory district and Observatory Hill, and helped force Aachen's fall on October 21. In the later West Wall fighting it captured Laufenburg Castle and suffered heavily in the Merode counterattack. Temporarily attached to the 99th Infantry Division during the Ardennes crisis, it returned to the offensive in 1945. The 26th crossed east of the Rhine before the rest of VII Corps, fought near Wullscheid and Hill 363, joined the Weser advance, and remained active in Germany.