272^nd Infantry Regiment

The 272nd Infantry Regiment was activated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, on May 15, 1943, as part of the 69th Infantry Division. It trained in the United States, staged at Camp Kilmer, departed New York on November 15, 1944, reached England on November 26, and landed in France on January 24, 1945. In February it moved through Belgium with the division and took its place on the western front as the 69th relieved the 99th Infantry Division in the Schnee Eifel sector.

The regiment entered combat in the West Wall sector, first in defensive positions and then in the division attack that opened on March 6, 1945. After Schmidtheim and Dahlem fell, the 272nd was sent south of the Ahr and took Waldorf and Hungersdorf on March 8. Later in March the division shifted to the Rhine. On March 26 the 272nd crossed the river, and the next day it cleared the Luftwaffe citadel at Ehrenbreitstein and took Bad Ems and Nassau on the Lahn. These actions opened the way for the rest of the division to cross and move into central Germany.

During the April pursuit the 272nd guarded installations during the opening of the Kassel-area attack, then crossed the Werra at Witzenhausen as the division reached the river line on April 7. It continued behind the 9th Armored Division, reaching the Weisse Elster at Luetzkewitz as the V Corps drive bent toward Leipzig and the Mulde. After Leipzig and the relief of armored units along the Mulde, the regiment guarded the Eilenburg-Torgau road during the American-Soviet linkup period, keeping traffic and security aligned along the contact route. The 272nd later remained in Germany before returning to the United States in September 1945.