276^th Infantry Regiment

The 276th Infantry Regiment was activated at Camp Adair, Oregon, on June 15, 1943, with the 70th Infantry Division and moved to Fort Leonard Wood in July 1944. It staged at Camp Myles Standish, departed Boston on December 6, 1944, and arrived in France on December 15. Like the 274th and 275th, it entered combat before the full division had assembled, serving under Task Force Herren during the emergency caused by the German Nordwind offensive.

The 276th had the clearest early combat role among the division's regiments. On January 3, 1945, it took switch positions in the Wingen-Wimmenau-Rosteig area as German forces pushed through the Bitche salient and Low Vosges. During the struggle for the Vosges exits, elements of the 276th, led by a battalion of the 274th, cleared Wingen of SS troops by January 7 after several days of bitter fighting. The regiment then remained in the patchwork 45th Division sector until Task Force Herren shifted south of Saarbruecken later in January.

After the rest of the 70th Division arrived, the 276th continued to carry much of the division's direct assault work. It was attacked on February 8, then opened a limited offensive against the heights southwest of Saarbruecken on February 17. The next day it fought for Forbach, and on February 23 it fought house to house at Oeting. In March the regiment joined the attack toward Saarbruecken; during the renewed effort for Saar River crossings, a 276th patrol crossed the river at night without opposition. The division occupied Saarbruecken on March 20 and later conducted security and Saar Basin reduction duties. The 276th remained tied to both halves of the division's campaign: emergency defense during Nordwind and the later offensive breach of the Saarbruecken front.