302^nd Infantry Regiment

The 302nd Infantry Regiment was organized at Fort Custer, Michigan, on September 15, 1942, and assigned to the 94th Infantry Division. It trained at Camp Phillips and Camp McCain, staged at Camp Shanks, departed New York on August 6, 1944, reached England on August 11, and landed in France on September 14. In Brittany it helped contain the German port garrisons at Lorient and St. Nazaire before the division shifted east to the Saar-Moselle Triangle.

The regiment entered Germany on January 8, 1945, and soon fought in the Orscholz Switch Line. During the January probes it cleared pillbox positions and helped hold Tettingen against a strong counterattack; in nearby fighting, elements attacked German bunkers around the Tettingen sector. In early February the regiment attacked the Campholz Woods southeast of Tettingen, reducing stubborn pillboxes by February 8. A renewed assault against positions east of Campholz on February 15 was repulsed, but on February 19 the regiment struck east from the woods toward the hogback ridge while the 301st made the main effort from Sinz. With tanks in support, it helped roll up the forward pillbox line.

On February 22 Company C opened the regiment's Saar crossing at Taben. The assault parties scaled the retaining wall, captured a pillbox, and expanded a bridgehead that joined the 301st at Serrig by nightfall. The 302nd then pushed northeast through Hentern, Schomerich, Paschel, Lampaden, and Obersehr during the expansion of the Saarburg bridgehead. A German counterattack on March 5-6 penetrated much of its zone, forcing hard fighting to restore the line and clear infiltrators. Resuming the offensive, the regiment crossed the Ruwer, captured Hill 708 and Reinsfeld, and on March 15 drove toward Hermeskeil. After the 94th reached Birkenfeld and later fought at Ludwigshafen, the regiment served in Rhine and Dusseldorf occupation duties.