309^th Infantry Regiment

The 309th Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Butner on August 15, 1942, assigned to the 78th Infantry Division, and trained in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and New Jersey before sailing from New York on October 14, 1944. After arriving in England and landing in France, it crossed Belgium and entered Germany in December. In the division's first combat, the regiment attacked from Paustenbach toward Bickerath and Simmerath on December 13, then tried to push a tank-supported company into Kesternich. German fire from pillboxes, draws, and antitank guns stopped full possession of the village, but the 309th helped secure the Monschau Corridor foothold under punishing winter conditions near Schmidt.

In the renewed Roer River dam operation, the 309th made the main opening move on February 5, 1945. Its 3rd Battalion moved before dawn through a belt of pillboxes, overran barracks near the Strauch-Schmidt road, and opened the way for the 310th Infantry. On February 7 the regiment drove toward Kommerscheidt. After attachment to the 9th Infantry Division, its 1st Battalion moved against the Schwammenauel Dam on the night of February 9. The regiment then crossed the Roer bridgehead, captured Vlatten, Eppenich, Buervenich, Sinzenich, Linzenich, and Loevenich, and helped carry the division eastward toward the Rhine.

In March the 309th entered the Remagen bridgehead during attachment to the 9th Armored Division, then rejoined the division for the push toward the Cologne-Frankfurt Autobahn. It seized Hovel and cut the autobahn on March 16, later reduced resistance near Hennef, and took part in the Sieg River line. In April it crossed the Sieg in the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket, fought through Waldbrol, Lichtenberg, Freudenberg, Wipperfuerth, Elberfeld, and Wuppertal, and ended combat duty in the First Army rear area near Marburg.