32^nd Infantry Regiment

The 32nd Infantry Regiment was activated at Fort Ord on July 1, 1940, and entered World War II as part of the 7th Infantry Division. After training in California and briefly serving under a motorized designation, it sailed for the Aleutians in April 1943. On Attu, its battalions reinforced the division's May assault after the first landings. The regiment fought through the bitter ridge-and-pass battle around Jarmin Pass, Clevesy Pass, and Fish Hook Ridge, where weather, exposed slopes, and Japanese prepared positions made progress slow and costly.

After Attu and training in Hawaii, the 32nd Infantry assaulted Kwajalein Island on February 1, 1944. It attacked on the right side of the division front while the 184th Infantry advanced on the left. The regiment fought through bunkers, ruined installations, shore defenses, and bypassed Japanese positions. Its battalions passed through one another during the drive north, and by the evening of February 4 the regiment had helped complete the capture of Kwajalein Island.

On Leyte the 32nd landed near Dulag on October 20, 1944, and advanced inland through hedgerows, rivers, and defended villages. It fought several days for Buri airstrip and secured it on October 27. In November the regiment held a thin line along the Palanas River at Shoestring Ridge, where Japanese counterattacks forced a tight defensive battle until the 184th Infantry reinforced and relieved the position. In December elements of the regiment advanced northeast from Ormoc Bay through rugged hill country and made contact with the 11th Airborne Division's westward movement.

The 32nd Infantry landed on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, moved down the east coast, and later fought on the Naha-Yonabaru approaches. In June it reduced Hill 95 after close infantry, artillery, and flame-tank action, cleared Hill 115, and captured Hill 89 near Mabuni, helping end organized Japanese resistance in southern Okinawa.