405^th Infantry Regiment

The 405th Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Maxey, Texas, on September 15, 1942, and served with the 102nd Infantry Division. After Louisiana maneuvers, Camp Swift, Fort Dix, and Camp Kilmer, it sailed from New York on September 12, 1944, and landed in France on September 23. The regiment entered combat in increments during the Rhineland campaign, attached to the 2nd Armored Division from October 26 to November 3, then detached to the 84th Infantry Division from November 19 to December 2. In the Geilenkirchen sector it protected the 84th Division's southeast flank and attacked toward Beeck before returning to the 102nd Division.

When XIII Corps resumed its drive toward the Roer, the 405th advanced along the Lindern-Linnich highway on November 29, continued fighting there on November 30, and on December 1 gained the objective heights by double envelopment. The regiment then held the Roer-Wurm sector while the division patrolled and prepared for river operations. On February 23, 1945, it crossed the Roer at Roerdorf. Mortar fire upset several assault craft, and repeated bridge failures slowed follow-up troops and antitank support, but the regiment entered Tetz and then pushed toward Boslar and Hompesch. During the night German tanks and infantry struck Boslar repeatedly; the 405th and 406th formed the defensive arc that held the bridgehead.

By February 25 the 405th had captured Ralshoven, and during the northward pivot its supporting tanks suffered heavily near Hottorf. In March the 405th and 406th overran Viersen, secured a Niers Canal bridgehead, fought through Krefeld, and reached the Rhine. After defensive duty along the river, the regiment crossed at Wesel in April and advanced through the Weser and Elbe operations. It ended the war in Germany after a compressed but active late-war campaign.