142nd Infantry Regiment (United States)

December 2012 September 2015 September 2015 142nd Infantry Regiment 142nd Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms.svg 120 Coat of arms TexasTexas Infantry Texas Army National Guard 1917 - Present Regiment "I'll Face You" A. W. BloorTroy H. Middleton☆George E. Lynch 100px Distinctive Unit Insignia U.S. Infantry Regiments 141st Infantry Regiment 143rd Infantry Regiment The 142nd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the U.S. Army National Guard. 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry carries the regiment's legacy as a unit of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division. Eleven of its members have been decorated with the United States highest award for bravery, the Medal of Honor. Members of the 142nd arriving as reinforcements tipped the Battle for Castle Itter in favor of a combined U.S. Army/Wehrmacht defense against a Waffen SS attack, the second and last time German and American forces fought side-by-side in World War II.Stephen Harding The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe 2013 Da Capo Press 157–161 978-0-306-82209-4 History World War I The 142nd Infantry Regiment was constituted on 5 May 1917 as the 7th Infantry Regiment, Texas National Guard. It was organized from May‑July 1917 with headquarters federally recognized 29 July 1917. Called and drafted into federal Service 5 August 1917. On 15 October 1917, it was consolidated with the 1st Oklahoma Infantry Regiment and redesignated the 142nd Infantry Regiment, part of the 71st Infantry Brigade, 36th Division. It moved overseas in July 1918.Richard A. Rinaldi, 'The US Army in World War I - Orders of Battle', Tiger Lily Publications LLC, 30/11/2004, 87 During the Meuse–Argonne offensive, the 142nd used Choctaw code talkers.https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/american-indians-in-ww1-code-talkers.html Code Talkers - World War I Centennial Interwar period The 142nd Infantry arrived at the port of New York on 31 May 1919 on the USS Pueblo and was demobilized on 17 June 1919 at Camp Travis, Texas. It was reconstituted in the National Guard on 3 December 1920, assigned to the 36th Division, and allotted to the state of Texas. The regiment was further allotted to the 71st Infantry Brigade and reorganized in the northwestern part of the state. The regimental headquarters was reorganized and federally recognized on 16 May 1922 at Amarillo, Texas. The headquarters was relocated 21 August 1928 to Fort Worth, Texas. The regiment, or elements thereof, was called up to perform the following state duties: 2nd and 3rd Battalions to perform riot control during a workers’ strike on the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad at Denison, Texas, 23 July–21 October 1922; flood relief duties along the Colorado River at Brady, Texas, in July 1938. It conducted annual summer training most years at Camp Mabry, Texas, from 1922–25, and Camp Hulen, Texas, from 1926–39. It was inducted into active federal service at home stations on 25 November 1940 and moved to Camp Bowie, Texas, where it arrived on 13 December 1940.Clay Steven E. 2010 U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919-1941, Volume 1. The Arms: Major Commands and Infantry Organizations, 1919-41 Fort Leavenworth, KS Combat Studies Institute Press 426 Texas 750 right Armories of the regiment in 19401939 Historical and Pictorial Review, National Guard of the State of Texas, 1940 Baton Rouge Army and Navy Publishing Company 78-126 BandService CoHq Co 1st BnCo A 60 left white 31.712778 -98.98 HQ CoHQ Co 2nd BnCo H 60 right white 35.199167 -101.845278 Antitank Plat 60 right white 31.736944 -99.325556 Co B 60 left white 31.827778 -99.425556 Co C 60 left white 31.745 -99.96 Co D 60 left white 32.209722 -98.2375 Co E 60 left white 32.485833 -100.408333 Co F 60 left white 34.990556 -101.919167 Co G 60 right white 32.715556 -100.914444 HQ Co 3rd Bn 60 right white 32.45 -99.75 Co I 60 right white 32.469167 -98.675278 Co K 60 right white 32.997222 -99.688889 Co L 60 right white 32.756667 -98.905556 Co M 60 right white 33.912167 -98.49475 Med Det 60 left white 34.0325 -98.92 Postwar The regiment was inactivated 15 December 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. It was reorganized with the regimental headquarters federally recognized on 26 February 1947 at Amarillo. Coat of arms Blazon Shield Azure, a fess wavy Gules fimbriated Argent, issuant in chief the shell-torn church steeple at St. Etienne, France, of the third. Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Texas Army National Guard: On a wreath of the colors Argent and Azure, a mullet Argent encircled by a garland of live oak and olive Proper. Motto "I'll Face You" Symbolism Shield The shield is blue for Infantry. The wavy fess symbolizes the Aisne River, where the regiment's outstanding achievements took place during World War I; it also symbolizes the Red River separating the States of Texas and Oklahoma, from which states were drawn the units composing the 142d Infantry, Texas Army National Guard – the 7th Texas and Machine Gun Company. The church at St. Etienne, France, was in the sector where the regiment received its baptism of fire. First Lieutenant Donald J. McLennan, D.S.C., scout officer of the 1st Battalion, 142nd Regiment Infantry, led a patrol across the Aisne River into the enemy country on 8 October 1918 and secured information of vast importance to the regiment. As he returned, under heavy fire, to the south bank of the Aisne River with his patrol, he was the last man to cross and would not cross with his back to the enemy. Instead, he backed across the foot-log, shaking his fist and shouting to the enemy "We’re going back, but I’ll face you." The coat of arms was approved on 27 June 1928. Medal of Honor recipients The 142nd Infantry Regiment has had eleven United States Medal of Honor recipients: Samuel M. Sampler, Corporal, for actions near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918 Harold Leo Turner, Corporal, for actions near St. Etienne, France, 8 October 1918 James Marion Logan, Technical Sergeant, for actions near Salerno, Italy, 9 September 1943 Arnold L. Bjorklund, First Lieutenant, Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943 William J. Crawford, Private, Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943 Homer L. Wise, Staff Sergeant, for actions near Magliano, Italy, 14 June 14, 1944 Ellis R. Weicht, Sergeant, Saint-Hippolyte, 3 December 1944 Bernard Pious Bell, Technical Sergeant, for actions near Mittelwihr, France, 18 December 1944 Emile Deleau Jr., Sergeant, for actions near Oberhoffen, France, 1–2 February 1945 Edward C. Dahlgren, Sergeant, for actions near Oberhoffen, France, 11 February 1945 Silvestre S. Herrera, Private First Class, for actions near Mertzwiller, France, 15 March 1945 See also Choctaw code talkers Distinctive unit insignia (U.S. Army) References External links http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=8278 142nd Infantry Regiment http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081208105426/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html 8 December 2008 Category:Infantry regiments of the United States Army in World War II 142 142 Category:Military units and formations established in 1917