31st infantry division ww2 roster

[3], The 31st transferred almost all of its infantry privates and about half of its artillery privates from November to June, including 4,300 who were sent to Camp Merritt. On the 31st of October the Division . The 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, was reactivated at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to support the Field Artillery School and the 6th Battalion was reactivated at Fort Irwin, California, serving there until its inactivation in 1988. Over 1,000 Japanese were destroyed in these actions. The second was created from the 3rd Battalion of the 13th Infantry on 28 July 1866, in the reorganization of the U.S. Army following the American Civil War. However, with the threat of war looming in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur, who was the military adviser to the Philippine government, began instituting a program for national defense and augmentation of the Philippine armed forces. The 31st Infantry Regiment ("Polar Bears"[1]) of the United States Army was formed on 13 August 1916, and was part of USAFFE's Philippine Division during World War II. By the time of liberation in September 1945, over 1,000 soldiers of the 31st Infantry died in captivity, including most of the regiments officers and senior noncommissioned officers. In September, the regiment was restored to full strength with replacements from the U.S. and Koreans (KATUSA) hastily drafted by their government and shipped to Japan for a few weeks training before returning to their homeland as members of American units. It was then consolidated with the 22d Infantry on 15 May 1869 and redesignated the 22d Infantry. [11], The 31st Infantry (NGUS) Division was effectively reformed with units from Alabama and Mississippi, with its headquarters moving to Mobile on 10 December 1956 and back to Birmingham on 2 May 1959. May 2003, C/4-31 and the battalion's Mortar Platoon deployed to the Horn of Africa to conduct operations in Djibouti and Ethiopia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for CJTF Horn of Africa. During the height of the Civil rights movement, Mississippi elements of the division were called up to restore order during the Ole Miss riot of 1962, while Alabama elements were Federalized to ensue school integration during 1963 and to keep order during the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. A 31st Infantry sergeant on detail at Camp John Hay in Baguio became the campaign's first fatality. It was constructed by Jim Amor (A-345) and other veterans of the 87th Division using numerous sources, including the 87th unit history books that were published shortly after World War II. Some of the Regiments that comprise the Dixie Division date back to 1798. Unfortunately, the peninsula had not been provisioned with food and medicine and no help could come in from the outside after much of the Pacific fleet was destroyed at Pearl Harbor and mid-ocean bases at Guam and Wake Island were lost. 3d Battle Group was assigned to the Army Reserve and attached to the 63d Infantry Division. Despite starvation, disease, no supplies, obsolete weapons, and often inoperative ammunition, the peninsula's defenders fought the Japanese to a standstill for 4 months, upsetting Japan's timetable for Asia's conquest. The combat team moved up to advanced positions and took part in the . The courageous actions of Sergeant Paine were an inspiration to his comrades and enabled the battalion to complete its mission. In August 1938, the division was reunited for the Fourth Corps Area concentration of the Third Army Maneuver in the De Soto National Forest, during which it operated as part of the provisional IV Corps. On the night of 24 September, elements of the North Korean 105th Armored Division attacked the regiments 2d Battalion on Hill 142 near the Suwon airfield, but were repulsed with the help of artillery support. 3/31 Infantry and two batteries of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion were driven from their initial positions. has 7 Medal of Honor recipients. Because the lineage of the previous regiments called the 31st were passed down to their successor units, the current 31st Infantry Regiment does not share their history or honors. Ray, John F Company, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division 482. His rank was only a Private E-2 during his service in Korea. During the interwar period, the division was organized in accordance with a square organization similar to its World War I structure, although a separate headquarters for Special Troops (Military Police, Signals, Ordnance, and Armor) was created and medical and quartermaster regiments added. This roster includes Division Headquarters, Division Artillery Headquarters, 736th Ordnance Company, 36th Signal Company, 36th Quartermaster Company, 36th Cavalry Recon Troop, MP Troop, Band, and the entirety of the 141st Infantry Regiment. It was used as school troops for the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia until it was inactivated on 2 March 1944. 2nd Infantry Division Campaigns during World War II. The 31st Infantry Division arrived in Oro Bay, New Guinea, 24 April 1944, and engaged in amphibious training prior to entering combat. The unit is rare in that it was formed and has spent most of its life on non-American soil.[2]. Bravely and without regard for his own personal safety, he advanced alone against these positions, exposing himself to draw their fire from other elements of the column who were regrouping to make an attack. During the Russian Revolution, on 13 August 1918, the 31st moved from Manila's tropics to the bitter cold of Siberia as part of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia. Upon completion of training at Kuwait, the task force assumed responsibility for conducting combat operations in the Taji, Saba al Boor, Al Rasheed, Kadhamiya, Abu Ghraib, and Yusufiyah districts of Baghdad. On 10 November the division headquarters relocated to Birmingham; Blanding retired on 18 November and was replaced by Alabama Major General John C. Persons, who led the division for most of the next four years. . "On 20 May, the Regiment was incorporated under the Dachau Area. In January 1946, General MacArthur restored his former guard of honor to active service at Seoul, Korea, assigning the 31st to the 7th Infantry Division. La Croix, "Chief" Paratroops 893. five of Company C and four of Company H. The remaining events of 1864 must be passed quickly. Two captains from the 31st, Earl R. Short and George A. Sansep, buried the Shanghai Bowl and cups in a waterproof box on Malinta Hill and burned the colors before Corregidor fell on 6 May. See 049. On May 4, 1945, the 71st Infantry Division liberated Gunskirchen, one of the many subcamps of the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. 180th Infantry Regiment, per the 29 June 1945 Roster of the. C Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, conducted the various training exercises in July 2003, while in Djibouti including known distance ranges, both in Djibouti and Ethiopia; reflexive fire ranges, both in Djibouti and Ethiopia; AK-47 range for familiarization of the weapon system; familiarization ranges for shotguns and 9mm pistols; external sling load training with Heavy Marine Helicopter Company (HMH-461) both day and night iterations to help certify them; its mortar platoon underwent training on the mortar ballistic computer and the plotting board to further their proficiency. In 2003, 300 soldiers deployed on security and training missions to Djibouti and Ethiopia in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. In addition, a large number of troops lost limbs due to frostbite. On 8 December 1941, Japanese planes attacked U.S. military installations in the Philippines. [5], For duty with the Services of Supply, the 106th Engineers, without Train, relocated from Le Havre to Brest on 4 October. After the end of the war the division was demobilized in December 1945. On 5 July 1932, when the crisis passed, the unit returned to the Philippines. Task Force 431 returned to Fort Drum in November 2007. The 31st Regiment, Maine Infantry was organized at Augusta and mustered in April 17, 1864. No units were deployed, but individuals representing three-fourths of the authorized strength were sent to either Korea or Japan as replacements. In 1967, the battalion moved north to help form the 23rd "Americal" Infantry Division. [8], Under the National Defense Act of 1920, the 39th Division was allotted to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, part of IV Corps, in 1921. A/4-31 and HHC/4-31 deployed to Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan to conduct security operations for CJTF-Phoenix which was training the Afghan National Army (ANA). Names like Old Baldy, Pork Chop Hill, Triangle Hill, and OP Dale are among the war's most famous battles, all fought by the 31st Infantry and bought with its blood. The Division made an assault landing on Morotai, 15 September 1944, meeting only light opposition. Assigned to the 9th Infantry Division, 6/31 Infantry conducted operations in the Mekong Delta and the Plain of Reeds region near Cambodia for two years. In mid-August the division began to stage for a landing on Morotai, leaving Aitape and Maffin Bay, 11 September 1944. In his advance, he neutralized two enemy automatic weapons, permitting friendly troops to advance without casualties. Organized September 1917 at Camp Jackson, SC, from drafts of NC, SC, and FL. In May 2004, the Polar Bears again deployed with the 2nd BCT in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The bowl now sits in the headquarters building of the regiment's only remaining battalion: the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, at Fort Drum, New York. Less than a year after the 31sts formation, the United States entered World War I in April 1917. After service in Siberia, the 31st returned to garrison duty in Manila and became the nucleus of the newly activated Philippine Division, comprised of the 31st Infantry, two regiments of Philippine Scouts, and division artillery, in June 1921. In a fierce counterattack, the Japanese closed in on his machinegun emplacement, hurling hand grenades, 1 of which exploded under the . For the next two years, a seemingly endless series of blows were exchanged across central Korea's cold, desolate hills. This often includes map coordinates which can be translated using Google Earth to pinpoint the G.P.S. On 1 July 1923 it was reorganized, less the Arkansas units, and renamed the 31st Division, following the recommendations of a joint board of Regular and Guard officers, due to its allocation to states which raised the 31st Division in World War I. Elements of the 31st Infantry took part in operations around the Chosin Reservoir in late November as part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), commanded by Colonel Alan D. MacLean. After being strengthened by Selective Service draftees, the division participated in the IV Corps Louisiana Maneuvers in August 1941, the GHQ maneuvers near Good Hope Church between September and October as part of IV Corps, and the First Army Carolina Maneuvers near Ruby and Chesterfield, South Carolina during October and November as part of IV Corps, before returning to Blanding.[9]. Remaining in Vietnam, the 6th Battalion conducted an Air Assault as part of the 3rd Brigade into the Parrot's Beak, Cambodia in May 1970, making the famed "Seminole Raid" to seize and destroy a huge enemy base area bordering the Plain of Reeds. It was originally activated as the 10th, a division established in early 1917 consisting of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia national guardsmen. Place and date: Near Maglamin, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, 5 June 1945. The 31st Infantry was a part of American Expeditionary Forces Siberia (AEFS) that included the 27th Infantry Regiment and several support units under the command of Major General William S. Graves. Organized in 1917 during World War I from the national guardsmen of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, the division deployed to France in September 1918, arriving weeks before the Armistice of 11 November that ended the war. [8], Elements of the division remained in France for several months longer, however. 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