US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Dix, NJ)

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39th INFANTRY REGIIVIENT Histor In compiling and wriTing a brieT hisTory oT a uniT which has such a glorious and disTinguished pasT as The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT, iT is diTTiculT To IimiT iT To a cerTain seT IengTh. The vicTories and accompIishmenTs oT The men oT The 39Th could Till volume upon volume. IT musT be IimiTed To a brieT accounT which will acquainT one in some small measure wiTh Those men, some oT whom are now marching in Valhalla. A man who was once a member oT This TighTing uniT is always a member because wherever he may be, his spiriT sTiII ac- companies his comrades in arms. The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT's hisTory begins wiTh The hisTory oT World War I, being acTivaTed aT The STaTe Fair Grounds, Syracuse, N. Y. on I June I9I7 wiTh personnel oT The 3OTh InTanTry RegimenT as a nucleus. The regimenT was assigned To The 4Th Division aT Camp Greene, N. C. in GcTober and deparTed Trom There 8-IO May l9I8 Tor Europe. The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT received iTs bapTism in iTs TirsT maior campaign, The Aisne-Marne where They were ciTed by The French To receive The Croix de Guerre. AcTion in The ST. Mihiel SaIienT and Meuse-Argonne oTTensive was Tollowed by occupaTion duTies as guard, miliTary police and escorT Troops unTiI 30 July I9I9. On 2I SepTember I92I The regimenT was deacTivaTed. The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT was reacTivaTed as parT oT The 9Th InTanTry Division on I AugusT I94O wiTh personnel Trom The 5Th Division and sTaTioned aT ForT Bragg, N. C. In SepTember I942 The regimenT sailed Trom New York, reaching BeITasT, Ireland in OcTober. Amphibious operaTions aT Inverary, ScoTIand followed unTiI They sailed Tor NorTh ATrica on 25 OcTober I942. The landings oT eIemenTs oT The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT caughT The Axis by surprise. Nazi Troops poured souThward Trom Europe To hold The IvlediTerranean coasTs oT ATrica wiTh The LuTTwaTTe covering The movemenT Trom The inTerior bases in Sicily and Sardinia. Fierce Tighring resuITed in The Allied posiTion in cenTraI Tunisia becoming very insecure. The 39Th wiTh -uniTs oT The 34Th InTanTry Division and 9Th Division ArTiIIery sped To The TronT Trom Oran creaTing a

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concenTraTion oT power suTTicienT To sTop Rommel shorT of Thala and drive him back Through The Tamed Kasserine Pass. LaTer, on l March I943, The 39Th lnTanTry RegimenT helped To recapTure GaTsa and El GueTar in a drive which resulTed in The capTure oT BizerTe on 8 May l943 by The ll Corps. oT which The 39Th was a parT. The Middle EasT was aT lasT saTe and ATrica had been liberaTed Trom The Axis. ' On The l4Th oT July, aTTer a much needed resT The 39Th lnTanTry Regimeni' leTT BizerTe-bound Tor The LicaTa-Gela beachhead in Sicily. CombaT was noT long delayed. From I7-24 July The regimenT was aTTached To The 82nd Airborne Division. TogeTher They pushed Trom LicaTa To Marsala- sparking The oTTensive which cuT oTT The enemy in The wesT, beaTing a sTeady paTh Torward-Through AgrigenTo, Ribera. lvlenTi, CasTelveTrano, lvlazaro and Marsala. The 39Th con- Tinued To move, execuTing a brillianT aTTack againsT Cerami, iusT wesT oT Nicosia, on 29Th oT July. lT was around This Time ThaT The almosT legendary Colonel I-l. A. Paddy FlinT Took command oT The 39Th, leading Them in a drive on Randazzo wiTh success. Messina Tell To The 9Th Division on The l7Th oT AugusT which broughT vicTory in Sicily. On The l ITh oT November, The Division was aT sea head- ing Tor England. ATTer The men oT The 39Th landed aT Swan- sea, They moved To Camp BarTon STacey where seven monThs were spenT in This area Training Tor The invasion oT Europe. By The l ITh oT June The 39Th lnTanTry was almosT compleTely ashore, ready Tor combaT. The 39Th was aTTached To The 4Th Division To assisT in desTroying a line oT TorTs Trom TareT de Ravenoville To Quineville. LiTTle Time was wasTed by Paddy FlinT and his 39Th lnTanTry RegimenT. On The l2Th oT June The regimenT launched a powerTul aTTack, The TirsT acTion oT a NinTh Division uniT on The ConTinenT oT Europe. ATTer The successTul capTure oT Quineville, The 39Th reioined The 9Th Division. wiTh The aTTack conTinuing To The wesT, reaching The ATlanTic coasT on I8 June. On The 4Th oT July The regi- menT moved souThward Toward CareTan. The hugh oTTensive was To sTarT To The souTh and easT. This journey To combaT heralded The NinTh Division's enTry inTo The well remembered Ba++Ie oT The l-ledgerows Trom I-25 July. The 39Th had parTicipaTed in The capTure oT Quineville, ST. Lo, The CoTenTin Peninsula and Cherbourg. Now began The baTTles aT The Falaise Gap, The race across France, The Ardennes, The campaigns OT NorThern France, The Rhineland and CenTral Europe. The enemy was pushed souTh, and aTTer a Tremendous aerial bombardmenT, The 39Th pushed Through The gap in The German lines, and wiTh The Third Army poured inTo BriTTany Peninsula. Q