60th Infantry Regiment (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=60th Infantry Regiment


caption=60th Infantry coat Of arms
dates=June 10, 1917- September 2, 1921
August 10, 1940 - December 28, 1946
July 15, 1947 - Present
country=USA
allegiance=
branch=Regular Army
type=Basic Training Regiment
role=
size=
command_structure=United States Army Training and Doctrine Command; 1st Combat Training Brigade
current_commander=LTC Michael W. Minor
garrison=Fort Jackson
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname="GO DEVILS".
patron=
motto=TO THE UTMOST EXTENT OF OUR POWER
colors=Blue and White
march=
mascot=
battles=World War I
World War II
Vietnam War
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=US Regiments
previous=57th Infantry Regiment
next=61st Infantry RegimentThe U.S. 60th Infantry Regiment is a regimental unit in the United States Army. Its 2nd Battalion conducts Basic Combat Training.

The battalion is a part of a regiment that holds one of the most illustrious battle records in the U.S. Army during the twentieth century. During three bloody wars on three continents, the 2nd Battalion has played a conspicuous part in the division achievements of the Regiment and the 9th Infantry Division.

Regimental History

The 60th Infantry was organized in June 1917 at the outset of World War I from cadre furnished by the 7th U.S. Infantry. In November 1917 it was assigned to the 5th Infantry Division and underwent its baptism of fire on the Western Front. The 60th Infantry participated in the campaigns of St. Mihiel, Alsace and Lorraine and finally in war ending campaign of the Meuse-Argonne. During this battle, 1LT Woodfill, later called by General Pershing "the outstanding doughboy of the war", won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his single-handed destruction of a German company (with all available weapons from a machine gun to pick ax) as the Battalion made an epic crossing of the Meuse River under ferocious enemy fire to help break the back of German resistance.

After the First World War the 60th Infantry was inactivated in South Carolina in 1921. A generation later, in August 1940, war in Europe resulted in a rapid expansion of the US Army. The 60th Infantry was reactivated and assigned to the 9th Infantry Division.

The 60th Infantry spearheaded the November, 1942, invasion of French Morocco at Port Lyautey, winning the arrowhead assault landing device in an action which laid the basis for its distinctive nickname 'Scouts Out'. The regiment culminated its successful North African campaigns with a defense on April 18, 1943 (Easter Sunday) against a massive German attack, and earned a Presidential Unit Citation.

In 1943 during the battle of Sedjenane Valley along the Tunisia-Algeria border, it was during the fanatical drive by the 60th Regiment that a captured German Generals' diary was to give the regiment its nickname. In a German Generals' account of American actions against the Germans, he wrote "Look at those devils go", and thus the 60th Infantry Regiment became the "GO DEVILS".

In Sicily the Regiment continued its winning ways, culminating in the famous Ghost March where the unit infiltrated enemy lines and broke open the last of the German resistance.

On 11 June 1944, the 60th Regiment debarked at Utah Beach on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France. On 12 June, 1944, driving hard toward the St. Colombe in France, the 2nd Battalion, 60th Regiment completely outdistanced the rest of the 9th Division. For a time, the unit was even believed to be lost, but actually the battalion had overrun the German defenses in the face of murderous fire and had cut the main highway to the northwest. Instead of withdrawing, the battalion set up a bridgehead on the Douve River and held the position for seven hours until the rest of the Division caught up to them, facilitating the cutting of the peninsula. Due to this demonstration of rapid penetration and maneuver, the "Scouts Out" motto originated for the battalion. "Scouts Out" is the official greeting of the battalion.

In France during the heroic days of June 1944, the Regiment once again led the way for the division as it spearheaded the American advance out of the beachhead that cut the Contentin Peninsula and secured the vital Port of Cherburg. At the pivotal crossing of the Douve River, 1LT John Butts won the Medal of Honor and the Battalion gained another Presidential Unit Citation. Following the breakout at St. Lo, the regiment fought across France and in September 1944 made its second combat crossing of the Meuse River. Here, LTC Matt Urban won his Medal of Honor having gone AWOL from a hospital to rejoin his comrades and lead the in combat.

After the bitter and bloody struggle in the Huertegen Forest, the Battalion displayed its immense reserves of courage and steadfastness by winning still another Presidential Unit citation in the snow and bitter cold of the Battle of the Bulge. Following the final advance into Central Europe the Battalion won another Presidential Unit Citation and the regiment was inactivated in November 1946 while in Germany.

After service as the 2nd Battle Group, 60th Infantry from 1958-1962, three battalions (2/60, 3/60, and 5/60 Mech) were activated at Fort Riley, Kansas, and assigned to the 9th Infantry Division for its deployment to the Republic of Vietnam in December 1966. The division was the only major U.S. combat unit to conduct operations in the Mekong Delta. The battalions of the 60th participated in both Riverine operations and "jitterbug tactics" which featured split-second timing of airmobile insertions in close proximity to enemy units. These operations won the battalions unit citations and campaign streamers, including one Presidential Unit Citation. The 9th Infantry Division was the first to be withdrawn from Vietnam, and returned to the Ft. Lewis, Washington, in 1970 where its battalions were inactivated.

2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry was reactivated on October 21, 1972 at Ft. Lewis, then inactivated at Fort Lewis and relieved from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division in February 1991. The regiment was assigned to the Training and Doctrine Command on August 27, 1996, with the 2nd battalion activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

The battalion has been credited with four Medal of Honor winners, Campaign Participation Credit for WWI (4), WWII (8), and Vietnam (11); and has received 5 Presidential Unit Citations.

Lineage

*Constituted 15 May 1917 in the Regular Army as the 60th Infantry
*Organized 10 June 1917 at Gettysburg National Park, Pennsylvania
*Assigned 17 November 1917 to the 5th Division
*Inactivated 2 September 1921 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina
*Relieved 15 August 1927 from assignment to the 5th Division and assigned to the 8th Division.
*Relieved 1 October 1933 from assignment to the 8th Division and assigned to the 5th Division
*Relieved 16 October 1939 from assignment to the 5th Division
*Assigned 1 August 1940 to the 9th Division (later redesignated as the 9th Infantry Division)
*Activated 10 August 1940 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
*Moved to Chester, South Carolina for maneuvers, and returned to Fort Bragg.
*Transferred to Norfolk, Virginia on September 18, 1942 for Amphibious Training.
*Departed Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation on October 27, 1942 for North Africa.
*Assaulted North Africa on November 8, 1942.
*Landed in Sicily on July 31, 1943.
*Arrived in England on November 25, 1943.
*Landed in France on June 11, 1944.
*Crossed into Belgium on September 2, 1944.
*Entered Germany on September 15, 1944.
*Attached to 104th Infantry Division from December 18, 1944 to December 21, 1944.
*Attached to 2nd Armored Division from December 22, 1944 to December 23, 1944.
*Attached to 9th Armored Division from March 4, 1945 to March 5, 1945.
*Attached to 7th Armored Division from March 8, 1945 to March 9, 1945.
*Attached to 3rd Armored Division from April 22, 1944 to April 24, 1945.
*On Occupation Duty at Geisenfeld, Germany on VJ Day
*Inactivated 30 November - 28 December 1946 in Germany
*Activated 15 July 1947 at Fort Dix, New Jersey
*Relieved 1 December 1957 from assignment to the 9th Infantry Division and reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System
*Withdrawn 16 June 1986 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System
*Transferred 15 April 1996 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

Campaign Participation Credit

*World War I:
# St. Mihiel
# Meuse-Argonne
# Alsace 1918
# Lorraine 1918
*World War II:
# Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead)
# Tunisia
# Sicily
# Normandy
# Northern France
# Rhineland
# Ardennes-Alsace
# Central Europe
*Vietnam:
# Counteroffensive, Phase II
# Counteroffensive, Phase III
# Tet Counteroffensive
# Counteroffensive, Phase IV
# Counteroffensive, Phase V
# Counteroffensive, Phase VI
# Tet 69/Counteroffensive
# Summer-Fall 1969
# Winter-Spring 1970
# Sanctuary Counteroffensive
# Counteroffensive, Phase VII

Decorations

#Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for SEDJENANE VALLEY
#Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for STE. COLOMBE
#Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for SCHWAMMANAUEL DAMS
#Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for MEKONG DELTA
#Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DINH TUONG PROVINCE
#Valorous Unit Award for SAIGON
#Valorous Unit Award for FISH HOO
#French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for COTENTIN PENINSULA
#Belgian Fourragere 1940
#Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the Meuse River
#Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes

External links

* [http://www.jackson.army.mil/260/index.htm 2-60th Infantry Regiment Home Page]
* [http://www.60thinfantry.com 60th Infantry Regiment Historic Preservation]