On 12 January 1939 the regiment was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID). For the next two years, the 15th trained as the Army's only experimental ski unit. It also received training in amphibious assault landings on the Pacific Coast. The 1st Battalion was organized and activated at Ft. Lewis, Washington on 23 May 1940 and the regiment brought up to approximately full strength
World War II -
After Pearl Harbor, the 15th and 3ID served as security for the northwest while conducting advanced amphibious assault training until October 1942. During that month, the 15th Infantry, along with other divisional units, moved to Virginia and prepared for deployment to Europe.
On 8 November 1942, the 15th landed at Fedela, Morocco, and participated in the capture of Casablanca against strong Vichy French resistance on 11 November. The regiment remained on duty in Morocco until March 1943, serving with other divisional units as the honor guard for President Roosevelt during the Casablanca Conference. In March 1943, the 15th moved to Tunisia, where it trained for further amphibious operations until July.
The 15th was part of the 3ID's Task Force Joss in the invasion of Sicily on July 1943. The regiment fought with distinction at Palermo, Messina, and elsewhere in the Sicilian Campaign. At the close of the campaign, the 3ID (including the 15th) conducted a month of training before crossing onto the Italian mainland in September
The 3ID and the 15th fought on the Volturno River and farther north on the Italian peninsula, breaching the German Winter Line in November 1943. In January 1944, the 15th spearheaded the 3ID's landing at Anzio until March. It then participated in the capture of Rome in June 1944.
On 15 August, the 15th led the 3ID landings on Beach Yellow at St. Tropez, France. The 15th lead the divisional attacks north through the Rhone Valley and conducted the first military crossing of the Vosges Mountains. The 15th reached the Rhine on 26 November 1944. From December 1944 to February 1945, the 15th reduced the Colmar Pocket. The 15th was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for the fighting in the pocket.
The regiment was part of the 3ID's advance into Germany in March 1945. The regiment broke through the Siegfried Line and captured Nuremberg in April 1945. The 15th remained with the 3ID on garrison duty in Germany until September 1946, when it deployed to Fort Benning, Georgia. At the end of World War II, the regiment had 16 recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, 1,633 killed, 5,812 wounded, 419 missing in action.
Prelude to War -
In late February 1938 a detachment of approximately 50 U.S. Marines from the Legation Guard at Peking took responsibility for the American Barracks in Tientsin. The 15th Infantry Regiment was relieved from the U.S. Army Troops in China and departed China for Fort Lewis, Washington, on 2 March 1938. This ended a 26 year overseas tour unmatched for duration until the Cold War following World War II.
The wisdom of withdrawing the 15th Infantry from China was borne out a few years later. On December 8, 1941 the small detachments of the Marine's Legation Guard in North China stationed at Peking, Chinwangtao, and Tientsin surrendered to Japanese forces and became POWs for the duration of World War II.
Born into Civil War -
The fourth and current 15th Infantry was constituted on 3 May 1861 at Newport Barracks, Kentucky. Before the end of the Civil War, the regiment fought 22 major engagements, including Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Murfreesborough, and Atlanta. The crest of the regiment's coat of arms includes an acorn, the symbol of General Thomas' XIV Corps and the mountain of stone to symbolize the Corps' firm stand as the Rock of Chickamauga. The four acorns on the shield represent the four major engagements of this Civil War service.
Following the Civil War, the 15th Infantry served on occupation duty in Alabama until 1869. On 12 August 1869 the 15th was consolidated with the 35th Infantry and the combined units designated the 15th Infantry. The 35th Infantry had been constituted 3 May 1861 as the 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry but not activated. The unit was organized and activated 29 October 1865 at Hart Island, New York. It was reorganized and redesignated the 35th Infantry 21 September 1866. The 1869 reorganization saw a large number of consolidations among the infantry regiments as the army adjusted to post Civil War national economics and the end of occupation duties in the southern states.
Western Service -
Following the termination of its occupation duties in 1869 the regiment was deployed to the West, serving in Missouri, New Mexico, Dakota Territory, and Colorado. The 15th participated in the campaigns against the Ute Indians of Colorado and Utah, and against the Mescalero Apaches in New Mexico and Arizona before relocating to Fort Sheridan, Wyoming in January 1891.
China Relief Expedition & Philippine Insurrection -
On 16 August 1900 most of the regiment arrived in Tientsin (now Tianjin), China, to perform security duties as part of the China Relief Expedition in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion. The 3rd Battalion was ordered to Manila in September 1900 to assist in suppressing the Philippine War for Independence, a.k.a. the Aquinaldo or Philippine Insurrection. By April 1902, the balance of the regiment joined the 3rd Battalion in the Philippines and saw considerable action against the insurrectos, Filipino nationalists, on Luzon
China Service - The Can Do's - 1911 to 1938
On October 10, 1911 an explosion in the Russian Concession at Hankow (now part of Wuhan), China sparked off the Chinese Revolution against the Qing (Manchu or C'hing) Dynasty. In November 1911, the 15th Infantry's 2nd Battalion departed for Tientsin, China. In China it joined the international peacekeeping forces assigned to protect American and other foreign nations' interests. The battalion arrived in December 1911 with the 3rd Battalion and regimental headquarters following in early 1912. The 1st Battalion was retained in the Philippines and not posted to China.
