The 32nd Infantry Regiment is a battalion within the United States Army. Of the original regiment, only the 1st Battalion remains as an active duty unit. The 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment is a light infantry battalion assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, garrisoned at Fort Drum, New York. The battalion was previously assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum, before this unit was reflagged to Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, Louisiana.
History The 32nd Regiment was first organized on 7 August 1916, on Oahu, Hawaii from elements of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments. At its activation, it was known as "The Queen's Own" Regiment, a title bestowed by the last queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani.
World War I During World War I, units of the 32nd Regiment were used to escort German prisoners of war being transferred to the United States from Hawaii. On 20 July 1918, the 32nd was transferred to Camp Kearny, San Diego, California, where it became a part of the 32nd Infantry Brigade, 16th Infantry Division. A short time later, many of the Regiment's men were transferred to the 82nd Infantry Regiment and remained with this organization until it was demobilized in 1919.
Interwar period
After the demobilization of the 16th Division, the 32nd Infantry became a separate regiment and was transferred on 8 September 1920 to the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Concurrently, the 1st and 3rd Battalions were transferred to Vancouver Barracks, Washington. The regimental headquarters was inactivated on 1 November 1921 at the Presidio of San Francisco; the 38th Infantry Regiment was previously designated as "Active Associate" on 27 July 1921, and would provide the cadre from which the 32nd Infantry would be reactivated in time of war. Those personnel at the Presidio were concurrently transferred to the 19th Infantry Regiment, and those at Vancouver Barracks were transferred to the 59th Infantry Regiment. The 38th Infantry was relieved as the Active Associate on 17 July 1922 and the 14th Infantry Regiment was designated as Active Associate.
The regiment was concurrently allotted to the Panama Canal Department and assigned to the Panama Canal Division, but being inactive, it never deployed to Panama as a unit. it was organized as a "Regular Army Inactive" unit with Organized Reserve personnel about June 1926 at Los Angeles, California. It was withdrawn from allotment to the Panama Canal Department on 27 June 1927, relieved from the Panama Canal Division, and allotted to the Ninth Corps Area. It was affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles ROTC program 8 February 1928 and organized with Regular Army personnel assigned to the ROTC Detachment and Reserve officers commissioned from the program. Many unit personnel participated in earthquake relief operations 14–22 March 1933 in the Los Angeles area. The regiment conducted summer training at Del Monte, California, and the Presidio of Monterey. The 2nd Battalion was activated on 18 October 1939 with personnel and equipment of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, at Chilkoot Barracks, Territory of Alaska, which was concurrently transferred to Camp Bonneville, Idaho. The 2nd Battalion was transferred on 22 June 1940, less personnel and equipment, to Camp Ord, California, and the remainder of the regiment was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division and activated 1 July 1940, less Reserve personnel, at Camp Ord.
World War II After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 32nd was moved into defensive positions along the West Coast. The regiment underwent intensive training as a motorized unit at Camp San Luis Obispo, California. Vast maneuvers were held in the Mojave Desert to prepare the 32nd for participation in the defeat of the German Afrika Korps, led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. A change in Allied strategy, however, turned the 32nd overnight toward a role of amphibious assaults from the Aleutian Islands to tropical jungle islands.
Rushed to the Aleutians in the spring of 1943, after the Japanese had landed on Attu Island a year earlier, the regiment played a major role in retaking American soil during the Battle of Attu. It was on the Aleutian Islands that Private Joe P. Martinez, Company I, earned the Medal of Honor. Seeing his unit pinned down by enemy machine gun fire, Private Martinez single-handedly charged the enemy emplacement and destroyed it. While rallying the men he was mortally wounded. Private Martinez received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
After their baptism of fire in the Aleutians Campaign, the 32nd Regiment sailed to Hawaii for intensive training that emphasized amphibious landings and jungle fighting.
On 1 February 1944, the 32nd Regiment assaulted Kwajalein. During five days of fighting, the 32nd, along with the 184th Infantry Regiment, eliminated all the enemy personnel on the island, with the exception of a few exhausted Japanese who surrendered.
The regiment returned to Hawaii on 14 February where it went through additional intensified jungle training for an expected invasion of the Yap Island. Arriving at Eniwetok Atoll on 25 September 1944, the regiment's orders were changed and the 32nd joined General Douglas MacArthur's forces, spearheading the first landings on Leyte Island, Philippines. Fighting in swamps, tropical jungles, and over rugged mountains, the 7th Infantry Division battled over 37 miles (60 kilometers) in 60 days of bitter combat.
The regiment's last campaign of World War II started 1 April 1945 with the landings at Okinawa. During this battle, the 32nd won the nickname "Spearhead" because of its continuous attacks against the enemy.
After only three days of rest after the fighting on Okinawa, the 32nd embarked for Korea to receive the surrender of all the Japanese troops south of the 38th parallel. During its campaigns through the Pacific, the 32nd Infantry Regiment traveled 16,910 miles.
During the regiment's occupation stay in Korea, infantrymen obtained a preview of their future tour in the Korean War. Units of the 32nd rotated on outpost positions along the 38th Parallel. The troops formed a tight perimeter against southbound guerrilla bands and were assigned the mission of eliminating the wholesale movement of black-market goods across the boundary.
In December 1948, the 7th Infantry Division loaded on ships and sailed to Japan where its zone of occupation responsibility included almost half of the total land area of Japan. The 32nd replaced the 11th Airborne Division. During its stay in Japan, the strength of the regiment dropped by almost half of its authorized strength.
Korean War On 25 June 1950, the North Korean Army crossed the 38th Parallel, initiating the Korean War, taking Seoul and pushing all the way to the Pusan Perimeter. The 32nd began immediate preparation for deployment from Japan.
Intensive training for a proposed amphibious landing in Korea focused the training for the regiment. A major problem facing the 32nd at this time was the integration of several hundred ROK soldiers who were to fight alongside American troops. Demonstrations, sign language, and a smattering of Japanese were used during the intensive military training. The ROK soldiers were integrated at the squad level and introduced to the American "buddy team" system in combat. American soldiers were responsible for the training and integration of the assigned ROK troops. After six days of loading supplies and equipment, the 32nd boarded troopships, departing for Inchon, Korea.
The 32nd went ashore on 16 September 1950, and were immediately met by small arms, mortar, and tank fire from communist forces. The 32nd advanced north toward the Han River, the last natural barrier to Seoul. The "Buccaneers" of the 32nd, in the cold morning hours of 25 September, crossed the Han River under intense enemy fire and captured their first objective, a dominating hill mass outside Seoul, at 1030. Its capture provided the 32nd with sufficient momentum to gain all assigned objectives. With the capture of the surrounding heights overlooking and dominating the city, US Marine elements were able to resume their advance. The regiment was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for their actions in relieving pressure on the Marines.
The division was relieved of the responsibility for the Seoul area on 30 September 1950 and moved 350 miles overland, arriving in Pusan to begin training for another proposed landing, this time at Wonson, North Korea. Departing from Pusan Harbor on 28 October, the mission of the 7th Infantry Division was changed to land at Riwŏn and advance to the Korean-Manchurian border.
Landing at Riwŏn on the 29th, the regiment moved quickly northward with the 1st Battalion on the east coast of the Chosin Reservoir and the 2nd and 3rd in the Fusan Reservoir area.
At that point there were definite indications of Communist Chinese intervention in the war. Information that three enemy divisions had arrived at Yudam-ni on 20 November reached intelligence personnel via prisoners of war. On the ground, no contact was made in the Chosin Reservoir area.
On 29 November 1950, when the full force of the Chinese attack struck the UN forces, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions stood their ground until UN elements further north moved to join the battle. Together all these UN elements made an orderly withdrawal from the Fusan area.
The 1st Battalion on the east coast of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir was with elements of the 31st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Marines, who were cut off by Chinese forces. Only after long and bloody fighting did these forces work their way south to Koto-ri, and then to the Hungman perimeter. Lieutenant Colonel Don C. Faith Jr., 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, commander of Task Force Faith, distinguished himself in this action. During the five-day period from 27 November to 1 December 1950, he personally directed his troops across the ice-covered reservoir and continually placed himself with the forward elements of the battalion. He was mortally wounded while attempting to destroy an enemy road block with hand grenades. For his leadership, Lieutenant Colonel Faith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor.
Elements of the regiment were among the units that participated in the Battle of Triangle Hill from October to November 1952.
With the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement and the end of the Korean war, the regiment busied themselves with defensive preparations on the Korean peninsula, in case of a resumption of hostilities. The regiment was later reorganized and activated as the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.
Cold War On 28 May 1978, the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment was stood down as part of President Carter's effort to withdraw from Korea. Just prior to that, Colin Powell, William S. Carpenter and Steven Silvasy served as battalion commanders.