366th Infantry Regiment (United States)

Updated on Nov 25, 2023

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Active 1917–1945 Type Infantry		Country United States Size Regiment

Branch United States Army Reserve Garrison/HQ Fort Devens, Massachusetts

The 366th Infantry Regiment was an all African American (segregated) unit of the United States Army that served with distinction in both World War I and World War II. The unit was one of the exceptional Negro units with all its own officers and personnel; the U.S. military did not desegregate until after World War II, and in most of the segregated units, all of the officers were white. During World War II, the unit saw combat in Italy as part of the 92nd Infantry Division (colored), 5th Army.

World War I

The 366th Infantry was constituted 16 August 1917 in the National Army as the 366th Infantry and assigned to the 92nd Division and organized at Camp Dodge, Iowa, in November 1917.

In World War I the regiment served overseas as a part of the 92nd Division, National Army and earned credit for battle participation as follows:

St. Die Sector (Lorraine), 23 August 1918 – 20 September 1918

Meuse-Argonne Sector, 26 September 1918 – 5 October 1918

Marbach Sector (Lorraine) 8 October 1918 – November 1918

The 366th Infantry was demobilized 25 March 1919 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and reconstituted 16 December 1940 in the Regular Army.

World War II

It was activated 10 February 1941 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts and assigned to the Eastern Defense Command on 30 April 1942.

Attached to the 1st Service Command on 1 May 1943 and to the XIII Corps on 1 September 1943.

Moved to A. P. Hill Military Reservation, Virginia 14 October 1943 and to Camp Atterbury, Indiana 23 November 1943 under XX Corps.

Assigned XXII Corps 21 January 1944 and staged at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia 22 March 1944 until it departed Hampton Roads P/E (Point of Embarkation) 28 March 1944.

Arrived North Africa 6 April 1944 and attached to 15th Air Force Service Command for airfield security duties from Sardinia to the Adriatic coast.

Assigned to Fifth Army 4 November 1944 and arrived Livorno, Italy 21 November 1944 for attachment to the 92nd Infantry Division until 25 February 1945.

Disbanded in Italy on 28 March 1945 and personnel transferred into the 224th and 226th Engineer General Service Regiments.

Combat chronicle

Colonel Howard Donovan Queen was the commanding officer (CO) at the time of embarkation in March 1944. Although the 366th Infantry had been at "combat readiness", after a prolonged period which was devoted only to guard duty, Queen felt that they needed at least three months for preparation to be "combat ready". Queen wrote a significant request for withdrawal from active command and included his guarded reservations in regard to his deeply held tenets. In spite of this it was decided in November 1944 to attach the 366th Infantry to the 92nd Division.

Prior to the attachment of the 366th Infantry, the 92nd Division saw action at the Battle of Monte Cassino, and were in the vanguard of the 5th Army's liberation of Rome as one of the first units to reach the city, two days before the Normandy Invasion. (As a gesture of thanks, they received a papal blessing at a special ceremony in Saint Peter's Square.)

Notable veterans

Edward William Brooke III: First African American after Reconstruction elected to the United States Senate.

William L. Dawson: World War I veteran, Chicago politician

Aaron R. Fisher: Awarded the DSC

John Robert Fox: posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in January 1997 for his heroic self-sacrifice on 26 December 1944 in Italy.

General

The 366th Infantry Regiment was awarded two campaign streamers for the Colors; the first for Meuse-Argonne Lorraine (September 1918 to November 1918), and the second for Rome-Arno (January 1944 to September 1944).

The Regimental Shield incorporated the Cross of Lorraine. The Regimental Motto was, "Labor Conquers All Things."

References

366th Infantry Regiment (United States) Wikipedia

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