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FOREWORD

This history of how brave men fought and won has been compiled from all available sources. Testimony of many members of the Regiment, official reports, personal observations of the several contributors to this story, and personnel and award files are the most important of these sources.

The history is a narrative of several thousands of men who were brought together in a common cause. It is an attempt to tell where these men went, what they did, and how they lived. It does not attempt to gloss over failures nor to exaggerate the many successful actions. To the best of our knowledge, it is a simple, straightforward story of what actually occurred, with no coloring, padding, nor superlative. The history was written for the most part during combat. Its greatest failure is obviously that it does not mention many, many men who fought with courage and distinction through all or most of the campaigns. We have suffered in knowing that we could not speak of every man who contributed to the record of the 120th Infantry.

This record is outstanding. The regiment never lost a key point. It never failed to capture an assigned objective. During the ebb and flow of battle, several units occasionally were driven backward, but never was a battalion position lost. At times, companies and battalions failed to capture positions on the first attempt, but ultimately all Regimental objectives were reached. Few organizations that fought as many days as did the 120th Infantry Regiment have claim to such a record. We are indebted to those men who achieved this record and to those who helped in recording it.

We hope that this work in some measure may recall the rugged but heroic days, the rough but ready comradeship, of the memorable months when the Regiment was in combat in the European Theater of Operations.

If the purpose of this book were to tell the history of the I 20th Infantry in detail from its origin, one might devote the entire volume, and many more besides, dealing with the fascinating story of its part in the Revolutionary, the Mexican, and the First World Wars. But since this work is of limited scope, the story of the 120th must deal almost entirely with its combat record in World War II. viii

Publication Date

1947

Publisher

Infantry Journal Press

City

Washington DC

Keywords

United States Army, 120th Infantry Regiment, World War 1939-1945, Regimental histories

History of the 120th Infantry Regiment by Officers of the Regiment

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