8th Infantry Regiment (United States): Difference between revisions

{{more footnotes needed|date=April 2014}}

| unit_name = 8th Infantry Regiment

| image = 8 Infantry Regiment COA.png

| image_size = 125px

| caption = Coat of arms

| country = {{USA}}

| allegiance =

| type = [[Infantry]]

| branch = {{Army|USA}}

| dates = 1838 – present

| specialization =

| command_structure =

| size =

| current_commander =

| ceremonial_chief =

| nickname = ''Fighting Eagles''<ref name=SUD>{{cite web|title=Special Unit Designations |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/spdes-123-ra_ar.html |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |date=21 April 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=24 June 2010 |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609010022/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/spdes-123-ra_ar.html |archivedatearchive-date=9 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

| motto = "Patriae Fidelitas" ("Loyalty to Country")

| colors =

| march =

| mascot =

| battles = [[Mexican–American War|Mexican War]]<ref name=wilson/><br/>[[American Civil War]]<ref name=wilson>[https://history.army.mil/books/R&H/R&H-8IN.htm Lt. Richard H Wilson, Adjutant, The Eighth Regiment of Infantry.] history up to 1891.</ref> <br/>[[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]]<ref name=wilson/><br/>[[Philippine Insurrection]]<br/>[[Moro Rebellion]]<br/>[[World War I]]<br/>[[World War II]]<br/>[[Vietnam War]]<br/>[[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq Campaign]]

| notable_commanders = [[Benjamin A. Poore]]<br/>[[George C. Marshall]]<br/>[[James Van Fleet]]

| anniversaries =

| identification_symbol = [[File:8 Infantry Regiment DUI.png|150px]]

| identification_symbol_label = Distinctive unit insignia

| identification_symbol_2 =

| identification_symbol_2_label =

The '''8th Infantry Regiment''' of the United States, also known as the "Fighting Eagles,",<ref name = SUD/> is an [[infantry regiment]] in the [[United States Army]]. The 8th Infantry participated in the [[Mexican–American War|Mexican War]], [[American Civil War]], [[Philippine Insurrection]], [[Moro Rebellion]], [[World War I]], [[World War II]], [[Vietnam War]], and [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq Campaign]].

#The three heraldic flowers on the bend are symbolic of: first, the [[Rose]], the flower of the state of New York, where the regimental headquarters was first organized; second, the [[Nepenthes philippinensis|Hispida]], the flower of the [[The Philippines|Philippines]], where the regiment saw service during the Insurrection; and third, the temple flower, which is the flower of [[Cuba]], where the 8th served during the War with Spain.

#The overall height of the insignia is {{convert|1 +5/32&nbsp;inches (2.94&nbsp;|in|cm)}}.

[[File:Knocking Out the Moros. DA Poster 21-48.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|As depicted by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]], the "four-day battle of Bagsak Mountain on Jolo Island in the Philippines took place from 11 to 15 June 1913. Americans of the 8th Infantry and the [[Philippine Scouts]], personally leadled by Brigadier General [[John J. Pershing]], brought to an end years of bitter struggle against the Moro pirates."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/21/daposters/21-48.html|title=Knocking Out the Moros|website=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|accessdateaccess-date=12 November 2016}}</ref>]]

Relieved 1 April 1957 from assignment to the 4th Infantry Division and reorganized as a parent regiment under the [[Combat Arms Regimental System]]

Withdrawn 1 August 1984 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the [[United States Army Regimental System]]

The 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 8th Infantry Regiment was originally organized on 1 July 1838 as a detachment of recruits at [[Detroit, Michigan]]. It was designated on 5 July 1838 as Company A, 8th Infantry, and concurrently constituted in the regular Army. It was consolidated in May 1869 with Company A, 33rd Infantry, with the consolidated unit being designated as Company A, 8th Infantry. 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment is currently part of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]] located at [[Fort Carson]], Colorado.

The 8th Infantry was assigned on 17 December 1917 to the 8th Division. It was commanded by Colonel [[Walter Cowen Short]], who led the regiment until his promotion to brigadier general and command of a brigade.<ref name="Davis">{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Henry Blaine Jr. |date=1998 |title=Generals in Khaki |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Generals_in_Khaki.html?id=fJvvAAAAMAAJ |location=Raleigh, NC |publisher=Pentland Press |pages=332-333332–333 |isbn=978-1-5719-7088-6 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and relieved on 2 March 1923 from its assignment to the 8th division before being reassigned to the 4th Division (later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division).

The 8th Infantry Regiment assaulted [[Utah Beach]] on [[Normandy landings|June 6, 1944]]. It was the first of the [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division's]] infantry regiments to land on Utah Beach. In World War II, the 8th Infantry Regiment was cited twice in the order of the day by the Belgian Army - the first for action in the Belgian Campaign, and later for action in the Ardennes. The Belgian Government subsequently awarded the regiment the Belgian Fourragere. The battalion was inactivated on 25 February 1946 at Camp Butner, North Carolina.

The unit reactivated on 15 July 1947 at Fort Ord, California. It was reorganized and redesignated on 1 October 1963 as the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry. The 1st Battalion 8th Infantry won nine campaign streamers for action in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970, participating in operations [[Operation Sam Houston|Sam Houston]], [[Operation Francis Marion|Francis Marion]], [[Operation Don Quin|Don Quin]] and [[Operation Paul Revere III|Paul Revere III]]. The Vietnamese government awarded the battalion the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm and the Civil Action Medal First Class. Alpha and Charlie Companies were awarded a cluster to their presidential unit citations for extraordinary heroism in the Republic of Vietnam. Companies A and C sought out, engaged and decisively defeated an overwhelmingly larger force by deploying small, isolated patrols and conducting company and platoon size reconnaissance-in-force operations. It inactivated on 10 April 1970 at [[Fort Lewis (Washington)|Fort Lewis]], Washington and reactivated on 13 September 1972 at Fort Carson, CO.

During Operation Wayne Grey at [[Landing Zone Brace]] 3 March 1969 in Vietnam 3rd Battalion Company "A" had at least 21 fatalities<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virtualwall.org/dg/GriffithRE01a.htm|title=1LT Robert Elwin Griffith, Big Spring, TX on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall|website=virtualwall.org}}</ref>

The unit served at Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, Germany (near Mannheim) as part of the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized). The Division later reflagged as 1st Armored Division during the draw down immediately following the end of the Cold War. 4-8 INF BN's mission during Operation Desert Storm was to guard the family housing areas immediately surrounding Campbell Barracks as well as the Army Airfield, both in Heidelberg. Following the end of hostilities, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) was sent to Kuwait as a security force. In the fall of 1991, 4-8 INF(-) relieved 11th ACR in Kuwait as the second rotation of security forces protecting Kuwait while the country continued rebuilding. The unit was sent (along with the rest of the brigade) to Fort Lewis, Washington in the summer of 1994. That fall, the unit was inactivated and re-designated 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. This was the first time units of the 2nd Infantry Division set foot on US soil since the Korean War began.

SSG Dale Panchot ( B/1-8 IN) (KIA on 17 Nov 2003, Balad)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/?dates=20030712|title=Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Listed by date|website=fallenheroesmemorial.com}}</ref>

Upon arrival at Fort Carson, 2–8 IN began training up for yet another OIF deployment. In April 2008 the battalion conducted a month-long rotation at the [[National Training Center]] at [[Fort Irwin, California]] in preparation for OIF 08–09. The unit initially staged in Kuwait sometime during August. After in-processing, reception and vehicle draw. The unit occupied Camp Echo (Polish Army) in Iraq until finally the majority of the unit made the long vehicle convoy south to Basra Iraq (British Army). The unit deployed from September 2008 to September 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There were no combat related deaths during this Deployment.

*{{Cite book| url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/iraq/BGIraq/bgi.html| title = Battleground Iraq: Journal of a Company Commander| first = Todd S. | last = Brown| publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]| year = 2007| location = Washington, D.C.| access-date = 16 June 2010| archive-date = 1 May 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170501030325/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/iraq/BGIraq/bgi.html| url-status = dead}} – a journal from a member of the 8th Infantry 2003–2004

[[Category:United States Regular Army Civil War regimentsunits and formations|8th Infantry Regiment]]