1st Battalion - 8th Infantry Regiment
As of January 2006 the 1st Battalion 8th Infantry Regiment of 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, was participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of the larger Task Force Band of Brothers which was led by 101st Airborne Division commanding general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner. The 3rd Brigade's mission included training the Iraqi Security Forces, assisting in the rebuilding of the Diyala Province infrastructure as well as continuing to root out the anti-Iraqi forces that inhabit the region.
The 4,000 troops in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which included 1-8th Infantry, had nine forward operating bases spread across 1,500 square miles of Iraq north of Baghdad, from Samarra to Taji. The headquarters were at LSA Anaconda, a logistics support area about 12 miles from FOB Eagle.
The 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 8th Infantry Regiment maintains combat readiness to deploy, fight, and win in any theater of operations.
The 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 8th Infantry Regiment was originally organized on 1 July, 1838 as a detachment of recruits at Detroit, MI. 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.
The 8th Infatry was assigned on 17 December, 1917 to the 8th Division and relieved on 2nd March, 1923 from its assignment to the 8th division before being reassigned to the 4th Division (later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division). It inactivated on 25 February, 1946 at Camp Butner, NC.
The unit reactivated on 15 July, 1947 at Fort Ord, CA. It was reorganized and redesignated on 1 October, 1963 as the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry. It inactivated on 10 April, 1970 at Fort Lewis, WA.
It reactivated on 13 September, 1972 at Fort Carson, CO.
The regiment earned a total 48 Campaign Streamers.
Decorations of the "Fighting Eagles" Battalion include three presidential unit citations(4 citations for Aco and Cco). The first citation was awarded to the regiment during World War II on June 6th, 1944, for action on the beaches of Normandy. Two other presidential unit citations were awarded to the battalion for actions in Pleiku Province and Dak To district in the Republic of Vietnam. Aco and Cco were awarded another presidential unit citation for Kontum Province in the Republic of Vietnam.
In World War II, the Eight 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 First Battalion Eighth Infantry won nine campaign streamers for action in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970, participating in operations Sam Houston, Francis Marion, Don Quin, and 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.
Personal awards are highlighted by the regiments seven Medal of Honor winners.
A few of the famous past commanders include former General of the Army George C. Marshall, and General James Van Fleet who led the regiment ashore on D-Day.
