2nd Battalion - 69th Armor Regiment
"Panthers"
The 69th Armored Regiment's history began on July 15, 1940 when it was formed and assigned to the lst Armored Division. But this original assignment did not last for long. In February, 1942 it was reassigned to the 6th Armored Division where it continued to serve until September of 1943 when elements of the Regiment were divided and reassigned. The Regimental HQ and lst Battalion remained with the 6th Armored Div. as the 69th Tank Battalion; the 3rd Battalion was redesignated as 708th Amphibian Tank Bn. and was a participant in several critical amphibious campaigns and distinguished itself during the bloody fighting on Okinawa earning the battalion the Navy Presidential Unit Citation.
The 69th Tank Battalion, as part of the 6th Armored Division, was included in various European campaigns including Normandy , the Rhineland , Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe . The unit, along with many others, was deactivated in 1946 following the end of the Second World War. But this deactivation came to an end when the unit was redesignated as the 69th Medium Tank Battalion in August 1950. Once again it assigned to the 6th Armored Division, where it served until it was stood down in 1956, ending its assignment to the 6th Armored Division.
Following the outbreak of hostilities on the Korean peninsula, the 708th Tank Battalion was subsequently restructured and redesignated the 89th Medium Tank Battalion. In Nov. 1951, it was again reflagged the 89th Tank Bn. and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. The unit’s combat actions earned the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation.
The 89 Tank Bn. returned to Hawaii with the 25th Inf. Div. where it remained until deactivation in 1957.
With the establishment of the regimental combat arms system, the formerly fragmented elements of the 2nd Battalion were remade into the 69th Armored Regiment. With the left over elements of the 69th and the 89th Tank Battalions, the 69th Armored Regiment was redesignated the 69th Armor, a parent regiment under the RCA system.
The 1st Battalion was ordered to begin preparing for deployment to Vietnam in December of 1965. The deployment commenced on January 25, 1966 with the Battalion laying over in Okinawa to acquire and train with 52 new M48A3 tanks.
The Battalion shipped from Okinawa to Vietnam and, in accordance with policy of the day, was split up again with the Bn. Headquarters, trains, A and C companies going to Cu Chi with the main elements of the 25th Infantry Div. B Company went to Pleiku and took up operations with the 3rd Bde. of the 25th Infantry.
During the course of the Vietnam War, the 1/69 th armor distinguished itself as the most heavily decorated Armor unit in the U.S. Army.
As part of the 197th Brigade (Separate), 2/69 Armor led the assault of the 24th Infantry Division into Iraq during Operation Desert Storm in February 1991.
