28th Infantry Regiment (United States)

• 28th Infantry Regiment was constituted in the Regular Army on 2 February 1901 as an expansion unit for service in the Philippines as follows:

1st Battalion constituted in the Regular Army as Company A, 28th Infantry Regiment.

2nd Battalion constituted in the Regular Army as Company B, 28th Infantry Regiment.

• 28th Infantry Regiment organized at Vancouver Barracks, Washington as follows:

1st Battalion organized 10 June 1901.

2nd Battalion organized 17 June 1901.

• Regiment assigned 8 June 1917 to the 1st Expeditionary Division, which was later redesignated as the 1st Infantry Division.
• Regiment inactivated 30 September 1933 at Fort Hayes, Ohio due to a budgetary Reduction in Force.
• Regiment relieved from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division 16 October 1939.
• Regiment assigned 22 June 1940 to the 8th Infantry Division.
• Regiment activated 10 October 1940 at Fort Niagara, New York.
• Regiment moved on 2 December 1940 to Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
• Regiment reorganized on 9 April 1942 as 28th Infantry Regiment (Motorized).
• Regiment participated in the September–November 1942 Tennessee Maneuvers.
• Regiment transferred to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, on 28 November 1942
• Regiment staged at Camp Young, California for Deployment from San Francisco Port of Embarkation 20 March 1943, where the unit was stripped of its motorized assets, and redesignated as the 28th Infantry Regiment.
• Regiment's deployment assignment was changed to the European Theater on 1 May 1943.
• Regiment moved from Camp Young to Camp Forest, Tennessee on 17 August 1943, where it re-trained for European service.
• Regiment staged at Camp Kilmer on 23 November 1943.
• 28th Infantry Regiment deployed from New York Port of Embarkation on 5 December 1943
• Arrived in England on 16 December 1943.
• Deployed forward to France on 3 July 1944.
• Regiment attached to 6th Armored Division from 18 August 1944.
• Regiment released from attachment to 6th Armored Division on 21 August 1944.
• Regiment crossed into Luxembourg on 30 September 1944.
• Regiment entered Germany on 19 November 1944.
• Regiment was redeployed to Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation 6 July 1945 en route to assignment to the Pacific Theater.
• Regiment moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri to begin training for invasion of Japanese Home Islands on 9 July 1945.
• Regiment was located at Fort Leonard Wood on 14 August 1945, which is when Japan agreed to surrender.
• Regiment inactivated 1 November 1945 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
• Regiment activated 17 August 1950 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina
• Regiment reorganized and redesignated 1 August 1957 as follows:

HHC, 1st Battalion became Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battle Group, 28th Infantry, and remained assigned to the 8th Infantry Division (organic elements concurrently constituted and activated)

HHC, 2nd Battalion became Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battle Group, 28th Infantry, relieved from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division, and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division (organic elements concurrently constituted and activated)

• HHC, 2nd Battle Group relieved 26 December 1958 from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division and assigned to the 24th Infantry Division
• HHC, 1st Battle Group relieved 1 May 1959 from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division
• HHC, 2nd Battle Group inactivated 1 February 1963 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 24th Infantry Division
• HHC, 2nd Battle Group redesignated 23 October 1963 as the HHC, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, and assigned to the 1st Infantry Division.
• On 13 January 1964, The regiment was affected at Fort Riley as follows:

HHC, 1st Battle Group reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment.

HHC, 2nd Battalion was activated.

• The regiment arrived in Vietnam as follows:

2nd Battalion:2 October 1965

1st Battalion 10 October 1965

• Regiment returned from Vietnam on 8 April 1970.
• 2nd Battalion inactivated 15 April 1970 at Fort Riley, Kansas, and relieved from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division
• 2nd Battalion assigned 21 February 1973 to the 8th Infantry Division
• 2nd Battalion activated 31 August 1973 in Germany.
• HHC, 1st Battalion inactivated 28 February 1983 at Fort Riley, Kansas, and relieved from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division
• 2nd Battalion inactivated 1 August 1984 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division
• Regimental and battalion headquarters reassigned 27 February 1987 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
• HHC, 2nd Battalion inactivated 30 September 1994 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina
• HHC, 2nd Battalion activated 16 September 1996 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina
• Regiment redesignated 1 October 2005 as follows:

HHC, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment became Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment

HHC, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment became Headquarters, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment.

• Regimental Hqs. and Battalion Hqs. inactivated 16 November 2005 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and withdrawn from the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.
• 1st Battalion assigned 16 January 2006 to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas.
• 2nd Battalion activated 16 March 2008 in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
• 2nd Battalion inactivated 31 May 2013 in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
• 1st Battalion inactivated 9 April 2015 at Fort Riley, Kansas.
• 1st Battalion activated 16 December 2015 at Fort Benning, Georgia, as Task Force 1-28.

• Second Lieutenant Samuel I. Parker. World War I. From 18 to 19 July 1918, while assigned to Company K, 28th Infantry Regiment, near Soissons, France, he ordered his depleted platoon and a disorganized group of French Colonials to follow him in an attack upon a strong point. This consolidated group followed 2d Lt. Parker through direct enemy rifle and machine gun fire to the crest of the hill, and rushing forward, took a quarry by storm, capturing 6 machine guns and about 40 prisoners. The next day when the assault was continued, 2d Lt. Parker in command of the merged 2d and 3d Battalions was in support of the 1st Battalion. Although painfully wounded in the foot, he refused to be evacuated and continued to lead his command until the objective was reached. Seeing that the assault battalion was subjected to heavy enfilade fire due to a gap between it and the French on its left, 2d Lt. Parker led his battalion through this heavy fire up on the line to the left of the 1st Battalion and thereby closed the gap, remaining in command of his battalion until the newly established lines of the 28th Infantry were thoroughly consolidated. In supervising the consolidation of the new position, 2d Lt. Parker was compelled to crawl about on his hands and knees on account of his painful wound. His conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to the members of the entire command.[3]
• Private Sterling L. Morelock. World War I. On 4 October 1918, while serving with Company M, 28th Infantry Regiment near Exermont, France, he, with 3 other men who were acting as runners at company headquarters, voluntarily led them as a patrol in advance of his company's frontline through an intense rifle, artillery, and machine gun fire and penetrated a woods which formed the German frontline. Encountering a series of 5 hostile machine gun nests, containing from 1 to 5 machine guns each, with his patrol he cleaned them all out, gained and held complete mastery of the situation until the arrival of his company commander with reinforcements, even though his entire party had become casualties. He rendered first aid to the injured and evacuated them by using stretcher bearers 10 German prisoners whom he had captured. Soon thereafter his company commander was wounded and while dressing his wound Pvt. Morelock was very severely wounded in the hip, which forced his evacuation. His heroic action and devotion to duty were an inspiration to the entire regiment.[3]
• Sergeant Michael B. Ellis. World War I. On 5 October 1918, while serving with Company C, 28th Infantry Regiment near Exermont, France, he operated far in advance of the first wave of his company, voluntarily undertaking most dangerous missions and single-handedly attacking and reducing machine gun nests. Flanking one emplacement, he killed 2 of the enemy with rifle fire and captured 17 others. Later he single-handedly advanced under heavy fire and captured 27 prisoners who had been holding up the advance of the company. The captured officers indicated the locations of four other machine guns, and he in turn captured these, together with their crews, at all times showing marked heroism and fearlessness.[3]
• Second Lieutenant Robert J. Hibbs. Vietnam War. On 6 March 1966, near Don Dien Lo Ke, Republic of Vietnam, while assigned to Company B, 2d Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 2d Lt. Hibbs was in command of a 15-man ambush patrol of the 2d Battalion, when his unit observed a company of Viet Cong advancing along the road toward the 2d battalion's position. He fired two anti-personnel mines, wounding or killing half of the enemy company. Then, to cover the withdrawal of his patrol, he threw hand grenades, stepped onto the open road, and opened fire on the remainder of the Viet Cong force of approximately 50 men. Having rejoined his men, he was leading them toward the battalion perimeter when the patrol encountered the rear elements of another Viet Cong company deployed to attack the battalion. With the advantage of surprise, he directed the charge against the Viet Cong, which carried the patrol through the insurgent force, completely disrupting its attack. Learning that a wounded patrol member was wandering in the area between the two opposing forces and although moments from safety and wounded in the leg himself, he and a sergeant went back to the battlefield to recover the stricken man. After they maneuvered through the withering fire of two Viet Cong machine guns, the sergeant grabbed the dazed soldier and dragged him back toward friendly lines while 2d Lt. Hibbs remained behind to provide covering fire. Armed with only a M-16 rifle and a pistol, but determined to destroy the enemy positions, he then charged the two machine gun emplacements and was struck down. Before succumbing to his mortal wounds, he destroyed the starlight scope attached to his rifle to prevent its capture and use by the Viet Cong.[4]
• Captain Eurípides Rubio. Vietnam War. On 8 November 1966, while serving with Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in the Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Captain Rubio's company came under attack from the North Vietnamese Army; leaving the safety of his post, Rubio received two serious wounds as he braved the intense enemy fire to distribute ammunition, re-establish positions and render aid to the wounded. Despite his pain, he assumed command when a rifle company commander was medically evacuated. He was then wounded a third time as he tried to move amongst his men to encourage them to fight with renewed effort. While aiding the evacuation of wounded personnel, he noted that a U.S. smoke grenade, which was intended to mark the Viet Cong's position for an air strike, had fallen dangerously close to friendly lines. He ran to move the grenade, but was immediately struck to his knees by enemy fire. Despite his wounds, Rubio managed to collect the grenade and run through enemy fire to within 20 meters of the enemy position and throw the by-then already smoking grenade into the enemy before he fell for the final time. Using the repositioned grenade as a marker, friendly air strikes were directed to destroy the hostile positions.[5]
• First Lieutenant Gary L. Miller. Vietnam War. On 16 February 1969, while assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam, Miller smothered the blast of an enemy-thrown grenade with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him.[5]

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.

• 28th Infantry Regiment in World War I—the regiment served with the U.S. 1st Infantry Division in World War I and as such is covered in divisional histories of that formation, as well as having its own regimental history published.
• Bennett, Leonard. Million Dollar Foxhole. Details the service of Staff Sergeant Doyle Richey of Company E, 28th Infantry Regiment.
• Goldman, Peter and Tony Fuller. Charlie Company: What Vietnam Did To Us (William Morrow & Co., New York NY, 1983). History of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment (of the 1st Division) in 1968.
• Gray, Frank Orville. Grasshopper Fox C.P. A privately printed history of Company F, 28th Infantry Regiment.
• Tripp, Nathaniel. Father, Soldier, Son—memoir of a platoon leader of the 28th Infantry Regiment in Vietnam.
• Nelson, James Carl. The Remains of Company D: A story of the great war. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009. ISBN 9780312551001 plus Webcast Author Interview at the Pritzker Military Library on 29 October 2009
• Bowman, Stephen L., COL USA (Ret). "A Century of Valor, The First One Hundred Years of The Twenty-Eighth United States Infantry Regiment - Black Lions." Cantigny First Division Foundation, Wheaton, IL 2004. ISBN 1-890093-14-9

• "1st Bn 28th Infantry Lineage and Honors". United States Army Center of Military History.
• "2d Bn 28th Infantry Lineage and Honors". United States Army Center of Military History.
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-5A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-29A (1966) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.