The Regiment first saw combat services from Dec 1901 to Jan 1904 during the Philippine Insurrection where the Regiment was heavily involved in counter-guerilla operations. Elements of the regiments were first deployed into the rebellious provinces on Luzon Island, but most of the 28th Infantry's action was seen later, on the island on Mindanao. The Regiment subdues the Moro guerillas at Pantar, then at the walled city of Jolo and most notably leading the American assault during the savage battle of Suliman Mountain.

During the years 1906-1908, the regiment, minus one Battalion, performed guard and police duty as part of the American forces of Cuban Occupation.

In 1913, the 28th Infantry was ordered to Texas to assist in guarding the Mexican border against raids by Pancho Villa. In April, 1914, the Regiment was part of the expedition which occupied the captured Mexican city Vera Cruz. It served there until November of that year.

Following the entry of the US into WWI, the Regiment was assigned on June 8, 1917 to the First Expeditionary Division which later became the First Infantry Division. On June 29, the men of Company K became the first American combat unit to set foot on European soil at St. Nazaire, France.

The Regiment distinguished itself by conducting the first offensive operations by US troops in WWI at Cantigny, where, in a viciously fought three-day battle, the 28th Infantry captured the town of Cantigny and then withstood five determined German counterattacks. Here the "Lions of Cantigny" were born and the prestige of the American fighting man was upheld before the world. The Regiment also fought in the battles of Soissons, the Argonne and Sedan. It suffered more than 5000 casualties in this war. Three of its members were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroism: Sargent Michael B. Ellis of Co B, Private Sterling Morelock of Co M and 2nd Lieutenant Samuel I. Parker of Co K.

In 1922, Companies E, F, G, H, Headquarters, and Service Companies, and the Regimental Band were posted to Fort Niagara. Other elements of the 28'th Regiment were stationed at Fort Porter in Buffalo (until deactivated) and at Fort Ontario in Oswego. In 1934, a "Four Nations Celebration" marked the re-dedication of Old Fort Niagara, newly restored in large part due to the efforts of the soldiers of the 28'th Regiment. Of particular note was Congressional funding for individually tailored colonial uniforms for the Regimental Band. Officers of the 28'th Regiment had prominent acting roles in historical pageants marking Fort Niagara's history. Soldiers in colonial costume were used in large numbers as extras in re-enactments of Fort Niagara's 18'th century battles.

In December, 1936 the old Officers Club and Bachelor Officers' Quarters burned to the stone foundations. A Congressional appropriation of $54,000 and much scrounging by the Quartermaster Corps resulted in the grand opening of a new brick Officers Club on June 27, 1938. Built to resemble the lines of the French Castle in the interior of Old Fort Niagara the structure is the Officers Club to be seen today.

In the following months, three murals were added to the interior of the Officers Club as interpretations of the Regiment's history. Crawford's "Battle of Cantigny" solemnly commemorates the Regiment's hard fought and costly victory On May 28'th and 29'th, 1918. It is a vivid recreation of the savagery of the fight for this small French town about 55 miles north of Paris. Downstairs in the Officers Mess, Dyczkowski's mural, "Defending Forts", places two soldiers of 28'th Regiment in the very center of Fort Niagara and at the end of the mural's timeline of forts through the ages. Across from the Officers Mess is the Officers Grill or Bar. Major Tom Loftin Johnson's mural "The U.S. at War" portrays the Regiment at its three foreign duty stations prior to World War I as well as a much different rendition of the "Battle of Cantigny".

Shortly after these three murals were finished, the 28'th Infantry Regiment was transferred out of Fort Niagara never to return. Withdrawn from assignment to the First Division Oct 16, 1939, it was assigned to the Eighth Division on June 22, 1940.

The 28th Infantry again distinguished itself in combat during WWII. After landing on Utah Beach on July 4, 1944, its first action was an attack to the South to establish a critical bridgehead over the Ay River so that armored divisions could launch a breakout and then attack into Brittany and Northern France. The Regiment then advanced South through Avrances and Rennes and turned west into Brittany. It participated in the savage battle for Brest and then fought on the Crozon Peninsula.

In late September the 28th was moved to Luxembourg and assigned to defend its sector of the 8th Infantry Division front which stretched along the Our River. In mid-November, the Regiment relieved elements of the 109th Infantry in the area southeast of Aachen. The next several weeks were spent attacking through the dense, forbidding Hurtgen Forest, where enemy artillery and mines presented a fierce enemy resistance causing numerous casualties in the worst fighting the Regiment was to experience.

The Regiment successfully conducted an assault crossing of the flood-swollen Roer in late Feb. It then seized the town of Stockheim and continued the attack, seizing dozens of strongly defended enemy towns, until it reached the Rhine River.

In mid-April the 28th Infantry drove North as part of the campaign to destroy or capture all enemy forces trapped in the Ruhr-Seig pocket. After a brief period of occupation duty in the Ruhr-Rhine area, the Regiment was ordered to cross the Elbe and advance toward the Baltic Sea. The final days of the war for the Regiment were spent managing huge numbers of Wehrmacht POWs, refugees and former prisoners of the Germans.

During its ten months of combat, the Regiment played a major part in four allied campaigns, winning three Presidential Unit Citations embroidered Normandy, Bergstein and Stockheim. It captured over 115,000 prisoners of war and vast stores of enemy material.

The Regiment was inactive from 1945 until 1950. It was reactivated in Aug, 1950, again as part of the 8th Division, and served as a training regiment at Ft. Jackson
Excerpted, in part, from the Regimental history with permission.