The 132nd Infantry Regiment was inducted into federal service on 5 March 1941, at Chicago, Illinois, as part of the 33rd Infantry Division, and participated in divisional maneuvers at
Camp Forrest, Tennessee. It was relieved from the 33rd Division on 14 January 1942, and assigned to Task Force 6814, an assemblage of units gathered for immediate transfer to
Australia to defend against threatened Japanese invasion. On the morning of 17 January 1942, the last train car pulled away from Camp Forrest carrying the 123 officers and 3,325 enlisted men. "Being one of the first infantry regiments to be moved overseas, the trains were guarded by F.B.I. agents." On 20 January 1942, it sailed from
New York and arrived in Australia on 27 February. On 6 March it sailed again, arriving in
New Caledonia, where it became an infantry component of the newly created
Americal Division on 24 May 1942. The 132nd Infantry arrived on
Guadalcanal on 8 December 1942, where it engaged in combat in the
Guadalcanal campaign, including fierce fighting to capture Japanese positions in the
Battle of Mount Austen. The Regiment was relieved and sent to
Fiji with the rest of the Americal Division to rest and refit. The 132nd next fought in the
Bougainville campaign. It arrived at Cape Torokina on 9 January 1944, and relieved the
3rd Marine Parachute Battalion, the
3rd Marine Raider Battalion, and units of the 145th Infantry, which then reverted to the
37th Division. The 132nd Infantry took over that portion of the perimeter paralleling the Torokina on the extreme right flank and engaged in patrolling and in strengthening defensive positions. On 5 April 1944, after establishing patrols along Empress Augusta Bay, the 132nd successfully launched an attack to capture Mavavia Village. Two days later, while continuing a sweep for enemy forces, the Regiment encountered prepared enemy defenses, where they destroyed some twenty Japanese pillboxes using pole charges and bazookas. Later, the 132nd secured the heights west of Saua River in fierce fighting that lasted until 18 April, when the last of the Japanese defenders were killed or driven off. In 1945, the 132nd participated in the retaking of the
Philippine Islands. On 26 March 1945, preceded by a heavy naval and aerial bombardment, troops of the 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry waded ashore across heavily mined beaches during an amphibious invasion of
Cebu Island, at a point just south of Cebu City. Elements of the 132nd later secured
Mactan Island and
Opon Airfield in
Cebu province. On 26 November 1945, the 132nd was inactivated at
Fort Lewis, Washington. The 132nd was relieved on 5 July 1946, from assignment to the Americal Division and reassigned to the 33rd Infantry Division. It was reorganized and federally recognized on 11 February 1947, at Chicago as a component of the
Illinois Army National Guard. It consolidated on 15 March 1954, with the
131st Infantry and the consolidated unit was designated as the 131st Infantry, an element of the 33rd Infantry Division. ==Distinctive unit insignia==