's of the 60th Infantry Regiment in Belgium, 9 September 1944, supported by a
modified Sherman. A generation later during
World War II, in August 1940, war in Europe resulted in a rapid expansion of the U.S. Army. The 60th Infantry was reactivated on 10 August 1940, less Reserve personnel, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 60th Infantry spearheaded the November 1942,
Allied invasion of
French Morocco at
Port Lyautey during
Operation Torch, crediting each member of the unit that made the amphibious assault landing the
arrowhead device. The landing under fire laid the basis for its nickname 'Scouts Out'. At the time of the invasion, there was great confusion among the Navy
coxswains about the landing sites. They either placed the infantry units in the wrong sector, or put them on the beaches very late. The 60th Infantry, for example, landed at 05:30, 40 minutes late, giving the defending
Vichy French time to organize. The 60th Infantry's 1st Battalion landed 2,800 yards north of their assigned beach, and were engaged by French light tanks once ashore. Its 2nd and 3rd Battalions were strafed by French planes. Company E, 2nd Battalion, was stopped completely at a strongpoint, the Port Lyautey lighthouse. The 2nd Battalion's eventual objective was to take an ancient fortress called the Kasba. Once the landing points were completely secured, engagements were fought between small units and opposing batteries. The 60th Infantry culminated its successful North African campaigns with a defense on 18 April 1943 (Easter Sunday) against a massive German attack. The 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry earned the regiment's and the 9th Division's, first
Presidential Unit Citation for its actions on 23 and 24 April during the
Battle of Sedjenane. The Germans hit the 2nd Battalion from all four sides with two infantry battalions supported by artillery. After a four-hour attack that failed, the Germans left 116 dead, 48 wounded, and many prisoners in American hands. During the 60th Infantry's drive along the
Tunisia-
Algeria border, the regiment captured a German general's diary which gave the regiment its nickname, the "Go Devils". In his account of American actions against the Germans, the general wrote, "Look at those devils go!" The 60th Infantry thereafter became known as the "Go Devils". During the battle
Sergeant William L. Nelson was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor. During the
Allied invasion of Sicily, the 60th Infantry continued its victorious ways, culminating in the famous Silent March ("Ghost March"), where the regiment infiltrated enemy lines and broke open the last of the German resistance. On 5 August 1943, the 60th Infantry landed at
Palermo, Sicily. Their first combat action there was the first of the infiltrations they would make in Sicily. The 60th Infantry flanked the city of
Troina, which forced the German artillery protecting their infantrymen in the city to withdraw, allowing other U.S. divisions to easily swallow up the Germans in the city. Next, the 60th Infantry chased the retreating Germans east towards
Randazzo. The pursuit was hindered by a number booby traps, demolitions, anti-tank and personnel mines, craters and blown bridges. Regardless, the 60th Infantry completed its flanking movement around Randazzo, which allowed the
39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, to take Randazzo and open the road to Messina which was taken on 17 August. Rest and further training followed for some two months. On 11 November 1943, the 60th Infantry embarked for
Winchester,
Hampshire,
England. On 11 June 1944, the 60th Infantry debarked at
Utah Beach on the
Cotentin Peninsula,
Normandy, France. On 12 June, driving hard toward the St. Colombe in France, the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry completely outdistanced the rest of the 9th Division. For a time, the 60th Regiment was believed to be lost. Actually, its 2nd Battalion had overrun the German defenses in the face of murderous fire and had cut the main highway to the northwest. Instead of withdrawing, the battalion set up a bridgehead on the
Douve River and held the position for seven hours until the rest of the 9th Division caught up to them, thus facilitating the cutting of the peninsula. Due to this demonstration of rapid penetration and maneuver, the "Scouts Out" motto originated for the 2nd Battalion. "Scouts Out" is the official greeting of the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry. In France during June 1944, the 60th Infantry once again led the way for the 9th Division as it spearheaded the American advance out of the beachhead that cut the Contentin Peninsula. While the 39th and
47th Infantry Regiments of the 9th Division secured the vital Port of Cherburg, the 60th Infantry cleared
Cape La Hague, northwest of Cherbourg, where
Medal of Honor recipient
Second Lieutenant John E. Butts was killed. At the pivotal crossing of the
Douve River, Lieutenant Butts earned the Medal of Honor and the 2nd Battalion earned its second Presidential Unit Citation. Following the breakout at St. Lo, the 60th Infantry rushed south during
Operation Cobra and helped relieve the battered
30th Infantry Division, that had been surrounded by the Germans in their own counterattack (
Operation Luttich). Next, the 60th Infantry turned east and helped in the closure and clearing of the
Falaise pocket. Continuing east, the 60th Infantry crossed the Marne, Aisne, and the Seine Rivers in a matter of days. Next the 60th Infantry entered
Belgium and made its second combat crossing of the
Meuse River. In this action, Medal of Honor recipient,
Lieutenant Colonel Matt Urban was wounded for the seventh time after having gone AWOL from a hospital to rejoin the 2nd Battalion and lead them in combat. After the bitter and bloody struggle in the Huertegen Forest, the 60th Infantry fell back to the Monschau area where its efforts won it a third Presidential Unit Citation in the snow and bitter cold of the
Battle of the Bulge. The 60th Infantry then was the first to capture the Schwammanuel Dam on the
Roer River. Continuing south, the regiment was one of the first to cross the
Rhine at
Remagen. After expanding the bridgehead, the regiment shot northeast, where they helped seal and destroy the
Ruhr Pocket. Continuing northeast, the 60th Infantry advanced toward the
Harz Mountains, where for the first time the regiment had attached to them a platoon of black volunteers. While destroying a German roadblock, one of the volunteers,
Private First Class Jack Thomas, won the
Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism. After relieving the
3rd Armored Division, the 60th Infantry held that line until
VE day, and met up with Russian soldiers soon after. For their actions in Central Europe, the regiment was awarded a fourth Presidential Unit Citation. The 60th Infantry was inactivated in November 1946 while on occupation duty in Germany. == Vietnam War ==