187th Infantry Regiment (United States) - World War II and Aftermath

World War II and Aftermath

The regiment was originally constituted as the 187th Glider Infantry Regiment on 12 November 1942, and activated on 25 February 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. It was originally a two battalion glider regiment assigned to the 11th Airborne Division, the men of the 187th trained both as glider and parachute troops. They moved to Camp Polk on 1944-01-09 for glider training. The regiment staged at Camp Stoneman, California on 1944-04-29, and departed from the San Francisco Port of Embarkation on 1944-05-06.

The regiment arrived in New Guinea on 1944-05-29 and joined the New Guinea Campaign. The regiment departed New Guinea on 1944-11-11, and arrived on Leyte on 1944-11-18 to join the Leyte Campaign.

The Regiment left Leyte, and joined the Luzon Campaign by assaulting Nasugbu Point Luzon on 1945-01-31, blocking Japanese forces as part of the advance on Manila from the south. From then until April, the 187th fought their way from Nichols Field, Fort William McKinley, and Manila to Mount Macolod and Malepunyo.

In May, the 187th moved into Lipa to refit, rebuild, and prepare for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan. At this time, the 3rd Battalion was formed and the regiment was redesignated a para-glider regiment.

The regiment was attached to the Provost Marshal General, U.S. Army Forces Far East from 1945-06-01 through 1945-07-27 at Manila. The campaigns in the Philippines were declared completed on 1945-07-04, and the regiment moved to Okinawa on 12 August 1945 for occupation duty. This is where the unit gained its name; Rakkasan, when it was the only unit to parachute onto Japanese soil at the time. Then with the war coming to an end on 1945-08-14, the regiment subsequently moved to Japan on 30 August 1945, and was alleged to be the first foreign ground combat unit to enter that nation.

In April 1949, the regiment returned to the United States and was stationed at what was then Camp Campbell, Kentucky. It was redesignated the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment on 1949-06-30 and became part of the 11th Airborne Division. In early 1950, the 187th participated in "Operation Swarmer," the largest peacetime airborne maneuver in history.