18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. “Vanguards”. Constituted in May of 1861, the 18th Infantry Regiment served with distinction in twenty-three campaigns spanning the Civil War, Indian Wars, War with Spain, Philippine Insurrection, and World War 1. In World War II, the 18th Infantry took part in the First Infantry Divisions amphibious assaults on North Africa (1942) and Sicily (1943), making it one of the Army's most seasoned infantry regiments. , On D-Day, the Regiment made its third amphibious assault. The 18th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) landed in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach with the 2nd Battalion leading the attack. The 1st and 3rd Battalions followed. The battle plan called for the 18th RCT to assemble under the protection of covering fire from the 16th RCT then deploy across the Aure River to positions southeast of Colleville. The 18th RCT would take intermediate objectives and occupy the high ground east of the village of Trévières. That did not happen. , Heavy enemy opposition, strong lateral currents, and growing congestion at the shoreline delayed the 2nd Battalion's landing by a quarter-hour. As its elements struggled ashore at 1000 hours, Brigadier General Willard G. Wyman, Assistant Commander of the First Division, ordered them to reinforce the decimated 16th RCT, but they encountered stiff resistance from a pillbox on the western side of the inland draw. A naval fire-control party intervened, contacting a destroyer sailing at keel depth 1,000 yards oft the beach. Supported by naval gun fire, 2nd Battalion forces captured the bunker. The regiment's 1st Battalion began a delayed debarkation at 1245; the 3rd Battalion followed at 1330. , , Throughout the landing, the enemy racked the beaches with effective fire. Obstacles and enemy fire damaged most artillery. Private Carlton W. Barrett, who had come ashore in the regiment's Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, repeatedly braved the rising water and enemy fire to wade out to rescue wounded and exhausted comrades. Undaunted by the fusillade of small-arms and mortar fire interdicting the landing sites, he alternately ministered to the wounded and carried dispatches between landing teams until halted by his own wounds. For those exceptional actions Private Barrett received the Medal of Honor. , The 2nd Battalion advanced to the western edge of Colleville and then veered south. The last defenders of the St. Laurent draw surrendered to the 2nd Battalion at 1130. The 1st and 3rd Battalions pressed inland and finished the day to the southeast of Coleville. By 2400 hours the 18th Infantry Regiment had cut the Vierville-Colleville coast road and established strong defensive positions midway between St. Laurent and Colleville but did not reach the Aure River until the evening of 7 June. , , In memory of a soldier-citizen: MSGT Earl Boyd Wilson, USA (Ret.), of Bedford, Virginia, who made three amphibious assaults with the 18th Infantry Regiment. Given by his friends, his fellow volunteers at the National D-Day Memorial, and staff of the staff of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation.