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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Is There Only One 307th in the United States Army?


“Is there only one 307th in the United States Army?”  The Newton Falls Public Library staff was not exactly sure for what our patron was asking, so we asked for additional information.  She needed to know if there was only one 307th designation in the Army, whether it is a regiment, battalion, etc.

We began with the U.S. Army’s homepage, www.army.mil.  Searching this site using the term 307th, we found about 429 results. The list of articles included the 307th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and 307th Airborne Medical Company which were part of the 82nd Airborne Division during D Day, 307th Infantry Regiment and othersWanting to know if we were looking for the correct information, we spoke with the patron again. She explained that she is looking for the 307th that was in North Japan during World War II.

Sometimes successful searching is a matter of happening to select the correct term.  When we Googled the term “307th regiment”, we found the Department of the Army Lineage and Honors 307th Regiment.  This history said that it was constituted August 5, 1917 in the National Army as the 307th Infantry and assigned to the 77th Division. It was both active and inactive over the following decades, and was ordered back into active military service March 25, 1942.  March 15, 1946 it was inactivated in Japan, and then activated again December 17, 1946 in the Organized Reserves with Headquarters at Bronx, New York. 

Baxterbulletin.com has an article titled, 3-Wars Veteran Recalls Battles on IslandJust Off Okinawa by Frank Wallis. Wallis states “The 307th Regiment was the third segment of 13 77th Infantry battle groups to land on the west of Okinawa for the battles of Kerama Retto and Keise Shima. The Battle of Okinawa would produce more American deaths — 12,513 in 81 days — than any other battle in the Pacific.”  We gave our patron these links, and told her if she needed more information, we would be happy to continue searching for her.

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