| Unit Name: | 304th Infantry Regiment |
| Dates: | 1917 – 19 1921 – 45 1946–present |
| Country: | United States |
| Branch: | U.S. Army |
| Type: | Training unit |
| Command Structure: | 98th Division |
| Motto: | "Forward" |
| Battles: | World War I World War II Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Battle Honours: | Battle of the Ardennes Battle of the Rhineland Battle of Central Germany |
The 304th Infantry Regiment currently consists of two battalions in the United States Army Reserve. In the current organizational plan of the U.S. Army, regimental designation is used only in historical tradition; there is no regimental commander, staff or headquarters. The 1st Battalion, 304th Regiment is headquartered in Londonderry, New Hampshire, and the 3rd Battalion, 304th Regiment is headquartered in Saco, Maine.
The 304th Regiment was created primarily with men from Connecticut as part of the 76th Infantry Division on 29 August 1917, at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, for the purpose of fighting Imperial Germany in World War I. Colonel Joseph S. Herron was appointed as the unit's first commander and set sail with the unit from Boston Harbor on 7 July 1918. The unit arrived in England, rested, then crossed the Channel for Le Havre, France, on 27 July 1918. Once in place in France, the unit served as a replacement regiment, providing officers and soldiers to the units currently fighting on the front line.[1]
The war ended on November 11, 1918, and the unit left France in 1919, being deactivated on 20 January 1919.
The 304th Infantry was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, assigned to the 76th Division, and allotted to the First Corps Area. It was initiated on 23 December 1921 with regimental headquarters at Hartford, Connecticut. Subordinate battalion headquarters concurrently organized as follows: 1st Battalion at Manchester, Connecticut; 2nd Battalion at Hartford; and 3rd Battalion at Torrington, Connecticut. Typically conducted inactive training period meetings at the State Arsenal and Armory in Hartford. The regiment conducted summer training most years with the 9th Division's 5th and 13th Infantry Regiments at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, or Fort Adams, Rhode Island. The regiment also conducted infantry Citizens Military Training Camps some years at Camp Devens as an alternate form of summer training. The primary ROTC "feeder" school for new Reserve lieutenants for the regiment was Connecticut Agricultural College in Storrs, Connecticut. The designated mobilization training station for the regiment was Camp Devens.[2]
With America's declaration of war on Nazi Germany in 1941, units in the Reserve Forces were called to active duty. The 304th Regiment, with the rest of the 76th Division, was called to active duty on 15 June 1942, and sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, to prepare for deployment overseas. The regiment completed training on 28 September 1942, and would remain on casual status until 25 February 1943.[1]
The regiment returned to combat status on 25 February 1943, and moved to A.P. Hill Military Reservation at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Colonel Wallace A. Choquette took command on 28 September 1943, and the unit set forth for Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. For the next year the unit continued to train, and finally on 11 November 1944, the regiment moved out for Europe.
Once in Europe, the 304th Regiment participated in the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of the Rhineland and the Battle of Central Germany.[1] When hostilities ended on VE Day, the 304th Regiment was given the task of governing Altenburg and Rochlitz. The regiment was disbanded while still in Germany on 31 August 1945.[1]
Just as after World War II, the 304th Regiment was reconstituted in the Army Reserves on 7 October 1946. But the headquarters was moved to Portland, Maine, rather than Hartford, Connecticut. The headquarters was moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1952. By 1963, the regiment's executive officer was Lt. Col. Clarence E. "Chief" Boston, who was head football coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats in nearby Durham, New Hampshire.[3] The US Army moved away from the use of regiments as a command structure, and the 304th Regiment ceased to exist as a command on 31 January 1968. However, the three subordinate battalions continued to exist as elements of the 76th Division.
The 2nd Battalion would eventually also be deactivated, but the 1st and 3rd battalions continue to survive, albeit in different divisions, with presences from Maine to Maryland. The 1st Battalion of the 304th Regiment, known as the Patriot Battalion, is headquartered in Londonderry, New Hampshire, as part of the 98th Division with the mission of executing basic training for the US Army at Fort Leonard Wood, formerly Fort Benning, Georgia, while the 3rd Battalion of the 304th Regiment (Forward Battalion) is headquartered in Saco, Maine, as a part of the 104th Training Division with the mission of supporting military training for the United States Corps of Cadets, United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.