The 144th Infantry Regiment (4th Texas) is an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, Texas Army National Guard. It was formed in 1880 and served in several American wars including the present

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

. Currently, only the 3rd Battalion remains, and it is a part of the

56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team The 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a brigade combat team unit of the Texas Army National Guard, part of the 36th Infantry Division. Early history At the start of World War I the War Department organized two National Guard Cavalry br ...

of the 36th Infantry Division.

History

The 144th Infantry Regiment was created in April 1880, when six volunteer militia companies of the

Texas State Guard The Texas State Guard (TXSG) is part of the state military force of Texas, and one of three branches of the Texas Military Forces. Along with the other two branches, the TXSG falls under the command of the Governor of Texas and is administered by ...

consolidated into the 4th Texas Infantry. The six companies were the Lamar Rifles from

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, the Fannin Light Guards from Bonham, the Frontier Rifles from

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

, the Gate City Guard from Denison, the Johnson County Guard from Cleburne, and the Queen City Guards from Dallas. In 1898, the 4th Texas Volunteers were mustered for federal service in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

, and they were redesignated as the Second Infantry, Texas Volunteers, but they never deployed or saw combat. In 1903, the regiment regained its 4th Texas moniker after a state military force reorganization.

Border War

In 1916, the 4th Texas mobilized for service along the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

during the Border War, and they were responsible for the Big Bend region of Texas.

World War I

The regiment was recalled to federal service soon after, in March 1917, and was combined with elements of the 6th Texas Infantry at

Camp Bowie Camp Bowie is a United States National Guard training center located in west central Texas on the southern outskirts of Brownwood. History Camp Bowie, named in honor of the Texas patriot James Bowie, was a military training facility during Wor ...

to form the new 144th Infantry Regiment. They were going to fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. They were assigned to the 72nd Brigade of the 36th Infantry Division, alongside the 143rd Infantry Regiment. Arriving in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in July 1918, it trained in

Bar-sur-Aube Bar-sur-Aube (, literally ''Bar on Aube'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of France. Surrounded by hills and Champagne vineyards, the city is traversed by the river Aube, from which it derive ...

until September where they served as a reserve for the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

. On 9 October 1918, the 144th relieved elements of the 2nd Infantry Division during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. By the time the Texans had reached the front, the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

were engaging in a fighting retreat all along the front line. Enemy

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

, and

machine-gun A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...

, small arms fire hit the men of the regiment during their continuous advance, but they closed in on the

Aisne River The Aisne ( , , ) is a river in northeastern France. It is a left tributary of the Oise. It gave its name to the French department of Aisne. It was known in the Roman period as Axona. The river rises in the forest of Argonne, at Remberco ...

by 12 October. The next day, they swept south to clear out any stalwart defenders, and were moved off the line. They spent the rest of the war acting as a divisional reserve. They had lost 369 men in the Great War, the second largest toll of the infantry regiments in the division. The 144th was mustered out in July 1919 back at Camp Bowie.

Interwar period

During the Interwar period, elements of the 144th performed state duty including storm relief in Dallas and Frost, Texas. They contained riots in Dallas and

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

, and a strike in Texarkana. The regiment also assisted in the recovery efforts for the

New London School explosion The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion and destroyed the London School in New London, Texas, United States. The disaster killed more than 300 students and teachers. , the event i ...

in 1937.

World War II

While

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Fascist Italy were in the process of conquering most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

in 1939 and 1940, and the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

grabbing territory in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and China in the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the United States felt unprepared in the event war was necessary to combat the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

and began mobilizing its army in response. The

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, , was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday b ...

which allowed the government to draft US citizens, was passed, all available National Guard Divisions were inducted into Federal Service within a year. The 144th Infantry Regiment was mobilized on 25 November 1940, and trained at Camp Bowie. The day after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, 8 December 1941, the regiment moved to Fort Lewis,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

to guard the West Coast against possible

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

attack under the

Western Defense Command Western Defense Command (WDC) was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the United States Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States during World War II. A second major respo ...

. Because of the restructuring of the US Army, the 144th was removed from the 36th Infantry Division command on 1 February 1942, was organized as a separate regiment, and assigned to GHQ. The regiment moved to San Francisco, California 20 April 1942, and to Santa Rosa, California 7 May 1942 under the Western Defense Command. The regiment moved to

Atlantic Beach, Florida Atlantic Beach is a city in Duval County, Florida, United States and part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Atlantic Beach, along with Jacksonville B ...

21 January 1943 for coastal patrol duty with the

Eastern Defense Command The Eastern Defense Command was first established as the Northeast Defense Command on 17 March 1941 as one of four U.S. Army continental defense commands to plan and prepare for and execute defense against enemy attack in the months before Ameri ...

, and then was assigned to

Camp Van Dorn Camp Van Dorn is a former military installation in Centreville, Mississippi, in both Wilkinson and Amite counties. Established in 1942 during World War II, the base was named for Confederate General Earl Van Dorn from Mississippi. Holding up to 3 ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

on 23 March 1944. The 144th was reassigned to the XXI Corps on 18 April 1944. From March 1944, the regiment provided an accelerated six-week course of infantry training (four weeks of familiarization, qualification, and transition firing, and two weeks of tactical training) to men who were formerly members of disbanded anti-aircraft and tank destroyer units or who had volunteered for transfer to the infantry from other branches of the Army, and men from the 144th served as replacements in 48 different Army divisions. The 144th moved to Camp Swift, Texas, on 5 January 1945, and then to Camp Rucker, Alabama, on 4 April 1945 under the

Replacement and School Command The United States Replacement and School Command was a training and receiving formation of the United States Army during World War II. History It was established as part of the Army Ground Forces in March 1942, after it was noted that divis ...

, where it was deactivated on 19 September 1945.

After 1945

When the 49th Armored Division was being created, the 144th Infantry was reactivated by battalion from April to November 1947. The 1st-4th Battalions were redesignated as

Mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is di ...

in 1959. The 144th was later mobilized in response to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and deployed to

Fort Polk Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. It was named to honor Leonidas Polk, the firs ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

before returning home in May 1962. It was returned to state service in June. The regiment was briefly deactivated from 1968–1973, where it remained a component of the Texas National Guard.

Global War on Terror

In 2006, as part of the

, Company B of the 3d Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

after pre-deployment training at Fort Dix,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and were actively engaged in combat operations. They returned in late 2007. Five

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

s with

Valor Device Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor (band), a Christian gospel music group * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ...

s were awarded to soldiers of 1st Platoon, Second Squad in recognition of the defeat of an ambush on a State Department convoy in central

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. On 7 May 2007, 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment mobilized as Task Force Panther in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Task Force Panther trained at

Camp Shelby Camp Shelby is a military post whose North Gate is located at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on United States Highway 49. It is the largest state-owned training site in the nation. During wartime, the camp's mission is to s ...

, and, after validation, deployed to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, and then into combat operations in Iraq. The 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012 as Task Force Bowie. In October 2017, the battalion deployed under Task Force Bayonet in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Operation Enduring Freedom Horn of Africa , partof = War on TerrorOperation Enduring Freedom , image = , caption = French Naval commandos (green) and United S ...

, with headquarters out of

Camp Lemonnier Camp Lemonnier is a United States Naval Expeditionary Base, situated next to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City, and home to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRI ...

, Djibouti. The Task Force’s organizational structure was 8 companies, to include one active duty company from the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to re ...

, totaling nearly 1000 Soldiers. 3-144 Infantry redeployed to the United States in July 2018. In 2016, the headquarters and headquarters company of the battalion were at Fort Worth, Company A at Greenville, Company B at

Kilgore Kilgore may refer to: Fictional characters * Kilgore Trout, a recurring character in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut * Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore, a character in the Francis Ford Coppola movie ''Apocalypse Now'' * Teddybear Kilgore (AKA Kilgour), a cha ...

, Company C at Seagoville, and Company D at Palestine. By 2018 the battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company had relocated to Wylie.

References

{{Reflist

144 144 may refer to: * 144 (number), the natural number following 143 and preceding 145 * AD 144, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 144 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 144 (film), ''144'' (film), a 2015 Indian com ...