52nd Infantry Regiment (United States) - World War I

World War I

After the 52nd Infantry Regiment's activation in 1917, the regiment was assigned to the Sixth Infantry Division. The Sixth Division was organized in November 1917 as a square division consisting of the 51st, 52nd, 53rd, and the 54th Infantry Regiments, the 16th, 17th and 18th Machine-Gun Battalions and the 3rd, 11th and 78th Field Artillery Regiments. The units of the division gathered in New York and left for France in July 1918. After marching and training all over western France, the Sixth was assigned on 31 August to the Vosges sector. There, a chain of lofty wooded peaks had stalemated both the French and German armies. Their mission was the defense of a 21-mile front. The division engaged in active patrols in no man's land and behind the German lines. In addition infantry platoon strongpoints defended against German raiding parties which launched their attacks using liquid fire and grenades.

The division developed its reputation for hiking and nickname of “The Sightseeing Sixth” when, prior to the Argonne offensive, it engaged in extensive fake marches, often under enemy artillery and air bombardment, to deceive the Germans into thinking a major attack was to take place in the Vosges sector. After another short period of training, consisting primarily of forced marches, the division hiked itself into the closing campaign of the war, the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In corps reserve, the 6th was used in place of an unavailable cavalry division to try to maintain contact with the rapidly retreating Germans. During its three months at the front, the 6th Division lost 227 men killed in action or died of wounds. It maintained an active defense in one important sector and played a major role in the tactical plan in another.

After the armistice, the six-point Red Star was adopted as the division insignia on 19 November 1918. This six-point Red Star became a part of the 52d Infantry's crest to mark the regiment's first combat with the 6th Division. The bulk of the division returned to the States in June 1919 aboard the USS Leviathan. The division continued its service at Camp Grant, Illinois and was deactivated on 30 September 1921.