Statistics:
Purple Heart Medals 192
Combat Infantryman Badges 1,303
Combat Medic Badge 147
Total Awards 1,642
This book has 37 pages
ISBN 978-1-932891-32-4
ISBN 1-932891-32-3
Library of Congress
Control Number
2004-557765
The 274th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the 70th
Infantry Division
WWII Campaigns
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe
This is the third in a series of indexes of all infantry regiments and independent infantry battalions of the US Army in WWII. Others will be published as they are completed.
This work includes all decorations cited in the general orders of the 274th Infantry Regiment.* Please note that some decorations to members of the 274th Infantry Regiment may have been cited in general orders of other commands. This index lists members of the 274th Infantry Regiments that were awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medic Badge by the 274th Infantry Regiment. Combat Infantryman Badges and Combat Medic Badges are important, since the recipients of these badges are retroactively entitled to a Bronze Star Medal; under Change 13 to Army Regulation 600-45, Department of the Army, 4 November 1947. I have made no attempt to list the Unit Awards, awards of specific Battle Stars, and Good Conduct Medals.
I feel that roughly two thousand awards of the Combat Infantryman Badge are missing from the general orders present in the 274th Infantry’s files at the National Archives. The last general order of the 1944 series is numbered 16 and is dated October 30, 1944. The 274th Infantry was in transit unit December 10, 1944 when they landed in France. The 274th Infantry Regiment was committed to combat as part of Task Force Herron late in 1944. The missing Combat Infantryman Badges may have been cited in a general order after GO#16,1944, if it exists. I feel that this is unlikely as according to Stanton’s World War II Order of Battle, Task Herron was not committed to combat until December 28th. Which does not allow much time, administratively, for the general orders to be prepared and issued. I could not locate General Order #1 of the 1945 series, which likely lists the missing Combat Infantryman Badges. I would surprise me, if General Order #1 is found not to list the missing Combat Infantryman Badges. I have already searched the general orders of the 70th Division and Task Force Herron and they do not list large quantities of Combat Infantryman Badges. Therefore if General Order #1 does not account for the missing Combat Infantryman Badges, I must assume that the missing Combat Infantryman’s Badges where issued in special orders of the 274th Infantry, Task Force Herron or the 70th Division. I welcome any information from veterans or their family members who possess a copy of General Order #1, a special order issuing Combat Infantryman Badges or a discharge that notes the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge that is not listed in this reference.
How to read the sources: (GO#12,1945,274INF) is broken down as “GO” (General Order), “#” (Number 12, 1945), “275INF” (274th Infantry Regiment).
* Missing General Orders
(GO#1,1945,274INF) (GO#54,1945,274INF)
Every effort has been made to minimize errors and misspelled names. An error may be attributable to the source document, or may have occurred while transcribing the names/units. Some of the original documents are of very poor print quality, making them difficult to decipher.