The 12th Infantry Regiment has served the United States with distinction and courage during its 128-year history. The Regiment has fought in six wars from the Civil War to Vietnam and has been awarded three Presidential Unit Citations, three Valorous Unit Awards and the Belgian Fourragere. During the Vietnam War the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry served with the 25th Infantry Division from August 1967 to April 1971. The 2nd Battalion participated in 11 Vietnam campaigns and received a Presidential Unit Citation. Constituted and organized as the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry in 1861. In the Civil War participated in twelve campaigns of the Army of the Potomac including Antietam and Gettysburg. Reorganized and redesignated as the 12th Infantry Regiment in 1866 it participated in three campaigns in the Indian Wars in the northwest from 1872-1891. In the War with Spain the 12th Infantry saw action in Cuba participating in the capture of the Spanish fortress of El Caney. The regiment then was ordered to the Philippines to help put down the Philippine Insurrection. In WW II the 12th Infantry was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. On D-Day 6 June 1944 the 12th landed on Utah Beach. In heavy fighting through the Normandy hedgerows the 12th Infantry led the assault on the port city of Cherbourg which fell on 25 June 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge the 12th Infantry was instrumental in stopping the German advance into Luxembourg receiving a Presidential Unit Citation and the Belgian Fourragere. The 12th resumed the offensive into Germany crossing the Rhine and capturing the city of Rothenberg as the war ended. In 1957 the 2nd Battle Group 12th Infantry was activated in Germany. Redesignated the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry in 1963 it was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. In Vietnam the 2nd Battalion was reassigned to the 25th Infantry Division on 1 August 1967 and participated in eleven campaigns receiving a Presidential Unit Citation. The battalion was inactivated in 1971 at Fort Lewis Washington. Assigned to the 4th Division it was active in 1976 and from 1989-1995. Currently the 1st Battalion (Mechanized) 12th Infantry is assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado.