Currently a part of the Missouri Army National Guard, the 35th Engineer Brigade was originally constituted as an Infantry battalion in the 35th Division in 1928. Inducted into Federal Service in 1940, it was relieved from assignment to the 35th Division in 1942 and subsequently reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry, a regiment that served under the 7th Infantry Division.
It was at this time that the 35th Engineer Brigade earned its only campaign participation credit (though it may be recognized for more in the future for its deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom). Assigned to the 35th Division, the 138th Regiment was removed from the Division’s TOE when the Division was reorganized from four regiments to three; it was sent to Alaska Defense Command and initially garrisoned at Cold Bay.
In May 1943, the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry occupied Adak, with a primary mission of defending the airfield being built there. Additionally, the 138th Regiment built housing quarters, lookout towers, and supply towers. Neither the 1st Battalion nor the 138th Infantry Regiment appear to have taken part in the Battle of Attu, the most significant engagement in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. Although the numbers of combatants involved in the battle were relatively small, the casualty rate was second only to Iwo Jima, with seventy-one Americans killed or wounded for every hundred Japanese removed from the island by death or capture.
Related Items35th Engineer Brigade Unit Patch (SSl)35th Engineer Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)