The regiment returned to Hawaii on 14 February where it went through additional intensified jungle training for an expected invasion of the Yap Island. Arriving at Eniwetok Atoll on 25 September 1944, the regiment's orders were changed and the 32nd joined General Douglas MacArthur's forces, spearheading the first landings on Leyte Island, Philippines. Fighting in swamps, tropical jungles, and over rugged mountains, the 7th Infantry Division battled over 37 miles (60 kilometers) in 60 days of the bitterest fighting in the Pacific.