page_title: 118th Infantry Regiment (United States)
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: 118th Infantry Regiment (United States) / History / World War I
caption_attribution_description: English: John C. Villepigue - WWI Medal of Honor recipient.
context_page_description: The 118th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army, South Carolina Army National Guard. It has served the US since the mid-nineteenth century, and is one of the few surviving US Army regiments that can trace its roots to the Confederate States Army. Its 1st Battalion is still active and are attached to the 37th IBCT. While the 4th Battalion is active and attached to the 30th ABCT.
context_section_description: Prior to US involvement in the First World War, the predecessors of the 118th were sent to El Paso, Texas in 1916. There, they joined Brig. Gen. John J. "Blackjack" Pershing’s Punitive Expedition to protect U.S. border towns from Mexican General Pancho Villa’s forces. When America declared war on the German Empire, the various companies of the South Carolina Militia were organized into the 118th Infantry Regiment on 16 April 1917, and assigned to the 30th Infantry Division, the "Old Hickory" Division. The division consisted of the 117th, the 118th, the 119th, and the 120th Infantry Regiments, along with the 113th, 114th, 115th Machine Gun Battalions, and the 105th Engineer Regiment. Soldiers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee comprised the division when it shipped off to France for combat on the Western Front. The 118th joined the US Army II Corps, which served in the north alongside British forces. The fighting in the II Corps area was heavy, and six soldiers of the 118th Infantry received the Medal of Honor for their actions during this time: three on 8 October 1918, and one each on 11 October, 12 October and 15 October.
  On 8 October, 1LT James C. Dozier of G Company, was in command of 2 platoons, and was painfully wounded in the shoulder early in the attack, but he continued to lead his men displaying the highest bravery and skill. When his command was held up by heavy machine-gun fire, he disposed his men in the best cover available and with a soldier continued forward to attack a machine-gun nest. Creeping up to the position in the face of intense fire, he killed the entire crew with hand grenades and his pistol and a little later captured a number of Germans who had taken refuge in a dugout nearby. SGT Gary Evans Foster of F Company, showed great leadership when his company was held up by violent machine-gun fire from a sunken road. With an officer, Foster went forward to attack the hostile machine-gun nests. The officer was wounded, but Foster continued on alone in the face of the heavy fire and by effective use of hand grenades and his pistol killed several of the enemy and captured 18. SGT Thomas L. Hall of G Company also earned the Medal of Honor on 8 October. Having overcome two machine-gun nests under his leadership, Hall's platoon was stopped 800 yards from its final objective by machine-gun fire of particular intensity. Ordering his men to take cover in a sunken road, he advanced alone on the enemy machine-gun post and killed 5 members of the crew with his bayonet and thereby made possible the further advance of the line. While attacking another machine-gun nest later in the day this gallant soldier was mortally wounded. After the massive attacks on 8 October, another 118th soldier earned the Medal of Honor on 12 October. Corporal James D. Heriot of I Company organized a combat group with four other soldiers, attacking a German machine-gun nest that had inflicted heavy casualties on the company. Two of the soldiers were killed and due to the heavy fire the remaining two sought shelter. Heriot charged the machine-gun and forced the crew to surrender. He was wounded several times in the arm and was killed later that day while charging a nest. The heroism of these men and the intensity of the actions they fought in are just microcosms of what was happening all along the 118th Infantry's front line.   When the war ended, the regiment returned to South Carolina and was deactivated.
caption: Corporal John C. Villepigue WWI Medal of Honor recipient
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