page_title: 69th Infantry Regiment (New York)
section_title: Return & recognition
hierarchical_section_title: 69th Infantry Regiment (New York) / World War I / Return & recognition
caption_attribution_description: General notes: Use War and Conflict Number 721 when ordering a reproduction or requesting information about this image.
context_page_description: The 69th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. It is from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the "Fighting Sixty-Ninth", a name said to have been given by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. An Irish heritage unit, as the citation from poet Joyce Kilmer illustrates, this unit is also nicknamed the "Fighting Irish", immortalized in Joyce Kilmer's poem When the 69th Comes Home. Between 1917 and 1992 it was also designated as the 165th Infantry Regiment. It is headquartered at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan.
  The regiment currently consists of a single light infantry battalion and is part of the 27th Infantry Brigade of the 42nd Infantry Division. Its history dates back to 1849, when it was created as the 9th Regiment New York State Militia, and A Company, 1/69 can trace roots back to the American Revolution as one of several National Guard units with colonial roots. The regiment has seen combat in five wars: the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.
context_section_description: Upon the return from France, Colonel Donovan remarked that "The morale of the regiment has never been better than it is today. Formerly 85 percent of its strength were of Irish descent, and now it is only 50 percent, but the spirit of the old Fighting 69th is stronger than ever. The replacements, whether they are Jews, Italians, or other foreign descent, are more Irish now than the Irish!". He also later pointed out that at one point during the Argonne battle, the adjutants of all three battalions were Jews, one lieutenant was born in Germany, and another lieutenant was a full blooded Choctaw from Oklahoma.
  During World War I, total casualties of the regiment amounted to 644 killed in action and 2,587 wounded (200 of whom would later die of their wounds) during 164 days of front-line combat. One member of the regiment killed in World War I was Daniel Buckley who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Sixty members earned the Distinguished Service Cross and three of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor, including its famed 1st Battalion and later regimental commander, William Joseph Donovan. Colonel Donovan went on to organize the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II, retiring as a major general.
  It also produced Father Francis Duffy, "The Fighting Chaplain". In France, Duffy was always seen in the thick of battle, assisting the litter bearers in recovering the wounded, administering last rites, burying the dead, and encouraging the men, while unarmed, and at great risk to his own life. His bravery and inspired leadership was so great that at one point the brigade commander, Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, even considered making him the regimental commander, an unheard of role for a chaplain.
  With the New York National Guard federalized during the war, a new state force, the New York Guard, was organized in 1917 in order to have militia troops available if needed by the Governor of New York under the New York State Constitution. As part of this, a replacement 69th Infantry Regiment was created. On 7 January 1921, the 165th Infantry Regiment was consolidated with the 69th Infantry of the New York Guard and reorganized as the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard.
caption: Colonel Donovan and the Fighting 69th pass under the Victory Arch in New York City in 1919.
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