121st Engineer Battalion (United States)

The 121st Engineer Combat Battalion was one of the first American units to land in Normandy on D-Day during World War II.

History
The 121st Engineer Combat Battalion was originally created in 1918 in the District of Columbia National Guard as the 5th Infantry Regiment, and in 1921, these units were combined with new units and redesignated as the 121st Engineer Regiment, assigned to the 29th Division, which consisted of units from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The 121st served in the division in place of New Jersey's 114th Engineer Regiment that had been assigned to the 29th in World War I, but was now subordinated to the newly-created New Jersey-New York 44th Division.

One of the 121st's most distinguished members was Earle G. Wheeler, who began his military career as a private in Company C in 1926, and later rose to full general, serving as Chief of Staff of the Army from 1962-64 and later as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1964-70. The 121st was inducted into federal service in 1940. In May 1942, the 121st was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, and at the same time, the 37th Infantry Division from the Ohio National Guard, was at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

The 37th had been alerted for movement to England, and sent its 112th Engineer Combat Battalion ahead as part of the advance party. Orders were changed, and the 37th was diverted for service in the Pacific Theater. There was no time to recall the 112th, or to find and assign a new battalion. The War Department instead ordered the 121st Engineers, less five officers and 180 men, from Fort Meade to Fort Indiantown Gap, and the unit was redesignated the 117th Engineer Combat Battalion.

The new 117th Engineers shipped out to Fiji, and saw extensive combat in the Philippines. The District of Columbia guardsmen worked under enemy fire, building and repairing 64 bridges, destroying enemy held buildings and tank obstacles, and participating in river crossings with "consummate skill and courage."

A training battalion was organized around the cadre, and was supplemented with Selective Service men sent from Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and Fort Hayes, Ohio. In June 1942, the battalion reassumed the designation of the 121st Engineer Battalion. The history, lineage, and honors of the 121st continue today in the lineage of the 372d MP Battalion of the District of Columbia Army National Guard. In 1948, a "new" 121st Engineer Battalion was established in the Maryland Army National Guard. Although the Maryland National Guard unit carries the same name as the World War II unit, under U.S. Army lineage rules, the new MDNG unit has no previous history.

D-Day landing
On 6 June 1944, the 121st Engineer Combat Battalion landed on Omaha beach in Normandy with the first American forces. The unit endured much damage to equipment and casualties among the soldiers, but after some recovery it continued to assist in the invasion. For its action during the invasion the 121st was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

After World War II
At the end of World War II the 121st Engineer Battalion was deactivated. It was reactivated as part of its original organization, the District of Columbia Army National Guard, as the 163rd Military Police Battalion. Its history, lineage and honors continue today in the DCARNG's 372nd Military Police Battalion.

In 1948, a new 121st Engineer Battalion was activated in the Maryland National Guard. This unit carries the designation of the old 121st Engineers, but has no historical link to that organization. The new battalion played a pivotal role in the crowd control efforts after being called in to assist the local authorities during the race riots that took place in Baltimore and Cambridge in the 1960s.