As our Regimental Colonel set out in his welcome to this website, the 23rd US Infantry has played a key role in maintaining the freedom of this nation. It is a fascinating, if little known, history and one which will be featured prominently in both this website and in the We Serve Journal.
And we have quite a story to tell. Like today, we have always been the Army’s ‘go to’ formation when some issue needed sorting out by force or the threat of it. Elements of the 23rd (down in some instances to ten-man detachments) have served in Afghanistan, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Cuba, Georgia, Idaho, the Indian Territories, Iraq, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington (Territory and State), Wyoming, the European Theater, Japan, Korea, Mindanao, Moroland, Vietnam and the Philippine Archipelago! We are arguably the most-travelled regiment in the whole US Army and that is reflected in our armorial bearings and DUI. Do we ‘circumnavigate the globe’? We certainly do.
One key source for our story is to be found in the roll call we now have of the 60 plus commanders of the regiment since 1813. Entitled Andrews’ Compendium after its compiler, Sergeant Neil Andrews, (4/23(M), 1965-67), it is a treasure trove unveiling the often fascinating lives of our commanding officers through the years and is now available on this website (see below) for all Tomahawks to learn from. We all owe Sergeant Andrews a deep debt of gratitude.
Drawing from this unique source, we begin the first of our ‘Famous Commanders’ series in the Summer 2020 “We Serve” Journal by highlighting some of the more notable (and even notorious) former commanders of our Regiment, accompanied by other articles to shine a light on Tomahawks who came before us, such as the one about our service at Fort Mackinac, Michigan 1884-1890 where this panoramic shot was taken and not a Stryker in sight!