109th Infantry Regiment (United States)

109th Infantry Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	1877–present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Pennsylvania
Type	Infantry regiment
Part of	Pennsylvania Army National Guard
Nickname(s)	Thirteenth Pennsylvania (special designation) [1]
Motto(s)	"Cives Arma Ferant" (Let the Citizens Bear Arms)
Engagements	World War I World War II Iraq War
Decorations	Presidential Unit Citation (Army) French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II Luxembourg Croix de Guerre[2]
Commanders
Notable commanders	James Earl Rudder
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 109th Infantry Regiment ("Thirteenth Pennsylvania")^[1] is a parent infantry regiment of the United States Army, represented in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard by the 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry, part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division.

Headquartered at Scranton for the duration of its existence, the regiment was formed as the Scranton City Guards Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1877, and expanded into the 13th Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard a year later. It was called up for the Spanish–American War as the 13th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, but did not serve overseas, and again to guard the Mexican border in 1916. The 13th combined with another Pennsylvania regiment to form the new 109th Infantry in 1917 for service in World War I with the 28th Division.

Demobilized after the end of World War I, the 13th Infantry was briefly reorganized in the Pennsylvania National Guard before regaining its World War I designation in 1921, part of the reorganized 28th Division. As a result of World War II, it was again mobilized with the division in early 1941. After the end of the war, the 109th was reorganized at Scranton in 1946, being called up as a result of the Korean War to replace Regular Army units sent to Korea.