31st Infantry Regiment
Modern Era, United States, Infantry
The 31st Infantry Regiment, the Polar Bears, was organized in 1916 for duty in the Philippines. From the beginning its history was tied to the Pacific and to the Army's forward-deployed role in Asia rather than to the older frontier tradition of many lower-numbered regiments.
In World War II the regiment fought in the defense of the Philippines and suffered the ordeal of Bataan and captivity after the fall of the islands. Its later twentieth-century history continued in the Pacific-oriented Army, including service in Korea and later through battalions that preserved the Polar Bear identity in Alaska and other assignments.
The 31st Infantry is therefore one of the clearest examples of a regiment shaped by the Pacific century: born for overseas service, blooded in the Philippines, and remembered for endurance in some of the hardest campaigns and captivity experiences of the modern U.S. Army.
Battalion Page
A dedicated battalion subpage now collects the regiment's known battalion icons and short sketches for the 1st, 2d, and 3d Battalions. Open the 31st Infantry Regiment Battalions page.