126th Regimental Association

05/27/2026

A special ceremony was held on Memorial Day to honor Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Medendorp of Grand Rapids. As a Captain with the 126th Infantry in New Guinea, he led the advance detachment over Ghost Mountain in the Owen Stanley Range to identify possible resupply drop zones for the Second Battalion task force that followed. See the summary, below, taken from his unpublished memoirs written in early 1944.

In the 1950s, he volunteered for active duty and became part of the military advisory group on Fermosa (now Taiwan). He was on the island of Quemoy in 1954 when he was killed in action by an artillery attack coming from the mainland.

This past Monday, a delegation led by Brigadier General Ravindra Wagh, Assistant Adjutant General for Army, and Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell Graham, Commander of 3rd Battalion 126th Infantry, met with family members of LTC Medendorp at the Rest Lawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids. LTC (Retired) Bill Sobotka and LTC (Retired) David Irwin represented the 126th Regimental Association.

A medal from the Republic of Korea was presented to the family at the Kentwood Armory outside of our archive and history center.

05/24/2026

Welcome home!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DDVvf4sPQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

05/15/2026

No rest until they are all brought home. 🇺🇸

05/15/2026

Here’s the report from WZZM TV 13.

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/68-michigan-national-guard-members-return-home/69-cc972a75-afe3-4782-8531-a9386aaabf25 #

05/14/2026

El Paso High School's Alumni Museum has posted the story of our regiment's Mexican Border deployment in 1916-17, and ultimately the championship football game played on January 1, 1917 in the brand new high school stadium.

Here's the link. You can scroll left to right through the opening set of panoramic photos. A couple of the photos inadvertently say "2nd Michigan" instead of "32nd," due to confusion over the organizational name change prior to the deployment. It is not the museum's error and we thank them for posting up the story and photos.

Explore engaging military history exhibits & personal stories from veterans. Visit us today to connect with our community's legacy.

05/06/2026

Another good video on YouTube.

2.5K likes, 447 comments. "The 32nd ID's Nightmare: The Battle of Buna, WWII (Documentary Film)"

04/19/2026

Nice!

Save the Flags was proud to host the Quarterly Commanders Meeting of the Michigan Army National Guard for a viewing of the battle flag collection on April 15, 2026. Many of the current MIARNG units trace their lineage back to Michigan Civil War regiments. Read the whole story on our blog! https://www.mscbattleflags.org/news/visit-from-the-michigan-army-national-guard

04/19/2026

The official coat of arms and distinctive unit insignia (DUI or simply "crest") were approved by the Secretary of War on August 10, 1927. The following day, a memorandum clarifying the design and wearing of the DUI was issued. Both memorandums were recently discovered in our archival collection from the old Company B 126th Infantry that was located in Adrian. They are shown below.

The August 10 memo spelled out a summary of the 126th Infantry's history focusing particularly on World War I service. Subsequent documents would expand on this and provide a more detailed layout of the unit's lineage. However, for many years dating back to 1926, the regiment's campaign honors for the Civil War included "Alabama 1864," an error that would not be corrected until 1981.

In 2016, a new memorandum from the Department of the Army, clarified the design of the coat of arms and DUI following the regiment's return to its Infantry beginnings.

04/17/2026

Don't spend it all in one place.

Throughout the 1800s and into the early years of the 1900s, Guard soldiers were not paid for their weekly drill nights. That all changed after the 1905 "Dick Act" and subsequent legislation which served to begin modernizing the reserve force. The following article is from The Grand Rapids Press edition of January 30, 1908.