Reseached and produced by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, the history of what would be eventually become the 132nd Infantry Regiment is a study in heroism, self sacrifice, and duty willingly undertaken. 

This 33-page softcover book provides a brief but informative and detailed look at the history of Illinois' 132nd Infantry Regiment. The cover contains a segment of the James Dietz painting The Crossing: The 132nd Infantry Regiment on Guadalcanal, another PMML commissioned work commemorating the actions of the historic unit. 

From its beginnings as a band of hardened frontier settlers clutching their own arms to defend their small homesteads, to a highly trained elite battle force fighting to extend liberty across the globe, its original ideals of honor, duty, and defense of freedom have remained a constant over nearly three centuries. 

Since well before the formation of the United States, the people of Illinois have taken up arms to defend themselves, their country, and their liberty.

Illinois’s central location, as well as its access to the Great Lakes, gave it a strategic importance disproportionate to its population in the early days of the Republic. Throughout nearly the entire course of the 18th century and well into the 19th, across three wars, Illinois’s frontier settlers were called upon to protect shore access, shipping routes, and crucial points of river access from the French, hostile Native Americans, and the British.

Even after the Illinois territory was no longer directly threatened by external enemies, its citizens willingly joined their fellow Americans to fight in every conflict that has threatened the liberties of a free people.