You mention that your dad entered the army before the outbreak of WW II, which goes way back in the history of the 1st. Infantry Division, which was initially stationed at Fort Hamilton, NY, then relocated to Fort Benning, GA, 11 Nov 39. After training at several locations, the division departed NY P/E 1 Aug 42, arrived England 7 Aug 42, assaulted North Africa 8 Nov 42, assaulted. Sicily 10 Jul 43, assaulted. Normandy, France 6 June 44, entered Belgium 3 Sep 44, entered Germany 15 Sep 44.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR YOU !!!
The 1st. ID sailed from the Army Depot, NYNY, on Aug 2, 1942, aboard the QUEEN MARY, which was the first time in history that an entire division had been moved on one ship. It sailed alone, and arrived at Gourock, Scotland Aug 7, 1942. (This bit of info provided by TechSgt G.W.Eldrige, Weapons Platoon, Company I, 26th. Infantry Regiment, 1st. Infantry Division).
NOTE #2. This is the first unit I could tie down to an actual carrier enroute overseas.
NOTE #3. I can identify the carrier back to the states for the 2nd. ID, but not the 1st ID. Do you know of his departure/arrival dates ?

Campaigns:
Algeria-French Morocco
Tunisia
Sicily
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe

Mind you, these were all of the battles in Africa and Europe except three in Italy, ROME-ARNO, NORTH APPENINES and PO RIVER. The division was in combat in the north at this time.
I calculate that the division had 148 days in combat in Africa and Sicily, plus 292 in Europe from D-Day to V-E Day, or an estimated
442 days on the line.

Casualties, D-Day / V-E Day:
Battle 15,003
Non-battle 14,002
Total 29,005
% of Turnover 205.9%

Total casualties, Africa /V-E Day
Killed in Action 3,616
Wounded in Action 15,208
Died from Wounds 664

Commanders:
Major General Donald Cubbison Jul 41
MG Terry de la Mesa Allen Jun 42
MG Clarence H. Huebner Jul 43
MG Clift Andrus Dec 44

The division included three infantry regiments (16th, 18th, 26th) , four artillery battalions (5th, 7th, 32nd, 33rd) and other elements.  
There is an excellent Combat Narrative included in WORLD WAR II ORDER of BATTLE,
Shelby L. Stanton, author, GALAHAD BOOKS, NYNY, publisher. (It is in print, and excellent reference material).  This devotes eight paragraphs to the 1st. ID, with at least 8 direct references to the 26th. IR.  The 26th. was in Schoenbach, Germany on V-E Day, 7 May 45. It was at Ansbach, Germany, 15 Aug 45, when Japan surrendered.
Another excellent reference is CITIZEN SOLDIERS by Stephen E. Ambrose, Simon & Schuster , NYNY, publisher. This has at least 10 direct references to 1st ID activities.
This one reads like a novel...hard to put down. Read it and you are in the hedgerows in France, or perhaps worse, at Hurtgen Forest, south of Aachen, Germany.
That is about all I can tell you about the 1st. Infantry Division, and the 26th. Infantry Regiment.
One more thing, try reading his papers under a black light. This often makes things stand out a little better than otherwise, and let me know how you make out.
I hope that this is helpful in your quest. 
With best regards, Louie Franklin Turner.

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  08/02/42 - 08/07/42  Queen Mary, Left Army Depot, New York, NY  - 15,125 1st Infantry Division Troops (first time in history that an entire U. S. division voyaged in one ship) - arrived Gourock, Scotland - 
TSgt G. W. Eldridge (to son), Weapons Platoon, Company I, 26th Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Division) and S. Harding R.M.S. Queen Mary, p. 77

  06/45 late ? - SS. Gen Richardson , Left LeHavre, France - Arrived Fish Pier, Boston, MA
TSgt G. W. Eldridge (to son), Weapons Platoon, Company I, 26th Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Division)

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The Echternach Hat Factory Siege:
"No Retrograde Movement" Traps Co. E. 
 By the second day of the offensive, about 100 men of Co. E of the 12th Infantry were dug into Echternach. Five platoons held outposts scattered throughout town, with the Command Post in a three-story abandoned hat factory and adjacent garage downtown. Orders from General Barton calling for "no retrograde movement" were taken seriously in spite of increasing evidence that the Co. was soon to be cut off. US tanks twice made it through to the hat factory, but couldn't make it a third time after orders to withdraw from Echternach and regroup at the CP were finally received. Two> men made a daring escape via jeep to notify the battalion of Co. E's predicament, but it was too late. All attempts to relieve the men failed, and 115 surrendered on the fifth day after running out of ammunition for their lone bazooka and light machine gun. Ironically, ample food had been scavenged from the cellars of Echternach: sardines, spaghetti, sugar, apples, potatoes, and "enough beer and liquor to last a month"! The German officer accepting the surrender amazed the soldiers when he asked "Has anyone Chesterfields?" in perfect English. A soldier offered him a pack, but the officer declined with a smirk: "You'd better keep them; you'll be needing them where you're going." And indeed that was true. Lt. Dick Cook, one of the men in the jeep escape and now living in Texas, declined to give any personal recollections of his experiences but recommended the 12th Infantry History as an accurate account of the Hat Factory battle. Many survivors of this battle returned to Luxembourg every year during the 1970's and 1980's until their health failed .
Visiting the Hat Factory in Echternach
The historic "hat factory", now "Le Vesure Pizzaria", is easily located on the only east-west route through Echternach. Going toward Diekirche, follow signs to the intersection of the Luxembourg City highway . The city< block used as a command post begins on your right at this intersection, encompassing the white auto display garage all the way to the yellow sandstone building at the next light. Coming into Echternach from Diekirche, the hat factory is clearly visible from a block away; in fact, German tanks shelled the building at point blank range from this street.
The "Hotel Universale" on the corner of the Luxembourg City junction (across from the garage) served as an American hospital during the occupation of Echternach. The garage itself was used as sort of an annex to the hat factory, with the basement used for cooking and sleeping during the 4 day siege. The garage has been completely renovated but shell holes are still visible on the beams - the owners don't mind visitors.
The highway heading toward Luxembourg City from this corner was called the "Bowling Alley". German guns on the bluff across the river had a free field of fire, and American vehicles drove fast and erratically on this strip.
It's worth parking for a closer look at this historic building. Go down the alley and enter the courtyard behind the pizzeria to get a feel for the original layout described in the history books. The restaurant interior has been completely renovated with no trace of the original structure visible. Survivors of the battle - all of whom became prisoners of war dedicated the placque on the front of the building.

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  Danger Forward is another reprint of another classic unit history, this one originally published in 1947. The new edition is part of Battery's ongoing project of reprinting American divisionals, and this particular package is one of the most attractive. The volume is divided into ten chapters (Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, St Lo and Mortain, etc) and each chapter is constructed in an interesting fashion, beginning with a brief introduction ("The Situation") explaining the overall context, followed by a third-person account of the campaign ("The Record"), followed in turn by a first-person account ("As I Saw It") with personal recollections from someone who was there. Rather like Ogburn's book, but in a much more compartmentalized manner, this approach means the book can juxtapose a detached historical survey with a great many human-interest details, providing in sum a full history of the division's part in the war. The text is supported by maps, a thick section (unpaginated) of photos, and a variety of "Supplements" including lists of 1st Division unit commanders, a chronology, and a long list of unit attachments and detachments. While some unit histories amount to little more than a self-congratulatory scrapbook, Danger Forward is a both a serious historical record of the division as a whole and an engrossing insight into what individual GIs went through.

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