The 242nd Infantry's most notable member was Vito R. Bertoldo, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat near Hatten, France, in January 1945.

[1] The cadre of experienced officers and noncommissioned officers around which the 242nd Infantry formed had recently returned from overseas service in Hawaii and Newfoundland, and assembled at Fort Benning, Georgia and Camp Maxey, Texas prior to relocating to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma.

[5] As part of the Seventh Army's VI Corps, Task Force Linden entered combat in the vicinity of Strasbourg, relieving units of the 36th Infantry Division on December 24, 1944.

[5] While defending a 31-mile sector along the Rhine north and south of Strasbourg in January 1945, Task Force Linden repulsed a number of enemy counterattacks at Hatten and other locations during the German "Operation Northwind" offensive.

[8] It attacked through the Haardt forest, broke through the Siegfried Line from March 15 to 21, and cleared Dahn and Busenberg, while units of Third Army created and expanded bridgeheads across the Rhine.

[13] On April 29, soldiers of the 222nd Infantry under Linden's command liberated approximately 30,000 prisoners at Dachau concentration camp.