108th Infantry Regiment (United States)

108th Infantry Regiment
Coat of arms
Active	1898; 1907-Present
Country	USA
Branch	United States Army
Size	Regiment
Nickname(s)	Third New York
Motto(s)	"Virtue non-Verbis" (By Valor Not Words)
Insignia
DUI

The 108th Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the New York Army National Guard. It was first formed in 1898 and has been in continuous existence since 1907. As National Guardsmen, Soldiers of the 108th Infantry can be called upon to serve the state and federal governments. The 108th has served in the Spanish–American War, the Mexican Border War, World War I, World War II, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The 108th Infantry Regiment was originally called the 3rd New York Volunteer Infantry. When the Spanish–American War broke out in April 1898, a new regiment was organized from twelve separate National Guard companies from the 4th Brigade. (Regiments called the 3rd New York and 108th New York Infantry had both served in the Civil War; these were different units with no connection to the later 108th.) The 3rd New York, headquartered in Rochester, mustered into service on 17 May 1898. They were involved in drilling, provost, and camp duty in Virginia and Pennsylvania. The brief war with Spain ended before the regiment could be sent into action, and the Guardsmen were mustered out of federal service by companies between 30 November and 10 December 1898. Thirty-three members of the 3rd New York died of disease during its short service, with several more dying afterward of typhoid fever contracted while on active duty. The state historian called the 3rd New York Regiment "unquestionably one of the best that New York sent into the service," noting that not a single member had to be disciplined in its first three months of duty.