29th Infantry Division

29th Infantry Division. “The Blue and Gray Division”. Constituted from National Guard units of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the 29th Infantry Division was activated on 25 August 1917 at Camp McClellan, Alabama. The Blue and Gray Division traces its antecedents to the Colonial militias and to units that fought on both sides of the Civil War (hence the division's nickname and monad shoulder patch). The 29th trained for ten months before shipping to France and deploying to fight in the Meuse Argonne offensive and subsequent drive on Metz. After the Armistice, the division returned to the United States for deactivation in May 1919. , , Remobilized on 3 February 1941, the division formed and began training at Ft. Meade, Maryland, under command of Maj. Gen. Milton A. Reckord. A year later, Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow assumed command and led its reorganization as a triangular division with three infantry regiments, the 115th, 1l6th, and 175th. Though liberally populated with draftees and volunteers when it sailed for Great Britain in early fall 1942, the 29th retained deep Maryland and Virginia roots on D-Day. Training for the invasion began upon debarkation. In July 1943, Gen. Gerow left the division to take over V Corps, and Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt assumed command. Designated Force "B" for D-Day, the Blue and Gray Division attached the 1st Division's 26th Regiment and detached the 115th and 116th Regiments to the 1st Division (Force "0"), thereby preserving unity of command for the initial assault. Force "B" (the 26th and 175th Regiments) would come in at H+6. On Gen. Gerow's order, detached units would revert by pre-arrangement. That way, what began as an assault by one reinforced infantry division (the 1st) would become an inland attack by two divisions (the 1st and 29th) abreast. , , The decimation of the two RCTs in the first wave of the Omaha Beach assault delayed the landing of Force "B"; thus, the 26th RCT did not start ashore until 1700 hours. Gen. Gerhardt came in a few hours later, set up his command post (CP) at the Vierville exit, and prepared to attach the 115th and 116th RCTs and detach the 26th RCT. Assistant Division Commander, Brig. Gen. Norman D. Cota, who had landed with the 29th's two detached RCTs, traveled several times between his CP at St-Laurent and the CPs of V Corps, 1st Division, and the 29th Division to coordinate the reversion order: V Corps Field Order No. 1, issued at 2100 hours on D+1, an hour after the 175th RCT had landed and moved inland to Gruchy. Gen. Gerhardt implemented the order with 29th Division Field Order No. 3. , , On D+2 the 115th pushed toward Longueville, the depleted 116th cleared residual resistance along the bluffs, and the 175th took the division's attack westward to Isigny, collapsing the German defenses north of the Aure Valley. From D-Day through four campaigns to VE Day, the Blue and Gray Division responded to the battle cry first adopted as it trained for the invasion: "29 Let's Go!" The 29th was deactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 17 January 1946. , , In tribute to Twenty Niners, past and present, who have answered and do answer their country's call with valor, fidelity, and sacrifice. Erected by the 29th Infantry Division Association.