During
the months of July and August 1956 the men and
units of the 28th Infantry Division left their
homes and traveled to Indiantown Gap,
Pennsylvania, to Fort Knox, Kentucky, or to Camp
Perry, Ohio, where for fifteen busy days they
learned and relearned the military duties which,
when combined, make up the units that build a
combat division. For some young men 1956 marked
their "first camp" - one they shall always
remember. For many others it marked another of
many years of service, some of which were
highlighted by other field training periods and
some of which were spent on active duty in World
War II and the Korean Emergency.
This
was the third field training period for the 28th
Infantry Division since its reorganization was
started in June 1953. Field training is the high
point of each training year - the forty-eight
drills in the armories or on firing ranges or in
the field near home are all pointed toward this
annual effort when for two weeks civilian
pursuits are left behind and the citizen- soldier
takes up the business of war.
Citizen-Soldiers make up the oldest type of mili-
tary force in the United States. Their traditions
go back to early colonial days when settlers
banded together and formed local militia units to
defend themselves against hostile Indians. The
architects of this great republic - with George
Washington as their primary spokesman - decided
that the defense of the United States should be
built around a small regular defense force
supported by trained citizens prepared to fight
in case of need. The 28th Infantry Division is
made up of today's citizen soldiers and the
colors of some of its units have been present in
every major war or emergency faced by the
thirteen colonies and the United States.
In 1747, when the frontiers of the thirteen
colonies lay across Pennsylvania, Benjamin
Franklin organized his"Battalions of
Associator's" to protect the Commonwealth. With
the formation of this early militia group the
first traditions of the 28th Infantry Division
came into being, for today's 103rd Engineer
Combat Battalion, located in Philadelphia, traces
its traditions back to that venerable
organization. Some of the early predecessors of
the Division saw service as English colonial
troops in the War of the Spanish Succession and
the French and Indian Wars between 1747 and
1770.
In 1774, with discontent
against the English growing in the Colonies, the
First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry was formed
in Philadelphia. Known today as the 28th
Reconnaissance Company. The "Troop" carries on
its long and honorable traditions as one of the
oldest military organizations with a continuous
record of service in the American military
establishment. The 109th Field Artillery of
Wilkes-Barre also traces its history to the
Revolutionary War when three of its ancestral
batteries served in the Continental Army.
Revolutionary War battle credits of units of the
division include Brandywine, Germantown, New
Jersey and Pennsylvania. The War of 1812 found
predecessors of the division in action before
Washington, D.C. In the Mexican War, battle
credits were won at Vera Cruz and Cerro
Gordo.
When the Civil War erupted in
1861 the citizen soldiers of Pennsylvania militia
units again left their homes for the battlefields
and, before peace was concluded in 1865, at least
fifteen new battle streamers had been added to
colors now a part of the Division. Their names
range across the United States from The
Penninsula to Vicksburg-Manassas, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Chancellorsville,
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Maryland. The
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor,
Petersburg and Appomattox. The 107th Field
Artillary Battalion's crest commemorates their
Civil War service with the inscription "From
Gettysburg to the Marne".
Following
the Civil War most of the militia units were
again reorganized on a local basis. Organization
varied, often dictated by local custom, and,
though the militia men of that day stood ready to
serve the Commonwealth in local emergencies and
the Federal Government in times of national
peril, their equipment and training standards,
were far from those that must be met by today's
Nitional Guardsmen.
In 1878 Major
General John F.Hartranft, who later became
governor of Pennsylvania, conceived the idea of
having the National Guard of Pennsylvania
organized as a single division in conformance
with Regular Army Tables of Organization.
Pennsylvania, which had been the first state to
adopt the term "National Guard", for its militia
forces, thus became the first state to form such
a division. This division, then known as the 7th
Division,served with distinction in theSpanish
American War with its units scattered and seeing
action on both sides of the world - from Puerto
Rico to the Philippine Islands.
The
Red Keystone, our present division insignia,
became a formal division insigiiia in the late
1800's although it had been worn by many local
units for many years prior to that time.
The last active service for units of the
Division prior to World War I came in 1916 when
many of its present units served on the Mexican
border from June through October.
The 28th Infantry Division as we know it today
came into being in World War 1. The United States
entered the war on 6 April 1917 and
Pennsylvania's National Guard units were called
into federal service on 15 July.
The
28th Infantry Division was brought into being at
Camp Hancock, Georgia, on 17 October 1917, being
formed of Pennsylvania National Guard units that
had made up the old Pennsylvania National Guard
Division. In April 1918 the division moved to
Camp Tipton, New York and early in May the first
elements sailed from New York as part of the
American Expeditionary Force. Division
Headquarters arrived at Calais, France on 18 May
1918.
By 14 July the Division was
committed to action and, from that day until the
guns were silenced by the Armistice on 11
November 1918, the men of the 28th knew no rest.
In four months of bitter combat the division took
part in six major campaigns. Never knowing the
relative restfulness of a "quiet sector" the 28th
earned the nickname "Iron Division", bestowed
upon it by General of the Armies John J.
Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary
Forces. When the war ended the "Keystone" men
were fighting their way forward in the Thaucourt
sector. The Champagne, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-
Marne, Oise-Aisne, Lorraine and Meuse-Argonne
campaigns had joined the roster of battles fought
by the units of the 28th at a cost of over 14,000
casualties.
The Division remained in
France and Germnany for five months following the
Armistice, but by late May 1919 the men of the
28th had returned to the United States. Upon
arrival in Pennsylvania and a triumphant
homecoming the Division was placed on an inactive
list. Reorganization was not long in starting how
ever, and in 1921 the Division attended its first
post World War I encampment.
From
1921 until 1939 the 28th continued its armory
training and annual field training. Units in
those days were smaller than currently authorized
and the equipment was much simpler, just as life
itself was somewhat less technical. Training,
however was hard and some of the Guardsmen still
in the ranks of the division can tell of the
tough encampments they underwent. From time to
time elements of the division were called upon to
serve their neighboring Pennsylvanians when some
natural disaster or emergency arose. These duties
were carried out efficiently, with perhaps the
greatest effort being called forth in the great
floods of March 1936.
In 1939, with
war imminent in Europe, the Division left its
traditional training grounds, which had been
first at Mt. Gretna and Tobyhanna and later at
Indiantown Gap, and headed for Manassas, Virginia
to participate in large-scale Army maneuvers.
Shortly after returning home, war began in Europe
and in 1940 the Division took part in three weeks
of field training near Ogdensburg, New York as
part of a large force of Regular Army and
National Guard troops.
By autumn of
1940 the situation in Europe had so deteriorated
that the federal government decided to order the
National Guard divisions of the various states
into active duty for a period of one year. The
28th was alerted and on a cold morning, 17
February 1941, men of the 28th left their homes
and reported to their armories for what was
intended to be one year of active day training.
Ten days later the Division was massing at
Indiantown Gap, which had been converted into an
Army cantonment area complete with barracks, mess
halls, etc, in the matter of a few short
months.
The next few months were
hectic ones as the Division sought to train
itself and to absorb several thousand new members
who had been drafted, given basic training in
southern camps and sent to fill the ranks of the
Division. The 28tb participated in a summer
maneuver at A.P. Hill, Virginia and a short time
later headed south once again for three months of
Army maneuvers in the Carolinas. By the time the
maneuvers were ended the Division comprised a
fine fighting force which was ready to return to
lndiantown Gap to serve out the rest of its year
of active duty. History meant otherwise, however,
for on the same day that the Division convoys
started to roll north out of the Carolinas,
Japanese planes were taking off from carriers in
the Pacific. By the evening of 7 December l941
the word "Pearl Harbor" had spread throughout the
bivouacs dotting the Virginia country side and
the men of the 28th knew that they were in
service for the "duration".
Moving to
Camp Livingston, Louisiana in January 1942, the
Division settled down for the long haul of
training that would lead to combat. The departure
of cadres sent to form new Divisions and
individuals going to Officer Candidate Schools
plus the arrival of replacements marked the next
few months. A greater change was wrought in the
organization of the Division as it shifted from a
"square" World War I type division, to the
"triangular" type that we"know today. The 109th,
110th and 112th Infantry Regiments remained and
the field artillery regiment was reorganized into
our present 107th, 108th, 109th and 229th Field
Artillery Battalions. Gone were the 55th and 56th
brigade Headquarters and the 111th Infantry
Regiment and the designations of other units were
changed from regiments to battalions and
battalions to companies.
Following
large scale maneuvers the 28th shifted its
training site to Camp Gordon Johnson, Florida for
intensive amphibious operation training and later
to Camp Pickett, Virginia for a short period
before embarking for England in October 1943.
Billeted through out Wales where its training
tempo continued to increase for the next few
months the Division prepared for its part in the
invasion of Hitler's "Fortress Europa". That day
came on 22 July 1944 when the Division landed on
the Normandy beaches and entered the battle for
the liberation of Europe.
There
followed a grinding fight throughout the Normandy
hedgerows followed by a fast moving campaign that
swept across Western France. Paris was liberated
on 25 August and on 29 August the 28th paraded
through the city, enroute to further battles on
the approaches to Germany. The troops shown in
the famous pictures showing American troops
marching down the Champs-glysee are those of the
110th Infantry Regiment.
On 10
September 1944, at 2000 hours, elements of the
Division crossed the Our River and entered Ger-
many, thus gaining the distinction of being the
first American Division to enter Germany in force
in World War II. The succeeding months saw the
Division engaged in a series of bitter battles.
The battle of the Hurtgen Forest, The Ardennes
(Battle of the Bulge) and the Colmar Pocket. The
Battle of the Bulge began on a foggy 16 December
when six German divisions smashed into the 28th
which was stretched out along a twenty-five mile
front in a "quiet sector". The next few days
found the Division fighting for its life. Many
died and many were captured, but the,force of the
German attack was blunted and their time table
was thrown off schedule long enough for the
Allied forces to counter attack. Everyone was a
front line soldier during that period and acts
of heroism were common. Elements of the 112th
Infantry Regiment were singled out for special
recognition and were granted a Presidential unit
citation.
VE-Day found the 28th in
Western Germany near Kaiserslautern. Over 17,000
battle casualties, including 1,841 killed, were
suffered by the Division as it fought its way
through the five great campaigns of Normandy,
Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central
Europe. Once again the Division had earned a new
nickname, for the Germans themselves had
respectfully dubbed the bright red Keystone as
the "Bloody Bucket Division".
With
the war in Europe ended, many of the veteran
members of the Division left its ranks to return
to their homes and civillan lives. The 28th,
however was to carry on in the war against Japan
and it was for that purpose that the Division
returned to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in the
summer of 1945. VJ-Day changed those plans, and
on 13 December 1945 the Division was inactivated
after four years and ten months of active
service.
In the Spring of 1946,
meetings were held throughout Pennsylvania as the
first steps in the reorganization of the 28th
were undertaken. Units began their reorganization
in June of 1946 and by 1947 the 28th was training
at Indiantown Cap once again. Many of its
officers and non-commissioned officers were
veterans of the recently ended World War II and
they quickly began to build the effective units
that go to make up the Division. Added to the
Division's ranks were the 628th Tank Battalion
and the 899th AAA AW Bn, both of which had their
origins in older Pennsylvania National Guard
units.
The summer of 1950 saw the
Division over 9,000 strong once again. June of
the same yeax saw the start of the war in Korea.
While the Division was at Indiantown Gap for its
annual field training in July the call to active
federal service came once again. On 5 September
1950, less than five years after its
deactivation, the 28th was enroute to Camp
Atterbury,Indiana.
Camp Atterbury
will long be remembered for its bitter winter and
the problems of training successive groups of
recruits while carrying on unit training designed
to perfect the Division's fighting ability. The
climax of the 28th's stateside service in the
Korean Emergency came during July and August of
1951 when the Division engaged in operation
Southern Pines, a major maneuver conducted at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The stay
at Camp Atterbury following maneuver was short.
Overseas shipment orders, this time to Germany
were received. The first elements of the Division
sailed on 12 November and by early December the
28th had taken its place as part of the United
States NATO forces with units stationed from
Augsburg, Leiplieim and Ulm on the south to
Heilbronn in the north in southwestern Germany.
Division headquarters was located it
Goeppingen.
The Divisions mission in
Germany was to be ready to fight without warning
from December 1951 until May 1954. It trained and maneuvered at a grueling pace in an endeavor to
be ready for any eventuality. On 26 May 1954 the
28th Infantry Division in Germany was
redesignated the 9th Infantry Division.
During
this period most of the division"s
original members had returned to their
Pennsylvania homes. And although the 28th
in federal service was still in Germany the
reorganization of the 28th Infantry Division
in Pennsylvania began once again in June 1953. Starting from scratch for the third
time in a little over thirty years the
Division has grown rapidly once again. The Division colors were returned at the first
post-Korean field training period at
Indiantown Cap in August 1954 with over 5,000
members of the 28th massed on Muir Field. Each
successive year has seen the Division grow in
strength and proficiency.
This brings us back to the present. We have taken a brief look at the history of the 28th Infantry Division. The division as it stands
today is a living part of Pennsylvania with units in over seventy communities and members in dozens more. It is made up of National Guardsmen. And National Guardsmen are still the volunteer citizen soldiers who carry on the traditions of the oldest military organizations in the United States.
The Red Keystone patch, the Colors and standards with their battle
streamers, the guidons with their silverbands
and the unit crests all help tell the story of
the 28th Infantry Division. They represent
history and the efforts of the thousands of men
who helped write it. The members of today's 28th
Infantry Division are devoted to the task of
building a division ready for an emergency - one
that is worthy of its proud heritage.