102nd Infantry Division — “Ozark Division”

Patch: Gold “O” and “Z” on blue, spelling “Ozark” — named for the division’s original recruiting area.

Formed: June 1921, as a reserve division; activated September 15, 1942 at Camp Maxey, TX.

Training: Louisiana maneuvers (1943) → Camp Swift, TX → Fort Dix, NJ → shipped to Europe, September 1944.

Commanders: Maj. Gen. John B. Anderson (1942–44); Maj. Gen. Frank A. Keating (1944–).

Units: 405th, 406th, 407th Infantry Regiments; 379th, 380th, 381st, 927th Field Artillery Battalions. (Ninth Army)

Combat: Entered combat near the Roer River, late 1944, taking Lovenich and fighting through Munchen-Gladbach. Crossed the Roer (Feb. 1945) and drove toward the Rhine, overrunning 86 towns — including Krefeld, a key rail hub with a hidden Nazi rocket factory. Crossed the Rhine at Remagen (late March), then pushed to the Elbe by April, halting to await the Russians near Magdeburg. Accepted the surrender of two German armies on May 4, 1945, and held positions at Gotha after V-E Day