97th Infantry Division

Nickname: None recorded. . Shoulder Patch: A vertical white trident on a blue shield with a white border. The patch was designed in 1922, when it was contemplated the 87th would be manned by personnel from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. . History: The 97th Division was first organized at Camp Cody, New Mexico, September, 1918. It was manned by drafted men from Oklahoma and Minnesota. The organization was never fully effected. In accordance with the Army plan of allotting inactive divisions to the various service commands (then-1923-corps areas), the 97th was allotted to the 1st Corps Area In 1923. Accordingly, in 1943, when it was necessary to activate the division, it was the commanding general of the 1st Service Command who ordered the division into active service. Training: The division was activated at Camp Swift, Texas, in February, 1943, and assigned to the Third Army. At the outset, the division trained at Camp Swift and at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers in 1943 and returned to Fort Leonard Wood when they were completed. The division was transferred to Camp San Luis Obispo, California July 20, 1944, and to Camp Cooke, California, on November 1, 1944. The division left for the European Theater of Operations in February, 1945. . Commanding Generals: Brig. Gen. Louis A. Craig, February 4 to December 31, 1943; Brig. Gen. Milton B. Halsey, January 1, 1944, to present. . Component Units: (As of Feb., 1945): 303rd, 386th and 387th Infantry Regiments; 389th (M), 303rd, 365th and 922nd (L) FA Battalions. Higher Commands: the division was first assigned overseas to the Fifteenth Army and later to the First Army. . Combat Highlights: The 97th performed notable service in the liquidation of the Ruhr pocket. Going into action across from Dusseldorf, the division, after a few days, reached Bonn on the Rhine and on Apr. 3, 1945, crossed the river. The line of action at the southern end of the Ruhr pocket ran along the Sieg river and Siegberg was one of the first towns to fall to the 97th. From there the 97th fought north, closing the pocket from the south and coming out at Dusseldorf. After cleaning up the pocket, the 97th joined the Third Army, going into action at Hof to guard the flank near Tirchenreuth. Near the end of the war, the division had gone on to cross Germany. Its patrols made contact with the Russians near Luditz, Czechoslovakia. The 97th was returned to the United States and redeployed to occupation duties on Honshu, Japan.

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