The 28th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army formed in 1917 in World War I. It continues its service today as the 28th Infantry Division (Mechanized), part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
It is nicknamed the "Keystone Division", as it was formed from units of the PennsylvaniaArmy National Guard; Pennsylvania is known as the "Keystone State". It was also nicknamed the "Bloody Bucket" division by German forces in WWII, after its red insignia.
It was also the army division in the movie When Trumpets Fade a movie about the battle at Hurtgen Forest.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. C. M. Clement (17 July 1917), Brig. Gen. W. G. Price, Jr. (18 September 1917), Brig. Gen. F. W. Stilwell (28 October 1917), Maj. Gen. C. M. Clement (4 December 1917), Brig. Gen. F. W. Stilwell (11 December 1917), Maj. Gen. C. H. Muir (15 December 1917), Brig. Gen. F. H. Albright (23 October 1918), Maj. Gen. William H. Hay (25 October 1918).
Inactivated: Spring 1919.
World War II
Activated: 17 February 1941.
Overseas: 8 October 1943.
Campaigns: Normandy, North France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Edward Martin (February-December 1941), Maj. Gen. J. Garsche Ord (January-May 1942), Maj. Gen. Omar N. Bradley (June 1942-January 1943), Maj. Gen. Lloyd D. Brown (January 1943-July 1944), Maj. Gen. Norman D. Cota (August 1944 to inactivation).
Returned to U. S.: 2 August 1945.
Inactivated: 13 December 1945.
Organization
109th, 110th and 112th Infantry Regiments
107th, 108th, 109th and 229th Field Artillery Battalions
103rd Engineer Combat Battalion
Combat Chronicle
The 28th Infantry Division after training in England, landed in Normandy, France, 22 July 1944, and entered the hedgerow struggle north and west of St. Lo. Inching their way forward against desperate opposition, the men of the 28th took Percy, 1 August, and Gathemo, 10 August. On the 12th, Brigadier General Wharton was killed a few hours after assuming command. The Division began to roll north and east, 20 August, meeting light resistance except at Le Neubourg, 24 August, and Elbeuf on the 25th. After parading through Paris, 29 August, it continued its sustained drive through France and Luxembourg to the German border, assembling near Binsfeld, 11 September: It began hammering at the Siegfried Line, 12 September, destroying pillboxes and other fortifications, moved north to Elsenborn, 1 October, then returned on the 6th for patrols and rotation of troops. The 28th smashed into the Hurtgen Forest, 2 November 1944, and in the savage seesaw battle which followed, Vossenack and Schmidt changed hands several times. On 19 November, the Division moved south to hold a 25-mile sector along the Our River in Luxembourg.
The Von Rundstedt offensive broke loose, 16 December, along the entire Division front. The 28th fought in place using all available personnel and threw off the enemy timetable before withdrawing to Neufchateau, 22 December, for reorganization. The Division moved to a defensive position along the Meuse River from Givet to Verdun, 2 January 1945, then to a patrol of the Vosges Mountains, 17 February. From 1 to 5 February, it participated in the reduction of the Colmar Pocket, headed for the Rhine and crossed the Rhine-Rhone Canal, 6 February. After an attack toward the Ahr River, 6 March, the 28th engaged in training, rehabilitation, and holding defensive positions. Beginning 7 April it performed occupation duties at Julich and Kaiserlautern until it left France.
Regrettably, Private Eddie Slovik, the only U.S. soldier executed for desertion during World War II, was a member of the 28th Division.
Assignments in the ETO
22 October 1943: V Corps, First Army.
14 April 1944: XX Corps, Third Army.
24 April 1944: Third Army, but attached to First Army.
26 July 1944: XIX Corps.
30 July 1944: XIX Corps, First Army.
1 August 1944: XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
28 August 1944: V Corps.
19 November 1944: VIII Corps.
20 December 1944: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
5 January 1945: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Oise Section, Communications Zone, for supply.
6 January 1945: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
8 January 1945: Third Army, 12th Army Group.
9 January 1945: Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
16 January 1945: Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.
20 January 1945: French II Corps.
28 January 1945: XXI Corps.
14 February 1945: Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.
19 February 1945: 12th Army Group.
21 February 1945: V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
16 March 1945: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
22 March 1945: V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
28 March 1945: III Corps.
7 April 1945: First Army, 12th Army Group.
10 April 1945: Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
13 April 1945: XXII Corps.
26 April 1945: XXIII Corps.
Post WWII Service
The 28th Infantry Division has continued to serve the nation as part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
After being deactivated as part of the Army in December 1945, it was reorganised in 1946 and returned to the Pennsylvania National Guard; following the outbreak of the Korean War, it was recalled to active duty and sent to bolster NATO forces in Germany. In 1954, it returned to the National Guard.
The Division was not mobilized during the Vietnam War, although in 1965 it was selected as one of three divisions in the Army Selective Reserve Force. Nor was it mobilised in force for Operation Desert Storm in 1991; however, the 121st Transportation Company, one of its constituent units, served in Saudi Arabia and volunteers from the Division were deployed overseas, some in the Middle East.
In 1996, after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, some units of the divisional artillery were called up to serve as peacekeeping forces in Bosnia; elements of the 28th served in Bosnia as peacekeepers for several years following this. In 2002, the 28th Division took command of the Northern Brigade Task Force (Task Force Eagle), as part of the NATOpeacekeeping mission in Bosnia as part of SFOR 12. The division was the third reserve component division headquarters to take on this role in Bosnia (previously the Army National Guard's 49th and 29th Divisions had commanded Task Force Eagle).
In 2003, the 28th Division again lead the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo as part of KFOR 5A for a 6 month rotation. The 28th was the first reserve component division headquarters to take on this role in Kosovo. Later in 2005, elements of the 28th Division would again return to Kosovo as part of KFOR 6B, the first year long rotation by U.S. troops to the region.
In December 2003 The 1/107th FA was activated to Ft. Dix and trained 11 days to be MP's. In January of 2004 the soldiers of the 107th where deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The different batteries where dipersed throughout Iraq serving as MPs. The members of the 107th returned home in Feb. of 2005.
In June 2004, the 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor Regt. was activated at Fort Bliss, Texas and deployed to Iraq in November in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This marked the first deployment of a 28th ID combat battalion to a war zone since World War II. The battalion, now designated as a Task Force (Task Force DRAGOON), was stationed at Forward Operating Base Summerall, near Bayji. Attached initially to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, and then the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, the 800 man TF 1-103rd Armor, commanded by LTC Philip J. Logan engaged in combat operations for 12 months before redeploying to the United States in November, 2005.
Task Force 1-103rd Armor (Dragoons)
June 2004-December 2004
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-103rd Armor
- A Company, 1-111 IN
- A Company, 1-112 IN
- B Company, 1-103 AR
- C Company, 103 EN
December 2004-March 2005
- HHC 1-103 AR (TF HQ)
- A/1-111 IN (MTZ)
- B/1-103 AR (MTZ)
- C/1-7 FA (Mech)
- C/103 EN (Mech)
- 1/A/1-7 FA (Paladin)
March 2005-November 2005
- HHC 1-103 AR (TF HQ)
- A/1-111 IN (MTZ)
- B 1-103 AR (MTZ)
- B/2-7 IN (Mech)
- 173 IN DET (LRS)
- C/103 EN (MTZ)
- 1/A/1-41 FA (Paladin)
In January 2005, approximately 4,000 soldiers from 23 states were mobilized to Camp Shelby, MS for a 6 month train-up in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These soldiers consist of approximately 10 battalions under the command of Col. John Gronski, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry Division. The soldiers participated in combat-oriented training as well as acquiring much needed equipment for the Operation Iraqi Freedom mission.
In May 2005, 2nd Brigade soldiers trained at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA to prepare for their upcoming mission in Iraq due to start in July 2005.
In late June and early July 2005 2nd Brigade soldiers began deploying to the Al-Anbar Province and are under the command of the 2nd Marine Division. This marks the first time since World War II that the 28th Infantry Division patch will be worn as a right shoulder Combat Unit Patch.
2nd Brigade — OIF Composition
:Headquarters Company 2nd Brigade — 28th Infantry Division (Pennsylvania National Guard)
:1 — 109th Infantry Regiment (Pennsylvania National Guard)
:1 — 110th Infantry Regiment (Pennsylvania National Guard)
:2 — 222nd Field Artillery Regiment (Utah National Guard)
:1 — 172nd Armor Regiment (Vermont National Guard)
:1 — 167th Cavalry Regiment (Nebraska National Guard)
:228th Forward Support Battalion (Pennsylvania National Guard)
:A Company — 138th Signal Battalion (Indiana National Guard)
:231st Military Intelligence (Kentucky National Guard)
:876th Engineers (Indiana National Guard)
:28th Infantry Division — Military Police Company (Pennsylvania Army National Guard)
:2 — 69 Armor (3rd Infantry Division, Ft. Benning, GA)
Current Composition
As an Infantry Division (Mechanised), the 28th is comprised of two infantry brigades and one armoured brigade, plus supporting elements.
:1st Battalion — 213th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
Heraldry
Nickname: Keystone Division
Slogan: Fire and Movement
Shoulder patch: A red keystone (aka "Bloody Bucket")
28th Infantry Division shrine
right
A shrine dedicated to the 28th Infantry Division is located on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. This site was formerly the estate of Colonel Theodore Davis Boal. In 1916 Boal formed the Boal Troop, the 1st Pennsylvania Calvary, State College, a horse-mounted machine gun unit which was accepted as a provisional unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. In April 1917, the Boal Troop was reconfigured as an infantry unit, Company A of the 107th Machine Gun Battalion, and deployed to France for service in World War I.
In 1919, soldiers of the Boal Troop returning from the war erected a monument on the Boal Estate dedicated to their fallen comrades. In the 1920s, other units of the 28th began erecting their own memorials, and began to refer to the area as a "shrine". In 1931, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the site, and in 1969 the Pennsylvania Military Museum was opened. By 1971, memorials to most of the units of the 28th that served in World War I had been erected, and in 1997 a World War II memorial was dedicated at this site.
Members of the 28th Infantry Division have gathered for a memorial service at the shrine every third Sunday in May since 1919. The portion of U.S. Route 322 that is located in front of the shrine is named the Pennsylvania 28th Division Highway.
References
The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at [CMH].
