79th Infantry Division

79th Infantry Division green back Patch. original, WW2.

She was called up again on June 15, 1942 at Camp Pickett, Virginia and left the United States for Europe in April 1944. She then continued her training in the United Kingdom and landed on Utah Beach between June 12 and 14 to be engaged in the Battle of Normandy. It took part in the offensive on Cherbourg, notably taking Fort du Roule before entering the city on June 25. During the following month, she was engaged in the Battle of the Haies in the Cotentin. At the end of July, she went on the attack again towards the south, taking part in Operation Cobra which broke through the German lines, which enabled her to enter Le Mans on August 8 before crossing the Seine on the 19th. August, managing to repel German counter-attacks between 22 and 27 August. It then progresses to the Franco-Belgian border at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux where it branches off to the east and encounters stronger resistance during the capture of Charmes on 12 September. It crosses the Meurthe and the Moselle between September 13 and 23 before clearing the forest of Parroy where it faces fierce fighting until October 9. On October 24, she was relieved and laid to rest aft.

The unit returned to the front on November 13, 1944, in the sector between Mignéville and Montigny from where it progressed towards Haguenau then towards the Siegfried line which protected the borders of Germany. It remained in a defensive position at Wissembourg between December 20 and January 2, when it withdrew to the Maginot Line. In particular, it must repel a determined attempt by the Germans to establish a bridgehead west of the Rhine towards Gambsheim. The division then withdrew to the Moder between January 19 and February 6, 1945. It resumed the offensive on March 24 when it crossed the Rhine, securing the north bank of the Ruhr and participating in the formation and then the surrender of the Ruhr pocket in April. Subsequently, the division carried out occupation missions in Dortmund, in the Sudetenland and then in Bavaria before returning to the United States where it was deactivated on December 20, 1945.