Mouwembleem 100th US Infantry Diivision (Sleeve badge 100th Infantry Division)

The 100th Division (formerly the 100th Infantry Division) is an infantry division of theUnited States Army headquartered at Fort Knox, Kentucky. It currently serves as a major training command of the United States Army Reserve.

Throughout its long history, the division has taken on numerous roles. Serving as the 100th Infantry Division until the 1950s, the division then briefly became the 100th Airborne Division before becoming the 100th Division (Training). Since this transformation, the division has primarily taken on numerous training roles for other Army units.

It was activated in mid 1918, too late to join the fighting in World War I. The division is best known for its exploits during World War II as the 100th Infantry Division. Fighting in the European Theater, the division advanced through France and Germany through the end of the war, fending off serious German counterattacks along the way. World War II would be the only war the division would fight in before taking on its role as a training unit.

The 100th Infantry Division was reactivated in the active duty force on 15 November 1942 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Enlisted personnel were primarily original members of the unit, fleshed out by fillers from the 76th Infantry Division. The Officers were mostly members of the unit, again fleshed out with fillers from the Organized Reserves. The commander of the 100th was Major General Withers A. Burress, one of only eleven generals who commanded their divisions for the entire war.

From late 1943 to early 1944, the division trained in the mountains of Tennessee and was subsequently sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for further training. While at Fort Bragg, Technical Sergeant Walter L. Bull earned the first Expert Infantryman's Badge.

The division remained organized around the 397th, 398th and 399th Infantry Regiments, and was also assigned the 374th Artillery Battalion, the 375th Artillery Battalion, the 925th Artillery Battalion, and the 373rd Artillery Battalion for artillery support, as well as the 325th Engineer Battalion, the 325th Medical Battalion, the 100th Military Police Company, the 100th Quartermaster Company, the 800th Ordnance Company, the 100th Reconnaissance Cavalry Troop and the 100th Signals Company.

The division sailed to Europe on 6 October of that year. The division arrived at Marseille, France on 20 October. It was made part of VI Corps of the Seventh United States Army, Sixth United States Army Group.

European Theater

As soon as the division was prepared for combat, it began moving into the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, and sent its first elements into combat at St. Remy in the Vosges Mountains on 1 November 1944. The division as a whole began the relief of the 45th Infantry Division at Baccarat on 5 November, and assumed control of the sector on 9 November. The attack jumped off on 12 November, and the division drove against the German Winter Line in the Vosges Mountains. The 100th took Bertrichamps and Clairupt, pierced the German line, and seized Raon-l'Étape and Saint-Blaise-Moyenmoutier between 16 and 26 November. Later in November the division moved into the Vosges region, elements assisted in holding the Saverne Gap bridgehead while the bulk of the division went into reserve. The unit was relieved from assignment to VI Corps and transferred to the US XV Corps on 27 November 1944. It then moved into the Moselle region.

In December 1944, the division went on the offensive in the vicinity of Bitche, France. The division occupied the nearby areas of Wingenand Lemberg after fierce fighting on 6–10 December. The division then advanced to Reyersweiler, which fell after fighting on 11–13 December. Fort Schiesseck, a major defensive work in the region, capitulated after a heavy assault by the 100th on 20 December. The division was ordered to halt its attack and to hold defensive positions south of Bitche as part of the Seventh Army during the Battle of the Bulge. Thanks to a stout defense, the men of the 100th later became known as the "Sons of Bitche". The German counterattacks of 1 and 8–10 January 1945 were repulsed, after heavy fighting at Bitche. After further attacks stalled and the Germans began to withdraw, the sector was generally quiet and the division prepared to resume its offensive east.

On 15 March 1945, the attack jumped off and on 16 March, Bitche fell to the 100th Infantry Division. The unit was then relieved from assignment to XV Corps, and transferred to XXI Corps on 22 March 1945. Taking Neustadt and Ludwigshafen, the division reached theRhine River on 24 March. On 25 March 1945, the unit was returned from XXI Corps back to VI Corps. On 31 March 1945, the 100th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine and moved south in the wake of the 10th Armored Division and then east across the Neckar River, establishing and enlarging a bridgehead from 4 to 11 April. Heilbronn fell after nine days of house-to-house combat on 12 April and the division resumed its rapid pursuit of the enemy, reaching Stuttgart by 21 April.The 100th was mopping up along the Neckar, southeast of Stuttgart on 23 April, when it was removed from VI Corps and assigned directly to the Seventh United States Army as an Echelon Above Corps Asset. The division was then assigned primarily to patrolling the sector east of Stuttgart. Shifting to Göppingen on 30 April, the Division engaged in occupational duties as the war in Europe came to an end on V-E Day.

The division spent 163 days in combat. During that time, it suffered 12,215 casualties, including 933 killed in action, 3,667 wounded in action, 589 missing in action, 1 prisoner of war, as well as 7,425 non-battle casualties.The division took 13,351 prisoners of war on its own. Members of the division won three Medals of Honor, seven Distinguished Service Crosses, five Legions of Merit, 492 Silver Star Medals, 23 Soldier's Medals, 5,156 Bronze Star Medals, and 90 Air Medals. The division itself was awarded three campaign streamers for participation in the campaign.

100th Infantry Division returned to the United States via the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation on 10 January 1946, and was released from active duty at Camp Patrick Henry,Virginia that day. The division then began the process of demobilization, before inactivating on 26 January.