• Ordered into active military service: 15 July 1942,
Camp Gruber, Oklahoma • Overseas: 6 December 1943 • Distinguished Unit Citations: 3 • Campaigns:
Rome-Arno,
North Apennines,
Po Valley • Days of combat: 344 • Awards:
Medal of Honor-3 ;
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-40 ;
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-2 ;
Silver Star-522;
Legion of Merit-66;
Soldier's Medal-19 ;
Bronze Star Medal-3,784. • Unit citations: Third Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment (action vicinity Laiatico; 9–13 July 1944). Second Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment (action on Mt. Battaglia, 27 Sept – 3 Oct 1944). Second Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment (action vicinity Mt. Cappello, 27 Sept – 1 Oct 1944). • Commanders: • Maj. Gen.
John E. Sloan (July 1942 – September 1944) • Maj. Gen.
Paul W. Kendall (September 1944 – July 1945) • Brig. Gen.
James C. Fry (July–November 1945) • Maj. Gen.
Bryant Moore (November 1945 to inactivation) • Inactivated: 24 October 1947 in Italy
Activation and training Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered into active military service, they were reorganized on paper as "triangular" divisions under the 1940 tables of organization. The headquarters companies of the two infantry brigades were consolidated into the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop, and one infantry regiment was removed by inactivation. The field artillery brigade headquarters and headquarters battery became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the division artillery. Its three field artillery regiments were reorganized into four battalions; one battalion was taken from each of the two 75 mm gun regiments to form two 105 mm howitzer battalions, the brigade's ammunition train was reorganized as the third 105 mm howitzer battalion, and the 155 mm howitzer battalion was formed from the 155 mm howitzer regiment. The engineer, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized into battalions. In 1942, divisional quartermaster battalions were split into ordnance light maintenance companies and quartermaster companies, and the division's headquarters and military police company, which had previously been a combined unit, was split. The 88th Infantry Division, commanded by
Major General John E. Sloan, was ordered into active military service on 15 July 1942 at
Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, around a cadre of officers and men from the
9th Infantry Division, National Guard and Organized Reserve officers, and men from infantry replacement training centers at
Camp Wheeler,
Georgia, and
Camp Wolters,
Texas. The first group of
draftee fillers for the division arrived in early August, coming predominantly from
New England and the
Mid-Atlantic states. Other groups, mainly from the
Great Lakes and
Midwest but also hailing from the
Southwest and
Far West, arrived in October and early November to round out the division. The division was unique among U.S. Army infantry divisions during World War II in that it suffered relatively little from factors that caused personnel turbulence or other delays to the date on which it was judged to be "ready" for combat service and shipped to a theater of war. The Army's
officer candidate schools (OCS) expanded dramatically in scope in 1942. One requirement for entry was that men have at least six months of service in the Army; the majority of the 88th Infantry Division's personnel did not become eligible for OCS until January 1943, around which time the Army reconsidered the troop basis, eliminating the need for many infantry officers as their future units were no longer contemplated for organization. OCS quotas in the combat arms were reduced dramatically until 1944. There was also little pressure for the division to provide candidates for the
Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), which went into operation early in 1943, as units on maneuvers or under alert orders were exempted from providing candidates. The 88th Infantry Division went on maneuvers in
Louisiana beginning in June 1943 and was alerted for overseas movement in September, soon after completing them. The division also had not progressed far enough in its training to be a victim of the stripping of stateside units in 1942 to obtain men needed to fill out units slated for participation in the
Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942. In addition, it moved overseas just as the stripping of stateside units to fill emergency requirements and provide additional sources of trained replacements became a formalized policy beginning in fall 1943, resulting in near-continuous personnel losses to many units until late summer 1944. According to the
Army Ground Forces, the 88th's three sister divisions activated in July 1942, the
80th,
89th, and
95th, respectively lost seven, fourteen, and eight months of training time to personnel turbulence caused by withdrawal of ASTP/OCS candidates or time lost because of other factors not attributed to personnel turbulence.
Combat chronicle • First Entered combat: Advance party on night of 3–4 January 1944 in support of
Monte Cassino attacks. • First Organization Committed to Line: 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment plus attachments • First combat fatality: 3 January 1944 • Began post war POW Command: 7 June 1945. Responsible for guarding and later repatriating 324,462 German
POWs. The 88th Infantry Division arrived at
Casablanca,
French Morocco on 15 December 1943, and moved to Magenta,
Algeria, on 28 December for intensive training. Destined to spend the war fighting on the
Italian Front, the division arrived at
Naples, Italy on 6 February 1944, and concentrated around
Piedimonte d'Alife for combat training. The 88th Infantry Division, along with the 85th Infantry Division, were the first United States Army divisions composed essentially entirely of draftees to enter combat. An advance element went into the line before
Monte Cassino on 27 February, and the entire division relieved the battered
British 46th Infantry Division along the
Garigliano River in the Minturno area on 5 March. A period of defensive patrols and training followed. The 88th formed part of Major General
Geoffrey Keyes's
II Corps, part of the
U.S. Fifth Army, under
Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark. After being inspected by the Fifth Army commander on 5 May, the 88th Division, six days later, drove north to take Spigno, Mount Civita,
Itri,
Fondi, and Roccagorga, reached
Anzio, 29 May, and
pursued the enemy into Rome, being the first unit of the Fifth Army into the city on 4 June, two days before the
Normandy landings, after a stiff engagement on the outskirts of the city. An element of the 88th is credited with being first to enter the Eternal City. After continuing across the
Tiber to Bassanelio the 88th retired for rest and training, 11 June. The division went into defensive positions near Pomerance on 5 July, and launched an attack toward
Volterra on the 8th, taking the town the next day. Laiatico fell on the 11th, Villamagna on the 13th, and the
Arno River was crossed on the 20th although the enemy resisted bitterly. After a period of rest and training, the 88th Division, now commanded by Major General
Paul Wilkins Kendall, opened its assault on the
Gothic Line on 21 September, and advanced rapidly along the
Firenzuola-
Imola road, taking
Monte Battaglia (
Casola Valsenio, RA) in the
Battle of Monte Battaglia on the 28th. The enemy
counterattacked savagely and heavy fighting continued on the line toward the Po Valley. The strategic positions of Mount Grande and Farnetto were taken on 20 and 22 October. From 26 October 1944 to 12 January 1945, the 88th entered a period of defensive patrolling in the Mount Grande-Mount Cerrere sector and the Mount Fano area. From 24 January to 2 March 1945, the division defended the
Loiano-
Livergnano area and after a brief rest returned to the front. The
drive to the Po Valley began on 15 April. Monterumici fell on the 17th after an intense artillery barrage and the
Po River was crossed at
Revere-
Ostiglia on 24-25 April, as the 88th pursued the enemy toward the
Alps. The cities of
Verona and
Vicenza were captured on the 25th and 28th and the
Brenta River was crossed on 30 April. The 88th was driving through the Dolomite Alps toward
Innsbruck, Austria where it linked up with the
103rd Infantry Division, part of the
U.S. Seventh Army, when the hostilities ended on 2 May 1945. •
Killed in action: 2,298 •
Wounded in action: 9,225 •
Missing in action: 941 •
Prisoner of war: 647
Units -
Miramare Park – Blue Devils Plaque Units assigned to the division during World War II included: • Headquarters, 88th Infantry Division •
349th Infantry Regiment • 350th Infantry Regiment •
351st Infantry Regiment • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 88th Infantry Division Artillery • 337th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm) • 338th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm) • 339th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm) • 913th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm) • 313th Engineer Combat Battalion • 313th Medical Battalion • 88th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 88th Infantry Division • 788th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company • 88th Quartermaster Company • 88th Signal Company • Military Police Platoon • Band • 88th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment ==Post war==