US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Jackson, SC)

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Tanks on guard in cover of the shelled building by German submarines, it to patrol the Atlantic Coast. For six weeks Win- ter of 1942, units of the division patrolledfithe ard In March, 1943, the 8th moved tof,Qa1iip'1.aguna, Arizona, and participated in maneuvers. During this period of training shores from North Carolina to the F1orida.mIf1e59g,ifpffsitxgyas de-motorized and again designated a stand- In April, 1942, after having Jackson, it became the 8th Motorigedfflgiision. In September of that year the divisiongvvas ordered to participate in the Tennessee-lllianeuvers and from there headed for a nevwhjhome at Fort Leon- K'-L .. N, E ardffirifantry division. Returning from desert maneiiverskto Camp Forrest, Tennessee, prepara- tions vvere' immediately begun for an overseas movementsrw1.-3i1QQ.EfNovember the division arrived at the Camp 'il- liner, New Jersey, staging area,

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t ,..-,. mn.. .W The Stfistory of Bih lnianir Division For the third time in 32 years the 8th Infan- try Division composed of the 13th, 28th, 61st Infan- try and their supporting units was ordered into active status at Fort Jackson under the command of Brig. General Frank G. McConnell on 17 August 1950. Originally activated in January, 1918, the Golden Arrow division was still enroute to France during World War I when the Armistice was signed. The 8th Infantry Regiment, then a part of the division, was detained and attached to the Army of Occupation, serving on German soil until 19 August. The remaining elements of the 8th were immediately returned to the United States and in January 1919 the organization dis- banded. In March, 1923, the division was reconsti- tuted as an inactive unit. 1 July 1940 saw the 8th again ordered to active service at Camp Jackson, under command of the late Major General Philip B. Peyton, and a Week later the Post was announced as a perma- nent military post to be known thereafter as Fort Jackson. The reactivated division consisted mainly of the 13th, 28th and 34th Infantry Regiments and the 28th and 83rd Field Artillery Battalions. In September, 1941, the 8th took part in the Carolina Maneuvers, and with Pearl Harbor and the constant threat of an attack on the east coqast First allied armored group to enter the battered German city of Duren.

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l ' G it Advancing to the front and on 5 December 1943 a convoy be ' - th or the invasion of western Europe Infantry Division sailed from N: - In- drew ne , training program was expended bH1'ka'Ci011- an i nsified and on 1 uly 1944 the division North Ireland, Where a varied program of train- Europe. ATI' ' Jul 01' D-Day plus 23, the ing was instigated W - .4 . as .,,.. . - to . .., .' 3 . a Beach on the Cher- small-unit. tactics. While there, the ' ' I a, where Hnal preparations for inspected by General Dwight D. Eisenho - g - e to battle were completed. the late Lieutenant General George S. Patton. On 7 July, three days after crossing the Eng-