The 77th Sustainment Brigade is a unit of the United States Army that inherited the lineage of the 77th Infantry Division ("Statue of Liberty"[1]), which served in World War I and World War II. Its headquarters has been at Fort Dix, New Jersey, since its predecessor command, the 77th Regional Readiness Command, was disestablished in 2008 from Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens, New York. Soldiers from the 77th have served in most major conflict and contingency operations since World War II.[not verified in body]
The division is nicknamed the "Statue of Liberty Division"; the shoulder patch bears the Statue of Liberty in gold on a blue isosceles-trapezoid shape. U.S. Marines on Guam nicknamed them the "77th Marine Division".[not verified in body]
The Clearview Expressway in Queens, New York, is named the "U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division Expressway", honoring the division and its successor commands.
Men of the 307th Infantry Regiment (attached to the British 42nd Division for instruction), headed by a British regimental band, marching past Major-GeneralArthur Solly-Flood (42nd Division) on a road near Famechon, France, 7 June 1918.
Square Division example: 1940 US Infantry Division. On the far left can be seen two brigades of two regiments each.
It was the first American division composed of draftees to arrive in France in World War I, landing in April 1918; overall, it was the seventh of 42 divisions to reach the Western Front. The division fought in the Battle of Château-Thierry on 18 July 1918 and later in the Meuse–Argonne offensive, the largest battle in the history of the United States Army, from late September until the Armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918. During its service in France, the 77th Division sustained 10,194 casualties: of these 1,486 men were killed and another 8,708 were wounded.
The division, after serving on occupation duties for the next few months, returned to the United States in April 1919 and was deactivated at Camp Upton later that month.
Men of Company I, 308th Infantry, resting after capturing German second line trenches 1½ miles north of Le Four de Paris; Lieutenant Stewart in charge: Foret d'Argonne (Forest of Argonne), September 1918.
The 153rd Infantry Brigade consisted of the 305th Infantry Regiment, 306th Infantry Regiment, and 305th Machine Gun Battalion.[2] The brigade was initially commanded by Brigadier General Edmund Wittenmyer.[2]
Doughboys of the 302nd Field Signal Battalion, 77th Division, unrolling and rewinding telephone wire into smaller rolls for convenience in field work, near Vesle, France, September 6, 1918.
The 154th Infantry Brigade was composed of the 307th and 308th Infantry Regiments and the 306th Machine Gun Battalion.[3] The brigade's inaugural commander was Brigadier General Evan M. Johnson.[2]
While the division had been recruited as a National Army unit from the New York City area, attrition and replacements had complicated the complexion of the unit. For example, the 40th Division had been converted into a "depot division" in August 1918 to equip, train, and forward replacements to other units, and in the process, Company L of the 160th Infantry, part of the California National Guard, had supplied many of its original men to Company K of the 307th Infantry as replacements.
The "Lost Battalion" of World War I fame was composed of six companies of the 308th Infantry Regiment and one from the 307th Infantry Regiment.
305th, 306th, 307th, and 308th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals
Interwar period
The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, allotted to the Second Corps Area, assigned to the XII Corps and allotted to the southeastern portion of the state of New York, particularly Long Island and the New York City area. The headquarters was initiated on 1 July 1921. As of 1937, it was commanded by Brigadier General Perry L. Miles.[4]
World War II
1st BLT, 306th in the Kerama Islands on 27 March 1945Men of the 77th Infantry division listen to radio reports of Germany's surrender on 8 May 1945.Triangular Division example: 1942 U.S. infantry division. The brigades of the Square division have been removed, and there are three regiments directly under divisional control.
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 77th Infantry Division Artillery
304th Field Artillery Battalion
305th Field Artillery Battalion
306th Field Artillery Battalion
902nd Field Artillery Battalion
302nd Engineer Combat Battalion
302nd Medical Battalion
77th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
Headquarters, Special Troops, 77th Infantry Division
Headquarters Company, 77th Infantry Division
777th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
77th Quartermaster Company
77th Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Band
77th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered to active duty, they were reorganized on paper as triangular divisions. The 77th Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 25 March 1942 around a cadre of officers and men from the 8th Infantry Division. The 77th Infantry Division moved to Hawaii, 31 March 1944, and continued training in amphibious landings and jungle warfare. Elements began to leave Hawaii, 1 July 1944, for the amphibious assault on Guam. Attached to III Amphibious Force, the 77th made an assault landing on Guam, 21 July 1944. After taking over defense of the beachhead, the division drove north to seize Mount Tenjo and effected junction with the 3rd Marine Division, linking the northern and southern bridgeheads, 23–29 July. It continued to drive north, and dislodged the enemy from positions at Barrigada town and mountain, 4 August, resistance ending on 8 August. With Guam recaptured, the 77th sailed for New Caledonia, but plans were changed en route and it was directed to proceed to Leyte. The division landed on the east coast of Leyte, 23 November 1944, and was attached to XXIV Corps, Sixth Army. After a short period of training and combat patrolling in the Corps' rear, 23 November – 6 December, it landed at Ipil and fought up the east coast of Ormoc Bay to seize Ormoc on 10 December. Attacking north, astride Highway No. 2, the division secured Valencia and the Libungao-Palompon road junction. Mopping up operations continued through January 1945 to 5 February 1945.
The next combat assignment was Okinawa. In late March (26–29), the division made 15 landings, securing Kerama Retto and Keise Shima for the assault on Okinawa. Riding at sea, 1–15 April 1945, it suffered casualties from enemy suicide attacks, and prepared for the assault landing on Ie Shima. On 16 April 1945, the 77th landed on Ie Shima, captured the airfield, and engaged in a bitter fight for "Government House Hill" and "Bloody Ridge." It was in this operation that Ernie Pyle was killed. On April 25 it left Ie Shima for Okinawa, relieving the 96th Division on 1 May 1945. Fighting its way slowly against extremely heavy Japanese resistance, the division drove to Shuri in conjunction with the 1st Marine Division, occupying it 29–31 May. In June the division covered the right flank of XXIV Corps and "sealed" Japanese cave positions. In July the division moved to Cebu, Philippine Islands, and prepared for the anticipated invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall). On 6 and 9 August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing the surrender of Japan and thereby cancelling Operation Downfall. The division landed in Japan in October 1945 for occupation duty, and was inactivated a few months later on 15 March 1946.
Five soldiers from the 77th lost their lives at the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks, while serving in their civilian duties.[6]
The lineage of the 77th Infantry Division is perpetuated today by the 77th Sustainment Brigade, a unit of the Army Reserve, with its headquarters at Fort Dix, N.J. In 2011, the brigade deployed to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. The brigade headquarters was stationed in Balad, Iraq and held logistical responsibility for the re-posturing of forces in northern Iraq. The unit's motto is "Liberty Warriors".[citation needed]
Myers, Max. (ed.) Ours to Hold It High: The History of the 77th Infantry Division in World War II by Men Who Were There. Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1947.
Rainsford, Walter Kerr. From Upton to the Meuse with the Three Hundred and Seventh Infantry. New York: Appleton, 1920. Rainsford was commander of Company M, and later of Company L, of the 307th. This book contains a detailed account of the "Lost Battalion" in Chapter X (pages 195-224).
United States
United States Army
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