The Twenty Eighth Division

An inventive study of relations between the National Guard and the Regular Army during World War II, Guard Wars follows the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division from its peacetime status through training and into combat in Western Europe. The broader story, spanning the years 1939--1945, sheds light on the National Guard, the U.S. Army, and American identities and priorities during the war years. Michael E. Weaver carefully tracks the division's difficult transformation into a combat-ready unit and highlights General Omar Bradley's extraordinary capacity for leadership -- which turned the Pennsylvanians from the least capable to one of the more capable units, a claim dearly tested in the Battle of the HÃ1⁄4rtgen Forest. This absorbing and informative analysis chronicles the nation's response to the extreme demands of a world war, and the flexibility its leaders and soldiers displayed in the chaos of combat.

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"You are not soldiers! You are men of iron!" Such was the tribute of an idolized general to the men of the Twenty-eighth Division, United States Army, after the division had won its spurs in a glorious, breath-taking fashion at the second battle of the Marne in July and August, 1918. This book traces the illustrious lives of the soldiers in the highly decorated division during the great battles of World Wart 1, where they were stationed in France.

Eight World War II battles are examined here from the perspective of the U.S. Army infantrymen who were facing German Panzers. The battles were chosen from those fought from August 1944 through January 1945, a time of rapid advances and intense combat. They include a variety of engagements: river crossings, defensive operations, assaults on towns, and others.