Infantry Day, 1944. Division plays host to industrialists . . .

Will we ever forget that day? By midnight of the 14th the odds were high that it would rain on the 15th. It always rained on Organization Day, just about the time the division, all dressed up in its finest, was ready to pass in review before the Commanding General and his staff. Of course, it poured. The industrialists wondered if there'd be a parade, and the division wondered if there'd be a parade, but nobody said anything so we all got soaked. That parade ground was as liquid as the Atlantic and the inevitable pooch had to swim to keep up with the troops. The band never muffed the beat, though, and because we were touched by those business men coming to see us parade and taking the storm like real troopers, we really put on a show. Our teeth chattered so hard we could hardly hear the music, but not a man went out of step, and you would have thought from the look of us that it was the nicest day ever and that we were strutting for the 200 most beautiful girls in the world . . . . .

Long before the holiday clothes had had a chance to dry, the division was back in fatigues and training hard. At this time the 76th was utilizing the invaluable experiences of officers and soldiers who had seen battle in Africa and the Pacific. An NCO training school was organized. To this school came as a visitor the late Lt Gen Leslie J. McNair, Commanding General of the Army Ground Forces. His message had a familiar ring: "The 76th Division is going to war!"

Long before holiday clothes had a chance to dry . . .

The prospect of Louisiana maneuvers loomed briefly for September or October, but that cloud gathered again; once more came the call for replacements. In September the 76th Division supplied reinforcements for units fighting in France, and again there were replacements to absorb into the team, young men with seventeen weeks training at Infantry Replacement Training Centers. Field problems at Camp McCoy began the 1st of October. Lt Gen Ben Lear, the new Army Ground Forces Commander, spoke to the officers and non-commissioned officers of the division. In forceful language, without revealing any destination he stated that the 76th soon would be in combat. Two and one-half years had passed but this time it was definite: "The 76th Division is going to war!" Two days later the field problems were canceled; the troops moved back into barracks and began packing for the overseas movement.

During his last official tour in the United States, the late Lt Gen Leslie J. McNair told Maj Gen William R. Schmidt that the 76th was ready for combat.

This was no false alarm. On Armistice Day, troops of the 417th Infantry headed for the staging area at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. Each day thereafter, four or five long troop trains rolled from Camp McCoy to the East Coast. The last train departed 28 November. In addition to the eventful memories of the past and the optimistic hopes for the future, as the troops left Wisconsin they carried with them the ringing battle cry, "ONAWAY", discovered by Commanding General William R. Schmidt after research as the "alert" signal of the Chippewa Indian warriors on whose once wild hunting grounds the 76th Division so earnestly had trained.

Preparing for a night patrol during maneuvers . . .

The 76th Infantry Division was at last overseas as a fighting unit. Going to war was no longer a remote thought waiting on the will of strategists in Washington. It was a reality.

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