Constituted from National Guard units of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the 29th Infantry Division was activated on 25 August 1917 at Camp McClellan, Alabama. Known as the Blue and Gray Division, it traced its antecedents to the Colonial militias and to units that fought on both sides of the Civil War, a heritage reflected in its nickname and monad shoulder patch. After ten months of training, it shipped to France and fought in the Meuse Argonne offensive and the subsequent drive on Metz, then returned to the United States after the Armistice for deactivation in May 1919. Remobilized on 3 February 1941, it formed and began training at Ft. Meade, Maryland, under Maj. Gen. Milton A. Reckord. A year later, Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow took command and reorganized it as a triangular division with the 115th, 116th, and 175th Infantry Regiments. When it sailed for Great Britain in early fall 1942, the division included many draftees and volunteers but retained deep Maryland and Virginia roots on D-Day. Training for the invasion began upon debarkation, and in July 1943 Gerow left to command V Corps, with Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt succeeding him. For D-Day, designated Force "B," the division attached the 1st Division's 26th Regiment and detached the 115th and 116th Regiments to the 1st Division's Force "0" to preserve unity of command for the initial assault, with Force "B" consisting of the 26th and 175th Regiments scheduled to land at H+6. Under Gerow's prearranged order, the detached units were to revert so that what began as an assault by one reinforced infantry division would become an inland attack by the 1st and 29th Divisions abreast. Heavy losses among the two regimental combat teams in the first wave at Omaha Beach delayed Force "B," and the 26th Regimental Combat Team did not begin landing until 1700 hours. Gerhardt came ashore a few hours later, established his command post at the Vierville exit, and prepared to attach the 115th and 116th Regimental Combat Teams and detach the 26th. Assistant Division Commander Brig. Gen. Norman D. Cota, who had landed with the division's two detached regimental combat teams, traveled repeatedly between his command post at St-Laurent and the command posts of V Corps, the 1st Division, and the 29th Division to coordinate the reversion order, issued as V Corps Field Order No. 1 at 2100 hours on D+1, an hour after the 175th Regimental Combat Team had landed and moved inland to Gruchy. Gerhardt implemented it with 29th Division Field Order No. 3. On D+2, the 115th pushed toward Longueville, the depleted 116th cleared remaining resistance along the bluffs, and the 175th drove the division's attack westward to Isigny, collapsing German defenses north of the Aure Valley. From D-Day through four campaigns to VE Day, the Blue and Gray Division answered the battle cry it had adopted while training for the invasion: "29 Let's Go!" The division was deactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 17 January 1946.