WORLD WAR I
The first U.S. Army National Division to go
"on the line" in Europe.
4 campaigns: Baccarat, Oise-Aisne, Aisne-Mame, Meuse-Argonne.
68 days of combat.
No other U.S. division was as near to the German frontier.
The heroic stand of its famed, isolated "Lost Battalion" in the Argonne
Forest and the 77th's breakthrough rescue of its holdout survivors.
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WORLD
WAR II
3 Pacific campaigns: Marianas, the
Philippines, Okinawa. About 200 days of combat including amphibious
invasions. Liberation of Guam, Leyte (Philippines), Ie Shima, Okinawa.
Occupation of Japan.
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77th INFANTRY
DIVISION, U.S. ARMY RESERVE
1947 to 1965, 18 years which saw East
European countries, China and others come under communist control, the
Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the Cold War buildup, the Cuba Missile
Crisis, the start of the Vietnam War, and other far-flung international
crises, the 77th was one of the six combat divisions of the Army Reserve
held ready for worldwide contingencies, if needed.
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77th U.S. ARMY RESERVE COMMAND
In 1967, as part of the reorganization of
the national command structure of the U.S. Army Reserve, this new command
was activated as the nation's largest Army Reserve Command, with
approximately 20,000 reservists in over 200 units, mostly across New York
State. The new command received the colors and official lineage of the
deactivated 77th Infantry Division and the division's last
commanding general became its first commanding general.
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VIETNAM WAR
In 1968, six units of the 77th U.S. Army
Reserve Command were called to active duty. Five of these served with
distinction in Vietnam and were considered among the finest of their type,
with many unit members receiving decorations for outstanding service. The
sixth unit served in a stateside support role.
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"REAL-WORLD" MISSIONS
Many of the 77th U.S. Army Reserve Command's
units and thousands of its soldiers accomplished real-world missions
during their training assemblies, weeks of annual training and special
tours of active duty; in such actions as building roads in Latin America,
treating patients in military and civilian hospitals, environmental
projects, preparing disaster ]plans for communities, performing
intelligence assignments and studies, assisting in disaster relief,
processing refugees, rebuilding military equipment and ,weapons systems,
helping to train Active-Army and other Armed Forces units and personnel,
providing military police, administrative, logistical,
counterintelligence, intelligence, communications and other support to
military installations and activities and to various government agencies,
and through many other significant projects and assignments.
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THE GULF WAR
In 1990, from many parts of New York State,
28 units of the 77h with about
3,500 soldiers (one of every four 77th
reservists), were mobilized and deployed to Saudi Arabia, Germany and
elsewhere as part of the ultimate test of the Reserve system.
They performed admirably, and were welcomed
home in 1991 with a gala parade down Broadway's "Canyon of Heroes." The
parade drew the largest crowd since General MacArthur's return from Korea.
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THE 77' REGIONAL SUPPORT COMMAND
In 1995, the Army Reserve's units were
realigned nationally to provide peacetime support to the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in the event of natural or manmade catastrophes,
and the 77th U.S. Army Reserve Command became the 77th Regional Support
Command, with approximately 12,000 reservists from New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, in 113 units, mostly in the New York
metropolitan area. That year, nine units of the new command were called
to active duty to support NATO peacekeeping efforts in the former
Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Since then, 77th soldiers have been
serving nine-month active-duty tours in that region and other parts of
Europe.
77th soldiers continued the tradition of
making Army Reserve history when they processed over 4,000 Kosovo refugees
at Fort Dix and arranged for them to live with sponsor families n the
U.S. This was the first U.S. -based joint service refugee mission
assigned to the U. S. Army Reserve.
77th soldiers also went to Guatemala and
built schools, wells and roads, and provided medical and dental assistance
to people in remote mountain towns.
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 AND ITS
AFTERMATH
Six 77th soldiers died in the
World Trade Center; five were firefighters trying to save the lives of
others. Immediately after the attacks, the 77th Regional Support Command
and a group of well-trained emergency preparedness liaison officers went
into action with prompt, effective, meaningful military support to
civilian authorities in the New York disaster, recovery efforts being made
by civilian police, fire, medical examiner, hospital, and other city
agencies, as well as FBI, FEMA and other federal and state agencies. In
addition to all the support given by 77h units and soldiers, many other
77h soldiers also made valuable contributions to the rescue and recovery
efforts in their civilian jobs and as civilian volunteers, often using
their military-acquired skills.
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THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM
As part of OPERATION NOBLE EAGLE and
OPERATION ENDURING FREEEDOM, fourteen additional 77th units with a total
of 544 soldiers have been federally activated and are currently operating
in a variety of locations. The unit types include engineer, logistics,
intelligence, military police, medical, administrative, information, legal
and military history.
In 2002, thousands of 77th Regional Support
Command soldiers are continuing to perform
important, meaningful missions in the U.S.
and around the world.
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