LET'S GO!: THE HISTORY OF THE 29TH INFANTRY DIVISION 1917-2001

LET'S GO!                               ALEXANDER F. BARNES, TIM WILLIAMS, CHRIS CALKINS
Posted:  Jan. 23, 2015

America's entry into World War I in 1917 was marked by the need to quickly build an Army and deploy it to France. Among the units deploying was the 29th Blue and Gray Division. Comprised of National Guardsmen from the Mid-Atlantic region, it quickly achieved a reputation as a top-notch outfit during the Meuse-Argonne campaign. This reputation was enhanced in World War II when the 29th was selected for the assault on German-occupied France in the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. The courage and sacrifice shown by Guardsmen that day was later matched in bloody fighting at St Lo, Brest, and Julich. In the years that followed, the 29th would add to its lustrous reputation by becoming the Guard's first Light division and serving effectively as peacekeepers in the Balkans--at times only fifty miles from where World War I started. Using previously unpublished material and images from 1917 to 2001, here is their story.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This book about the 29 Infantry division is really a history of just the division and not really about the battles that they fought in. the author explains the blue and gray patch that they wear as representing units from New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. As the division was composed of men from States that fought for both the North and South during the Civil War, the division is nicked named the “Blue and Gray “. They first were formed for WWI and left for France June 1918, it was not until September of 1918 that they were called up for action which was the Army’s Meuse- Argonne Offensive. They were in combat for 21 days and lost 30 percent of their division in that time. Shortly after the Armistice with Germany was signed and when they came back to the States they were deactivated. They were reorganized on February 3, 1941 and put on a ship and sent to England to be part of operation overlord. After months of training them along with the Army’s 1st Division and a Ranger Regiment, got the task to take Omaha Beach, which we all know was the most fortified of the five beaches that day. The author goes into the types of uniforms of the different wars and weapons and then brings up when the unit is called back into service for Kosovo, and for the Iraq war and Afghanistan. Other than not going into all of the battles that they were in that would be the thing that I would see stopping someone from enjoying this book more. Overall not a bad book. I got this book from net galley.