page_title: 80th Division (United States)
section_title: Combat chronicle
hierarchical_section_title: 80th Division (United States) / World War II / Combat chronicle
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Army CCKW 2 1/2 ton 6x6 cargo trucks crossing the Rhine River near Mainz, Germany, in late March or April 1945. The U.S. 80th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine river in the vicinity of Mainz starting on 0100 hrs on 28 March 1945. At noon on the same day, XX. Corps engineers of the 160th Combat Engineer Battalion started construction of a 580 m (1,896 ft) treadway bridge across the Rhine at Mainz (see sign). [1] The men on the trucks seem to be German prisoners.
context_page_description: The 80th Training Command is a formation of the United States Army Reserve.
  The unit was first organized in August 1917 and activated the following September during World War I as the 80th Division. During World War II, the Division was redesignated on 1 August 1942, as the 80th Infantry Division. Nicknamed the "Blue Ridge Division", it was initially composed of draftees from the mid-atlantic states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Division was redesignated the 80th Airborne Division from December 1946 to May 1952. In May 1952 and March 1959, the unit was redesignated as a reserve infantry division and then a reserve training division. In 1994, the unit was granted the designation, 80th Division. On 1 October 2008, the unit underwent a major transformation and is now the 80th Training Command.
context_section_description: On 5 August 1944, the 80th landed at Utah Beach. The division was destined to become the "work horse" of General Patton's Third Army and to play a key role in the breakthrough at Avranches. The Division then attacked Argentan, taking it, 20 August, and creating the Falaise Pocket. After mopping up in the area, the 80th took part in the Third Army dash across France, cutting through Saint-Mihiel, Châlons, and Commercy in pursuit of the retreating Germans until stopped by the lack of gasoline and other supplies at the river Seille.
  From 25 September to 7 November, the division maintained an aggressive defense of positions west of the Seille, and prepared for the Third Army sweep into the industrially vital Saar Basin. The attack jumped off on 8 November, the 80th advancing through Delme Ridge, Faulquemont, and St. Avold to within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Saarbrücken, when it was relieved by the 6th Armored Division, 7 December 1944.
caption: 80th crossing the Rhine near Mainz
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