76th Division ( United States ) The 76th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II . World War II . Training & Activation . Intensive training began 12 April 1943 Advanced training July 1943 at A . P . Hill Military Reservation near Fredericksburg , Virginia . Winter training September 1943 at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin ( Skis , snowshoes , toboggans , snow tractors , snow goggles , winter camouflage suits , Eskimo parkas , etc . ) Simultaneously advanced training group moved November 1943 to Northern Michigan near Watersmeet . Winter training experts from Mountaining Training Center at Camp Hale , Colorado gave special training program . Additional winter training began at Ottawa National Forest near Watersmeet , Michigan on 19 February 1944 . Temperatures dropped to −28 °F . Four exercises were conducted during which the 385th Infantry Regiment ( headquartered in Pori , Michigan , opposed the division as an enemy force . 12 March 1944 , the division returned to Camp McCoy . 7 , 000 troops were taken from the 76th to build up forces for D - Day during April 1944 . November 1944 , trains headed to Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts for staging before transport to Europe . On Thanksgiving Day 1944 , three transports sailed from Boston Port of Embarkation to Europe . The 304th Infantry plus a Division Headquarters Party sailed on the SS Brazil . The 304th reached Southampton England on 4 December 1944 . The 385th Infantry crossed the Atlantic on the SS Sea Owl . The 385th reached Southampton on 4 December 1944 . The 417th Infantry sailed on the SS Marine Raven . The 417th docked at Plymouth 4 December 1944 . The remainder of the division sailed from Boston on 10 December 1944 aboard the Coast Guard operated transport SS Richardson . The SS Richardson docked at Clyde River near Grenoch , Scotland 12 December 1944 . The remainder of the Division Headquarters sailed from New York on 4 December on the Dutch liner New Amsterdam . Combat chronicle . The 76th Infantry Division arrived in England , 20 December 1944 , where it received additional training . It landed at Le Havre , France , 12 January 1945 , and proceeded to the Limesy concentration area . The Division moved to Beine east of Reims and then to Champlon , Belgium , 23 January , to prepare for combat . Relieving the 87th Division in defensive positions along the Sauer and Moselle Rivers in the vicinity of Echternach , Luxembourg , 25 January , the 76th sent out patrols and crossed the Sauer , 7 February , and breached the Siegfried Line in a heavy assault . The advance continued across the Prum and Nims Rivers , 25 – 27 February . Katzenkopf fortress and Irrel fell on 28 February and the attack pushed on toward Trier , reaching the Moselle , 3 March . Driving across the Kyll River , the Division took Hosten , 3 March , Speicher on 5 March and Karl on 10 March ; swung south and cleared the area north of the Moselle , crossing the river , 18 March , near Mülheim an der Mosel . Moving to the Rhine , the 76th took over defenses from Boppard to St . Goar and crossed the Rhine at Boppard , 27 March . It drove east and took Kamberg in a house - to - house struggle , 29 March . A new attack was launched 4 April and the Werra River was reached the next day . The attack continued in conjunction with the 6th Armored Division ; Langensalza fell and the Gera River was crossed , 11 April . Zeitz was captured after a violent struggle , 14 – 15 April , and the 76th reached the Mulde River on 16 April , going into defensive positions to hold a bridgehead across the Mulde near Chemnitz until VE - day . Awards . Medal of Honor : Legion of Merit : External links . ADD a new section " 76th Division in the Cold War and to the present " The 76th Division was reconstituted in October 1946 and reactivated in November of that year as a part of the Organized Reserve , West Hartford , Connecticut . For the next 13 years , the Division served as a traditional line Infantry Division , training annually at Camp Edwards , Massachusetts and at Pine Camp ( now Fort Drum ) , New York . In May 1959 , the Division was re - designated and reorganized as the 76th Division ( Training ) with the mission of training initial ( basic ) entry soldiers of various branches and in later years the Division also became able to train infantry volunteers or draftees . In this role during 1985 and 1986 , the Division successfully defined , established and executed the first USAR ( United State Army Reserve ) Mobilization Army Training Center at Fort Campbell , Kentucky which became the model for utilization and employment of other Reserve Training Divisions in the United States Army . In 1990 - 1991 , during Desert Shield and Desert Storm , the Division validated and deployed to the Middle East over 600 of it ' s soldiers where they served with distinction with the 3rd Army . On 1 October 1994 , the Division was again re designated and on 18 April 1995 was reorganized as the 76th Division ( Institutional Training ) and 15 November 1996 was inactivated at West Hartford , Connecticut