30th Infantry Division ( United States ) World War I . The division was originally activated as the 9th Division ( drawing units from NC , SC , VA and TN ) under a 1917 force plan , but changed designation after the outbreak of World War I . It was formally activated under its new title in October 1917 , as a National Guard Division from North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and Tennessee . Its organization included the 117th , 118th , 119th , 120th Infantry Regiments , the 113th , 114th , 115th Artillery Regiments , the 113th , 114th , 115th Machine Gun Battalions , and the 105th Engineer Regiment . The major operations it took part in were the Ypres - Lys , and the Somme offensive . Its total casualties were 8 , 415 . Its KIAs were 1 , 237 , and WIAs 7 , 178 . Assigned to Camp Atterbury , Indiana 10 November 1943 to 26 January 1944 World War II . Combat chronicle . The 30th Infantry Division arrived in England , 22 February 1944 , and trained until June . It landed at Omaha Beach , Normandy , 11 June 1944 , secured the Vire - et - Taute Canal , crossed the Vire River , 7 July , and , beginning on 25 July spearheaded the St . Lô break - through . Operation Cobra . On 24 – 25 July , the 30th received one of the most devastating friendly fire incidents of the war . As part of Operation Cobra , an effort to break out of the Normandy hedgerows , US Army Air Force bombers from England were sent to carpet bomb a one by three mile corridor of the German defenses opposite the American line , in preparation for the 30th to lead the breakout . However , Air Force planners , in complete disregard or lack of understanding of their role in supporting the ground attack , loaded the heavy B - 24 Liberator and B - 17 Flying Fortress bombers with 500 pound bombs , destroying roads and bridges and complicating movement through the corridor , instead of lighter 100 pound bombs intended as antipersonnel devices against German defenders . Air planners also switched the approach of attack by 90 degrees without informing ground commanders , planners or units on the ground so a landmark road to guide the bombers to the bombing zone was miscommunicated as the point to begin the bombing run . Start point confusion was further compounded by red smoke signals that suddenly blew in the wrong direction , and bombs began falling on the heads of the U . S . soldiers . This happened on both days , with totaling over 100 casualties including Lt . Gen . Leslie McNair . The day after the division relieved the 1st Infantry Division near Mortain on 6 August . The German drive to Avranches began shortly after . The 30th clashed with the elite 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler , and fierce fighting in place with all available personnel broke out . The 30th frustrated enemy plans and broke the spearhead of the enemy assault in a week of violent struggle , 7 – 12 August . After the liberation of Paris , the division drove east through Belgium , crossing the Meuse River at Vise and Liège on 10 September . Elements of the division entered the Netherlands on 12 September , and Maastricht fell the next day . Taking up positions along the Wurm River , the 30th launched its attack on the heavily defended city of Aachen on 2 October 1944 , and succeeded in contacting the 1st Division , 16 October , resulting in the encirclement and takeover of Aachen . After a rest period , the division eliminated an enemy salient northeast of Aachen on 16 November , pushed to the Inde River at Altdorf on 28 November , and then moved to rest areas . On 17 December the division rushed south to the Malmedy - Stavelot area to help block the powerful enemy drive ; the Germans ' last attempt to win a decisive victory over the Western Allies . Again the 30th met the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler , and again broke the spearhead of their assault . The 30th Infantry launched a counterattack on 13 January 1945 and reached a point 2 miles south of St . Vith on 26 January , before leaving the battle and moving to an assembly area near Lierneux on 27 January , and to another near Aachen to prepare for the attack on the Roer River . The Roer was crossed on 23 February 1945 , near Julich . The 30th moved back for training and rehabilitation on 3 March , and on 24 March made its assault crossing of the Rhine . It pursued the enemy across Germany , mopping up enemy pockets of resistance , took Hamelin on 7 April , Braunschweig on 12 April , and helped to reduce Magdeburg on 17 April . The Russians were contacted at Grunewald on the Elbe River . After a short occupation period , the 30th began its return to the U . S . mainland , arriving on 19 August 1945 . In 282 days of combat the division suffered 3 , 003 KIA , 13 , 376 WIA and 506 died of wounds . Postwar . Following the war , the 30th Division was once again reactivated as a National Guard formation in 1947 , split between three states . It included the 119th , 120th , and 121st Infantry Regiment s . In 1954 , the division became an entirely North Carolina Army National Guard manned formation , as Tennessee ' s portion became the 30th Armored Division , which was maintained with the Alabama Army National Guard . In 1968 the division was designated as the 30th Infantry Division ( Mechanized ) . On 4 January 1974 the division was again deactivated , and the brigade in North Carolina become the 30th Infantry Brigade ( Mechanized ) ( Separate ) .