On 3 February 1941, the First Maryland Infantry Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard, was inducted into federal service as the 115th Infantry Regiment and sent to join the 29th Infantry Division. They arrived in England on 11 October 1942, and then were attached to the 1st Infantry Division in preparation for the D-Day invasion. They moved with the 1st Infantry Division from 2 June 1944, and remained with 1st Infantry Division until 7 June 1944, when they returned to the 29th Infantry Division for further operations. Their participation in the Normandy Campaign continued until it was over on 24 July 1944. They immediately moved into the Northern France Campaign on 25 July 1944, which continued until it was over on 14 September 1944. During this period the 115th Infantry Regiment was engaged in one of the war's forgotten chapters, "The Battle of Brest". The Battle for Brest was one of the fiercest battles fought during Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout of Normandy which began on 27 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The 115th Infantry then started participation in the Rhineland Campaign on 15 September 1944, whereupon the 115th Infantry crossed from France to Belgium and the Netherlands both on 27 September 1944, and entered Germany on 30 September 1944.

The 29th Infantry was on the front lines on D-Day, Battle of Normandy, and was the first division to cross the Elbe into Germany. When, on January 17, 1946, the 29th Infantry Division was deactivated, 28,776 soldiers had been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or missing. In September 1944, Joseph H. Ewing joined the famed 29th Infantry Division of the Maryland-Virginia National Guard as the unit was readying to storm the port city of Brest, France. In Germany, he led his rifle platoon in making an assault crossing of the Roer River at Julich, which led to the division’s drive on Munchen-Gladbach. During quiet periods on the Roer, Col. Ewing typed and edited a newspaper he titled Chin Strap. The scant-copy newspaper was circulated within the company and also caught the eye of battalion headquarters. The publication earned Col. Ewing the nicknames “Strap” and “The Strap.” At the end of World War II, Col. Ewing was assigned to Fort Meade and the War Department Historical Division in the Pentagon, and decided to author the official history of the 29th Division in World War II. This fascinating account of the division’s wartime history is the result of Col. Ewing’s combat experience and civilian career in journalism.

Balkoski's acclaimed multi-volume history of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in World War II covers the division's vital role in the U.S. Army's November offensive, which Gen. Omar Bradley hoped would get the Allies to the Rhine River by Christmas. A riveting story of heroism and tragedy.

This history was originally published in 1947 by the Infantry Journal Press. The 409th Infantry Regiment was one of three regiments in the 103rd "Cactus" Infantry division, which arrived in Southern France in Oct. 1944. They fought through the Vosges sector and later into the Rhineland area of South Central Germany. They then moved into Austria where they ended the war in May 1945.

The late Frank D. Bergstein served in the 29th Division of the U.S. Army from July 1941 until late 1945. He commanded Headquarters Company, 115th Regimental Combat Team, 29th Division, when it landed on Omaha Beach and for the long months of combat after the invasion. He wrote these memoirs in the late 1980s, at the urging of his family and friends. At various times in the past, mostly surrounded by an attentive audience of loved ones and friends, Frank would expound on his wartime experiences. This compilation by him, Some Reminiscences of World War II, presents a few of those more poignant memories, revealing observations, and sometimes, caustic comments he was persuaded to put in writing by his family. The work was completed and typed during the period of April 10, 1988, through April 8, 1989. Readers are fortunate that this task was accomplished before his passing, Christmas Eve 2002. The main body of Frank's work is organized into twenty-four consecutive chapters that are focused on his most important memories of that time. He was a warrior in battle, and later, as a successful businessman, inventor, and industrialist, he remained a warrior--never forgetting the lessons learned during World War II.