Show your 29th Stuff!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Just thought I would add a little background to the 29th Division's post-WWII history. The ol' "Blue and Gray" was composed of National Guard units from Maryland (the Blue) and Virginia (the Gray). However for a time, post WWII, it was a part of the 28th Infantry Division, the Pennsylvania National Guard unit known as the "Bucket of Blood" (because of its red keystone patch).

 

Here's more detailed information from the Maryland National Guard's official website: "Other changes including the inactivation of the famed Blue and Gray 29th Infantry Division in 1968 as part of a National Guard reorganization. The 29th Division would not be brought back to active status until 1985, when it was reorganized as a light infantry division, in recognition of the Armys need to have forces that could be deployed quickly and fight in difficult terrain."

 

I happened to have come off of active duty and Vietnam service around that time and joined the Maryland Army National Guard as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the 116th. In addition to monthly drills, officers had a mandatory monthly meeting at the unit's various armories. The 5th Regiment's headquarters was in Baltimore and it used to contain many, many artifacts in display cases from WWII, including captured weapons and uniforms. Unfortunately, haven't been there in years, so don't know if the display cases are still there or how easy it may be to gain access.

 

Final aside: besides it's famed history, especially in WWII, the unit saw considerable riot duty during the time of my service. Again, from the Maryland National Guard's official website "... repeated antiwar riots at the University of Maryland resulted in multiple deployments to the campus into the 1970s. Perhaps the National Guard's biggest test came in 1968, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Across the country rioting broke out, and the city of Baltimore was no exception. Nearly the entire Maryland National Guard was deployed to contain the disturbance. Ultimately the Guard was federalized and reinforced by active Army troops before the rioting subsided." This was a particularly ugly time in US history and the Guard was there to bring things back to order.

[IVYDIVISION]

Thanks to share your 29th Items guys , love it !