United States Army 79th Infantry Division (Cross of Lorraine)

U. S. ARMY 79TH INFANTRY DIVISION (CROSS OF LORRAINE) -  The 79th Infantry Division ("Cross of Lorraine") was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II.

World War I

• Activated: August 1917
• Overseas: July 1918
• Major operations: Meuse-Argonne
• Casualties: Total-6,874 (KIA-1,151 ; WIA-5,723)
• Inactivated: June 1919

World War II

• Activated:  June 15, 1942 at Camp Pickett, Virginia
• Overseas:   April 7, 1944
• Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe
• Days of combat: 248
• Distinguished Unit Citations: 8
• Awards: Medal of Honor-3 ; Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-13 ; Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-1 ; Silver Star-962; Legion of Merit-11 ; Soldier's Medal-27 ; Bronze Star-4,916 ; Air Medal-78
• Inactivated:  December 20, 1945.
• Reactivated: (Organized Reserve division November 29, 1946)

WWII Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 15,203
• Killed in action: 2,476
• Wounded in action: 10,971
• Missing in action: 579
• Prisoner of war: 1,186

The 79th Infantry Division is now the 79th Sustainment Support Command (SSC) headquartered at Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) Los Alamitos, California.  The 79th SSC was officially activated on December 1, 2009 with the mission of providing trained, ready, cohesive, well-led sustainment units for worldwide deployment to meet the U.S. Army’s rotational and contingency mission requirements in support of the National Military Strategy. The 79th SSC is the higher headquarters of over 20,000 U.S. Army Reserve sustainment soldiers organized into over 200 units dispersed throughout the western half of the United States.  Major subordinate commands of the 79th SSC include the 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC) in San Antonio, Texas, the 311th ESC in Los Angeles, California, the 364th ESC in Marysville, Washington, and the 451st ESC in Wichita, Kansas.  As the operational command posts of a theater sustainment command – the ESCs plan, coordinate synchronize, monitor, and control operational- level sustainment operations for Army service component commands, joint task forces and joint forces commands throughout the world.