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| Reorganized on the triangular pattern, the Division
consisted of the 357th, 358th and 359th
Infantry Regiments, 315th Engineers, 315th Medical
Battalion, 415th Quartermaster Battalion, 90th Signal
Company and 90th Reconnaissance Troops. Division Artillery,
commanded by Brigadier General John E. Lewis, was composed of three 105 mm
howitzer battalions, the 343rd, 344th and 915th,
plus one battalion of 155 mm howitzers, the 345th. The early days consisted of basic training, thoroughly necessary and thoroughly detested by every soldier. Upon completion of "basic" the Division stood a four-day inspection conducted by top-ranking Mexican officers, led by General Francisco Urquizo. The Mexicans expressed enthusiastic admiration for the military appearance of the unit and said it was typical of the newly re-activated organizations in the American Army. Nothing yet to indicate that the 90th was other than "typical", other than "representative", that it would one day become a driving force, a powerful slashing spearhead on the European continent. Early in 1943 the Division took part in maneuvers in Louisiana for approximately two months and then returned to Camp Barkeley for additional training in village fighting, attack on fortified areas, close combat, and other subjects required to face a well-trained enemy. In September, 1943 came the "call of the desert", and the 90th packed up its belongings in order to engage in desert maneuvers in Arizona and California. Sand, dust and heat, plus the 93rd Division were the opponents during the three-month period which ended in December. In December training was over. The school teachers and soda-jerks and bookkeepers and farmhands were civilians no longer, but soldiers. And as soldiers they awaited the summons to action. In that same month the orders came. The Division was going to a pre-staging area to prepare for overseas shipment. Excitement ran high, and rumors were as thick as mosquitoes in New Jersey, which, coincidentally, was the 90th's destination. Fort Dix, New Jersey. By January 8th, 1944, the entire unit had detrained at Fort Dix. Replacements were received, from the 63rd Division principally, and the men of the 90th went home on furloughs to make their farewells, and last-minute readjustments and plans, and to promise faithfully that they would return properly bedecked with medals and with Hitler's moustache tucked securely away for a souvenir. The talk of medals, no doubt, was made in jest, but as the months wore on there were to be thousands of decorations for the men of the 90th, decorations earned on the field of combat for deeds of conspicuous valor. |
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