88th Infantry Division (United States)

88th Division 88th Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia.
Active	1917–1919 1921–1947
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	"Fighting Blue Devils" "Clover Leaf Division"
Engagements	World War I World War II Rome-Arno North Apennines Po Valley
Commanders
Notable commanders	Paul Wilkins Kendall
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

The 88th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army that saw service in both World War I and World War II. It was one of the first of the Organized Reserve divisions to be called into federal service, created nearly "from scratch" after the implementation of the draft in 1940. Previous divisions were composed of a core of either Regular Army or National Guard personnel plus draftees. Much of the experience in reactivating it was used in the subsequent expansion of the U.S. Army.

By the end of World War II the 88th Infantry fought its way to the northernmost extreme of Italy. In early May 1945 troops of its 349th Infantry Regiment joined the 103d Infantry Division of the VI Corps of the U.S. Seventh Army, part of the 6th Army Group, which had raced south through Bavaria into Innsbruck, Austria, in Vipiteno in the Italian Alps.^[1]