During World War II, it was given the nickname the "Bloody Bucket" division by German forces due to the shape and color of its red keystone insignia.

[6] On 12 March 1879, Governor Henry Hoyt signed General Order Number One appointing Maj. Gen. John F. Hartranft as the first Division commander of the National Guard of Pennsylvania.

[12] On 29 June 1916, the 7th Division was mustered into federal service at Mount Gretna and deployed to El Paso, Texas, to serve along the Mexican border as the Regular Punitive Expedition entered Mexico.

On 14 July, ahead of an expected German offensive, the division was moving forward, with most of it committed to the second line of defense south of the Marne River and east of Château-Thierry.

[7] During World War I, the division was involved in the Meuse-Argonne, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne including the Battle of Fismes and Fismette, Oise-Aisne, and Ypres-Lys (FA) operations.

[18] Source:[19] The 28th Division headquarters arrived at the Port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aboard the USS Kroonland on 30 April 1919 after twelve months of overseas service and was demobilized on 17 May 1919 at Camp Dix, New Jersey.

[22] The division, commanded by Major General Edward Martin, was called into federal service on 17 February 1941 during World War II, although the U.S. was not involved in the conflict at that point.

The division trained in the Carolinas, Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, under the command of Major General Omar Nelson Bradley.

[23] The division, now under Major General Lloyd Brown, left the United States and went overseas on 8 October 1943, arriving in South Wales soon afterwards, where it began training for the invasion of Northern France.

The 28th Infantry Division pushed east towards the French capital of Paris through the Bocage, its roads littered with abandoned tanks and bloated, stinking corpses of men and animals.

A small night patrol of the 109th Infantry began the division's protracted struggle on the Siegfried Line on the dragon's teeth infested Westwall.

The patrol crossed the Our River by bridge from Weiswampach, Luxembourg into Sevenig (Our), Germany, making it the first of the Allied armies to reach German soil.

[26] The Ardennes Offensive was launched along the entire divisional front by the 5th Panzer Army led by General der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel.

[27] The 28th, which had sustained heavy casualties in the First Army drive to the Roer, fought doggedly in place using all available personnel and threw off the enemy timetable before withdrawing to Neufchâteau on 22 December for reorganization, as its units had been badly mauled.

Two days later, de Lattre and Devers made a request to Eisenhower for reinforcements so their armies could make an offensive on the Colmar Pocket.

Eisenhower's aide, Major General Walter Bedell Smith, subsequently told Devers that the 10th Armored Division and the 28th were being placed under his command.

"[30] Battle plans were soon made and, on 19 January, the 28th went into action on the northwestern section of the pocket in the Kaysersberg Valley supporting the beleaguered 3rd Infantry Division, which had been holding there since late November 1944.

Technical Sergeant Francis J. Clark, U.S. Army, Company K, 109th Infantry Regiment received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siegfried Line Campaign on 12 September 1944.

Nor was it mobilized in force for Operation Desert Storm in 1991; however, the 121st Transportation Company, one of its constituent units, served in Saudi Arabia and volunteers from the division were deployed overseas, some in the Middle East.

The FOB Endurance/Q-West Base Complex HQ elements of the 1–107th CAV were attached to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and received the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) for their accomplishments.

Assigned to the 28th Infantry Division in September 2008, the 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Target Acquisition) during the years 2006–2010 deployed at different times Troops A, B, & C in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom conducting various SECFOR and convoy escort missions.

In December 2003 the 1st Battalion, 109th Field Artillery Regiment was activated and received Military Police training at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Three platoons of Bravo Company (1st, 3rd and Headquarters) were attached to the Iraq Survey Group; while the 2nd and 4th Platoons served in military police operations, including area patrols and traffic control points supporting 1st Marine Division out of Camp Fallujah and eventually relocated to the Green Zone/International Zone as security escorts attached to the U.S.Navy for high-ranking Interim Iraqi government officials.

In June 2004, the 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor was activated at Fort Bliss, Texas and deployed to Iraq in November in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The BCT conducted counterinsurgency operations to kill or detain insurgents, to locate weapons caches, to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs), to engage in ongoing dialogue with community and government leaders, to recruit, train and integrate Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police, and to conduct civil affairs projects to improve sewer, water, energy, medical and school facilities.

2/28 BCT was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation as part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) for the period of 28 February 2006 until the transition of authority to 1st Armored Division.

The brigade continued training at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in December 2008 and moved to Camp Buehring, Kuwait in the United States Central Command area of operations in January 2009 awaiting movement into Iraq.

Over 2,000 soldiers from multiple states completed validation training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma before moving to Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

In April 1917, the Boal Troop was reconfigured as an infantry unit, Company A of the 107th Machine Gun Battalion, and deployed to France for service in World War I.

[66] References to the 28th Infantry Division's World War II experiences appear in the book Company Commander by Charles Brown MacDonald.