The division's cadre consisted of over 1,000 trained officers and enlisted men, and Colonel Carl A. Martin became its first commander on 26 September.

[3] Neptune's trident was originally adopted as the division's symbol, to represent the coastal states of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, from which the first recruits were drawn in 1918.

The headquarters was organized in December 1921 initially at Augusta, Maine, then relocated in September 1922 to the Bell Building at 922 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire.

In late 1937, the headquarters was transferred to the new Post Office Building in Portland, and remained there until activated for World War II.

[6] Because the activation rate of Army units in late 1942 was proceeding faster than the expected induction rate of new soldiers and there was an urgent need for personnel to participate in the Operation Torch landings in North Africa planned for November 1942, the reorganization of the 97th was deferred until early 1943 and three partially-trained divisions were stripped to less than 50 percent strength.

[7] In early January 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied forces on the Western Front, was alarmed over the swift progress the Germans had made during the waning Battle of the Bulge and was concerned that the Germans could move additional reinforcements to the west from the Eastern Front.

The 86th and 97th Infantry Divisions, allocated for service in the Pacific, were ordered to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) instead for the final assault on Germany.

The division embarked on troopships in New York and landed at Le Havre, France on 2 March 1945, then moved to Camp Lucky Strike.

[17] Pfc John Hedrick seized an abandoned assault boat while under heavy enemy fire and used the craft to help ferry troops across the river.

After crossing the river, elements of the 387th Infantry Regiment assaulted the castle: Entering Siegburg on 10 April, troops again encountered heavy resistance at the Glockner works.

[9] On 12 April Pfc Joe R. Hastings of Company C, 386th Infantry Regiment, distinguished himself in action at Drabenderhöhe, Germany while attacking an enemy position.

On 14 April, intelligence officers from the 97th Division liberated approximately 800 prisoners of war, including 177 Americans, being held at a POW camp in Hoffnungstal, near Much, Germany.

[18] Pushing on toward Düsseldorf through difficult terrain and heavy resistance in densely wooded areas, the division captured Solingen on 17 April.

[7] Düsseldorf fell without much fighting the next day, after the German Resistance launched Aktion Rheinland, and the Ruhr pocket was eliminated by 21 April.

[18] Members of the 97th Division treated sick and dying prisoners and buried the several hundred corpses discovered in the camp.

[20] Members of the Counter Intelligence Corps, which included Robie Macauley,[21] Ib Melchior[22] and Anthony Hecht,[23] interviewed former prisoners and gathered evidence for trials of former camp officers and guards.

[24] The following day a unit of the 97th CIC Detachment led by Captain Oscar M. Grimes captured about two hundred Gestapo officers and men in hiding near Hof, Bavaria.

[18][25][26] On 25 April the division entered Czechoslovakia, moving to protect the left flank of the Third Army on its southern drive.

[27] The 97th Infantry Division was credited with firing the last official shot in the European Theatre of Operations during World War II.

[29] After a 30-day leave, the division reassembled at Fort Bragg, crossed the US by troop train and on 1 September embarked aboard the USS Grundy for redeployment to the Pacific, arriving at Cebu, Philippine Islands on 16 September and then sailing to Japan for occupation duty, the first unit previously stationed in Europe to arrive in Japan after the end of the war.

The 97th returned 198,142,046 pounds of foodstuffs, 670,226 gallons of gasoline, 8,568,857 yards of cloth and 480,343 pairs of boots and shoes to the Japanese government for distribution to civilians.

[34] On 31 October, Special Agent Robie Macauley of the division's counter-intelligence unit arrested 26 prominent Nazis who were in hiding in Karuizawa.

While the 97th ARCOM was allowed to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 97th Infantry Division and use its number, Department of the Army policy does not allow for the lineage of Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE) units, such as infantry divisions, to be perpetuated by Table of Distribution (TDA) units, such as ARCOMs.