With Their Bare Hands

Odin & Aesop

The United States entered World War One on April 6th, 1917. Going to war in Europe meant the United States had to greatly expand its Army. It had enlist, train, organize, equip, and deploy hundreds of thousands of young men. One of the units that was part of this expansion was the 79th Infantry Division which was activated in August 1917. Many of the soldiers in the 79th Infantry Division were draftees from Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. By the time they were deactivated less than two years later, 6,874 of their Division comrades had been killed or wounded. Gene Fax tells the story of the 79th Infantry Division focusing on its involvement in the final yet bloody months of World War One’s Western Front.