29th ID BAND (NATIONAL GUARD

The 29th Division Band, of the Virginia Army National Guard, has been in existence since 1922 and has served the Commonwealth and the nation with distinction during those years The Band originated in Roanoke in 1922 as a section of the 116th Infantry Brigade's Service Company. But in October 1943, it was inducted into federal service as part of the "Blue and Gray" 29th Division (so called because it included National Guard units from Maryland (Union Blue) and Virginia (Confederate Gray)). Band members joined in the assault on Omaha Beach, an action for which they received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. In all, they saw action in four European campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe.

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