A Nonprofit Organization Formed by Combat Veterans

There has been a 27th Division Association for ninety years. It was organized by New York National Guardsmen who wore the patch in World War I and it has welcomed the men who fought in the Pacific during 1941-45. With the hope that all veterans of the 27th Division in either war would eventually join. In both wars , more than 75,000 men served in the 27th Division. In the first war these men were together for two years. In the second war many of then stood together in the chow line every morning for more than five years. During the War on Terror men and women of the 27th BCT were together a year to a year and a half training and then in theater in Afghanistan or Iraq or performing Homeland Security Operations. In terms of friendship, five years is a awful long time. Even a year in a combat zone can do a lot to make a man or woman a friend. Now the way we see it, the 27th Division Association exists for only one reason. That reason is the preservation of the friendships we formed and fostered all over the damned world. All the guys in Bravo Company, 1-108th Infantry or in C Co 2-108th Infantry , or in A Co 427th, went through quite a lot together, then went home after their service. While we are willing to admit that the spouses and kiddies and the neighborhood beer garden mean more to us now than old Joe Gonzales, the SAW Gunner, we insist that Joe played rather an important part in our lives for a little time and the chance to hear from Joe once in a while and maybe see him again is the function of an association.