WEBVTT

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- [Announcer] This October
24th is the 73rd anniversary

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of the inactivation of the 88th Division.

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On 24 October 1947, the 88th
Infantry Division inactivated

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at Leghorn, or Livorno, Italy, which is

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on the northwest coast.

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Deactivation ended the three years

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and seven months the 88th
Division had spent in Italy

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since landing in Naples in January 1944.

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During World War II,
the 88th Division fought

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up the Italian boot,
captured Rome on 4 June 1944

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in the Rome-Arno Campaign,
and ended at the Brenner Pass

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during the Po Valley Campaign,
which ended the fighting

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in Italy on 2 May 1945.

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After World War II ended,
the 88th Division conducted

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enemy prison of war operations
until September 1945.

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While most other U.S. Divisions
were going back to CONUS

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and inactivating, the 88th
traveled to Gorizia and Trieste

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in northeast Italy for peacekeeping duty.

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After World War II, Italy
and Yugoslavia claimed

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the same slice of territory,
and the 88th Division enforced

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the peace between the
two sides by patrolling

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the Morgan Line to
prevent illegal crossings

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and by dealing with
demonstrators in urban areas.

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The 88th fought some
skirmishes with the jugs,

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and suffered some
casualties and prisoners,

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but the tension never
degenerated into all-out war.

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In May 1947, the Italians
and Yugoslavians agreed

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to a division of the disputed
territory except for the city

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of Trieste.

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So the entire 88th Division
was not needed and began

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to leave the area.

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However, the 351st Regiment
was relieved from assignment

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to the 88th Division
and stayed on to become

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the Trieste United
States Troops, or TRUST,

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while the rest of the
Division went to Leghorn

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to inactivate.

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While the 88th Division was
inactivating in Italy in 1947,

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several other organized reserve divisions,

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which had activated in 1945 and 1946,

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were reactivating in CONUS.

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In a bit of irony, soldiers
wearing the 88th patch returned

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to the former nation of
Yugoslavia in the area

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of Bosnia Hercegovina,
starting in December 1995

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for peacekeeping operations.