First Guard Division Deactivated, a Victim of Cutbacks

The nation’s first and oldest National Guard division faded into history Saturday, but not without some final casualties.

Nine soldiers were treated for heat exhaustion as the 26th Yankee Division was deactivated in an hourlong ceremony in 95-degree heat on the Boston Common.

They were among 350 division soldiers, wearing jungle fatigues and helmets, who had marched a quarter of a mile from the Statehouse. They stood at parade rest, sneaking sips from canteens, as National Guard leaders recalled the division’s history and praised its soldiers.

The deactivation ceremony was marked with the furling of banners representing the division and its band.

“What we are doing is returning the colors of the Yankee Division after the victory of World War II and the victory of the Cold War,” said Maj. Gen. Wayne F. Wagner, the state area commander.

The Yankee Division was formed in 1917, but its roots date back to the 17th Century. It was formed from units that patrolled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 and fought the British at Lexington and Concord.

The division became a victim of 20th-Century military cutbacks. Its 13,000 troops are being reassigned.

The ceremony capped a day of activities, which included a memorial service, a concert by the Yankee Division band on the Statehouse steps and the firing of howitzers.

The day also offered opportunities for current soldiers and veterans to meet each other. World War II veterans reminisced about their experiences. And current soldiers wandered through the Statehouse and the common in search of cool areas to rest. Some carried unloaded M-16 rifles; many toted cameras.

For some of the younger soldiers, the end of the Yankee Division is little more than a bureaucratic shift. About 2,900 will remain in Massachusetts, with the rest being assigned to the 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division in Troy, N.Y.

But veteran Guardsmen and former soldiers mourned the Yankee Division’s passing.

“This is positively a miserable day,” said 71-year-old Bernie Cavanaugh, a former staff sergeant who served in the division from 1939 to 1945.

For Cavanaugh and other World War II veterans, the division is identified with its wartime role, fighting as part of Gen. George S. Patton’s army during the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944, and January, 1945.

Soldiers from the division’s postwar years were more likely to think of peacetime work.

Master Sgts. Peter Georgopoulos, a 39-year division veteran, and Tom Flynn, a 25-year veteran, recalled distributing food and blankets throughout Boston during the 1978 blizzard.

“I think I was putting in 20-hour days, but the day didn’t seem so long,” Georgopoulos said.