Honor WW2 Veterans

70th Infantry Division Veterans need your help.



 On October 6, 1997, the once very active men of the 70th Infantry Division who fought in WWII during the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe campaigns, dedicated a memorial to the nearly 900 men who were killed fifty years earlier. 

This memorial proudly sits beside Sacrifice Field, deep inside Ft. Benning, Georgia.


Due to current security policy at Fort Benning, it’s no longer available to the public.

As one can imagine, the ranks of the 70th Division are much smaller today than they were in 1997. My father (tan coat in photo) passed away in 2007.

The 70th Infantry Division Association is asking for your help to raise an additional $7,500.

A new monument including the names of the Division's KIA/MIA will be placed at the National Infantry Museum's memorial walk outside Fort Benning’s main gate where the public can continue to honor the fallen heroes of this sacred Division.  

The Association is honored at this time to add the names of seven more brave 'Trailblazer' soldiers who were killed in Iraq.

With your help we can complete this project and dedicate the new monument 20 years later on October 7, 2017.


October 6, 1997 Ft. Benning dedication ceremony.

While my father will not be there with us to shed tears for his comrades, there are still a number of the youngest Trailblazers left from WW2 looking forward to seeing the monument complete.


September 16, 2016, Washington, DC reunion.


Thank you for your time and consideration, will you help?

Brian Ellis
President 70th Division Association



The 70th Division Association is a 501(c)(19) tax-exempt Veterans organization.

Visit our homepage: 70th Trailblazers 
Or email with questions: [email redacted] 




Advancing upon Wingen, France, in January 1945, the 70th met stiff German resistance.  National Archives





Lt. Edwin D. Cooke, Los Angeles, Calif., 70th Div., Wingen, France, lay with the dead for 18 hours during a German counterattack in this territory of France. At one time a Nazi rolled him over to cut off his wrist watch and failed to notice he was still alive. Here, Lt. Cooke demonstrates the position he took to escape detection. The other soldiers in the background, one a medic, are dead. The area was, again, taken over by the Allies after an all night battle. 7 January, 1945. National Archives #111-SC-198832. Signs have been deleted by area censor prior to release.


A soldier from the 70th Infantry Division guarding a group of captured German Soldiers who are carrying their wounded from Wingen, France during the fighting there on January 6, 1945.  National Archives



Company L, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Division seen here entrenched near Spircheren in February, 1945.  National Archives



2nd platoon, G/275 somewhere in Europe, 1945





Capt. Charlie Pence (front row, 2nd from left) recovering from wounds with other GIs. Date and location of photo is unknown. Photo: via Jim Lankford.


When I was twenty, a car was my focus.
When they were twenty,
staying alive was the focus. 
Thank you.



This is the monument placed at Spicheren Heights, France by the people of the District of Forbach in honor of the 70th Infantry Division. May 2005