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After completing the basic training at Camp
Swift, the Division participated in the Louisiana
Maneuvers during the fall and winter of 1943-1944. The
grueling training in the bayous, swamplands, and
burned-out stump forests of Louisiana increased the
stamina of the soldiers and strengthened their military
skills. The weather that winter was terrible. The sleet,
rain, and snow turned dirt roads into quagmires. The
Christmas services under leaden December skies were long
remembered by the soldiers of the Division. The
Louisiana Maneuver area served as a proving ground.
During those four months, the men of the Division
learned to sleep on the ground, live in wet clothes, and
value comradeship, but above all, they became tough and
proficient soldiers.
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