The 103rd Infantry Division ("Cactus Division") was a unit of the United States Army that served in the U.S. Seventh Army of the 6th Army Group during World War II. It was variously assigned to the VI Corps, XV Corps, and XXI Corps. By war's end it was part of VI Corps' dash across Bavaria into the Alps, reaching Innsbruck, Austria, taking the Brenner Pass, and earning the honor of linking up with the U.S. Fifth Army coming north from Vipiteno, Italy, joining the Italian and Western European fronts on 4 May 1945. Interwar period The division was constituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the states of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. The headquarters was organized on 31 August 1921 at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Colorado, and was moved on 29 March 1922 to the Kittredge Building in Denver and remained there until the division was ordered into active military service for World War II. World War II Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central Europe Awards: Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-12; Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-1; Silver Star-299; LM-3; SM-14; BSM-2,669; AM-92 Commanders: Maj. Gen. Charles C. Haffner Jr. (November 1942 – January 1945), Maj. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe (January–July 1945), Brig. Gen. John N. Robinson (August 1945 to inactivation). Combat chronicle The 103rd Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 15 November 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The officer and enlisted cadre came from the 85th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and the enlisted fillers arrived from reception centers located across nearly the entire country, comprising installations in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Service Commands (Camp Grant, Illinois, 4,060; Fort Custer, Michigan, 3,845; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1,307; Camp Dodge, Iowa, 1,036; Fort Snelling, Minnesota, 990; Eighth and Ninth Service Command reception centers, 921; Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 600; Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, 600; Fort McPherson, Georgia, 537; Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, 526; Fort Jackson, South Carolina, 218). After nearly two years of training, the 103rd departed the United States for Europe on 5 October 1944. The division arrived at Marseilles, France, 20 October 1944. It relieved the 3d Division at Chevry on 8 November, arrived at Docelles (Vosges) on 9 November, and attacked west of St. Dié, 16 November, in its drive through the Vosges. Meeting heavy resistance all the way, it crossed the Meurthe River, took St. Dié on