BRUCE M. DAGUE was a VETERAN of WW II. He Enlisted on 15 October 1940 at Sandusky, Erie Co. OHIO. He was an Artilleryman and a Cannoneer in a Light Howitzer Battalion with the National Guard's 37th Infantry Division~135th Field Artillery~Battery E.
He served in the South Pacific, from June 1942 through November of 1945,
at Fiji, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville, Luzon and Manila.

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World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938 - 1946
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 20515089 20515089
NAME DAGUE#BRUCE#M########### DAGUE#BRUCE#M###########
RESIDENCE: STATE 53 OHIO
RESIDENCE: COUNTY 077 HURON
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 5377 SANDUSKY OHIO
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 15 15
DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 10 10
DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 40 40
GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private
GRADE: CODE 8 Private
BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION FA# Field Artillery
BRANCH: CODE 30 Field Artillery
FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #
TERM OF ENLISTMENT 1 One year enlistment
LONGEVITY ### ###
SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 7 National Guard
NATIVITY 53 OHIO
YEAR OF BIRTH 21 21
RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen
EDUCATION 0 Grammar school
CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 316 Farm hands, general farms
MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents
COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 4 National Guard (Officers, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
CARD NUMBER # #
BOX NUMBER 0349 0349
FILM REEL NUMBER 3.71# 3.71#

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The 37th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. It was a National Guard division from Ohio, nicknamed the "Buckeye Division".
Activated: 15 October 1940 (National Guard Division from Ohio)
Overseas: 26 May 1942
Campaigns: Northern Solomons, Battle of Luzon
Returned to U.S.: November 1945
Inactivated: 18 December 1945
Mobilized for World War II service on 15 October 1940, it was reorganized and redesignated as the 37th Infantry Division on 1 February 1942. In June 1943 the division entered combat on New Georgia Island in the Northern Solomons. Its next mission, the invasion of Bougainville, occurred in November. After five months of hard fighting the 37th, with its ranks thinned by high losses, held a defensive line seven miles long. In March 1944, it was repeatedly attacked by fanatic Japanese soldiers, who literately threw themselves against these positions in an attempt to break the line. But the "Buckeye's" held their ground, killing 10,000 enemy troops.

The division then took part in the invasion of Luzon in the Philippines, making an assault landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945. Meeting little resistance, the 37th quickly began to push for the capital city of Manila. The closer it got the more fanatical the Japanese resistance grew. By the time its men entered the suburbs, they were fighting house-to-house and room-to-room. To liberate the 1,300 American prisoners held in Bilibid Prison, the Buckeyes fought a battalion of Japanese Marines, killing all of them before the fighting stopped. After several days of desperate fighting the 37th finally stormed the famed "Walled City", the ancient seat of government. With its capture the fighting for Manila ended. But not the Luzon campaign, which continued until wars' end. The 37th went on to capture the city of Baguio in the northern mountains and was still clearing pockets of resistance when the war ended in August 1945. In 592 days of combat its men killed about 33,600 enemy soldiers; with seven of its men awarded the Medal of Honor. The 37th returned home and was inactivated in December 1945.

Combat Chronicle

The 37th Infantry Division arrived in the Fiji Islands in June 1942 to fortify the islands against possible invasion. The division continued its training on the islands. With the end of ground fighting on Guadalcanal, the division moved to that island in April 1943, continued training, and staged for the Munda campaign. Two battalions joined the Marine Raiders on New Georgia, 5 July 1943, while the remainder of the division landed, 22 July, and assisted the 43d Infantry Division in taking Munda airfield in heavy fighting. After mopping up on New Georgia, the division returned to Guadalcanal, 9 September 1943, for rest and rehabilitation.

The division's next assignment was Bougainville as part of the I Marine Amphibious Corps. Landing between 8 and 19 November 1943, the 37th Division expanded the western beachhead sector, constructed roads and bridges, and engaged in extensive patrol activity. On 15 December 1943, IMAC was relieved by the XIV Corps, to which the 37th Division was then assigned. In March 1944, two Japanese divisions made eight major attacks, but division lines held. In April patrols cleared the Laruma Valley area of major enemy units. The division remained on Bougainville and trained for the Luzon campaign. Landing with the Sixth Army on the beaches of Lingayen Gulf, 9 January 1945, the 37th raced inland against slight resistance to Clark Field and Fort Stotsenburg where fierce resistance delayed capture of those objectives until 31 January. The division continued to drive to Manila against small delaying forces, and entered the city's outskirts, 4 February. Upon crossing the Pasig River, it ran into bitter Japanese opposition. By heavy street fighting, American and Filipino troops cleared the city by 3 March 1945.

After garrison duty in Manila, 5–26 March, the division shifted to the hills of Northwest Luzon, where heavy fighting culminated in the capture of Baguio, 26 April with aided Filipino troops under the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL. Rest and rehabilitation during May were followed by action in June in the Cagayan Valley against deteriorating Japanese resistance. With the end of hostilities, 15 August, the division was concerned with the collection and processing of prisoners of war, leaving November 1945 for the States and demobilization.

Major General Robert Beightler was one of only eleven generals who commanded their divisions for the entire war, and was the only National Guard general to do so.

Bruce M Dague