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The U.S. Army’s 77th Infantry Division was deployed into action on July 21, 1944 during the first days of the battle for the recapture of Guam. The 305 th Regimental Combat Team of the 77th Division landed with the First Provisional Marine Brigade in the assault on the southern beaches at Agat that first day. The remainder of the division (306th RCT and the 307th RCT) went ashore during the next three days.
The 77th played a vital role in the battle for the highlands above the southern beaches, the battle for the Orote Peninsula, and in the battles at Yona and Barrigada. They pushed north to Yigo, where the Japanese made their final stand.
The action on Guam was the first action seen by the 77th during WWII, but they fought with tenacity and performed admirably. Division casualties on Guam were over a thousand.
After the fighting was over, the 77th spent two rainy, uncomfortable months bivouacked at Camp McNair in the hills above Agat. On November 3, the division left Guam for the rest camps of New Caledonia but was diverted back into combat at Leyte in the Philippines.
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