The 79th first went into action on June 26th 1944, storming the formidable stronghold of Fort du Roule which brought about the fall of Cherbourg, taking 6,000 German prisoners in the process and earning the Division its first battle citation of World War Two. However despite the breakthrough, the German defenders continued to keep the US forces bottled up on the Cotentin Peninsula, until the 79th was able to force the impasse, after fierce house-to-house fighting, in and around the small town of La Haye du Puits in early July.

From here the 79th were due to be in the vanguard for the assault on Paris, but the German garrison commander, realizing he wouldn't see such a fine city devastated by the impending Allied bombardment ordered German arms be laid down. Sadly the 79th were to be denied their part in the famous Paris victory parade, for the American High Command had other plans for this hard-hitting Division! On July 26th, the 79th Division, with its Infantry Regiments 313th, 314th and 315th, crossed the Ay River to capture the town of Lessay and then assaulted the River Sarthe to capture the historic town of Le Mans on August 8th. Moving up to the River Seine, the 79th was to be the first Allied unit to make the amphibious crossing on August 19th/20th 1944, then fending off fierce German counter-attacks between August 22nd and 27th.

Ordered to the Belgium border, the Division captured the town of Charmes and then between September and October 1944, fought its way through the Vosges Mountains against a bitter and vicious German defense put up by elite troops who had hilly terrain in their favor. The Moselle and Meurthe Rivers were crossed, the Parroy Forest was cleared against determined German resistance and the high ground east of Embermenil was taken.

Following a short rest at Luneville in France, the 79th returned to the fray and on November 13th advanced on the Vezouse and Moder Rivers, attacking heavy enemy forces in and around Haguenau, before hitting the Siegfried Line on December 17th 1944. After a fierce battle, a defensive line was established along the Lauter River at Wissembourg; here on January 8th 1945, the 79th met and repelled a heavy German counter-attack as the enemy tried in vain to establish a bridgehead west of the Rhine River at Gambsheim. The Division stood firm against a German armored attack at Rittershoffen and the 315th Infantry Regiment stopped two German divisions in their tracks at the small town of Hatten after a furious firefight that lasted 11 days.