Alabama National Guard to help commemorate 100 year anniversary of troop deployment to WWI

MONTGOMERY, AL (08/23/2017) (readMedia)-- Alabama National Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Sheryl E. Gordon, will speak at a public event at 5 p.m., Aug. 28, 2017, at Union Station, Montgomery, Alabama, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 167th Infantry Regiment's departure from Alabama to fight in France in World War I. On Aug. 28, 1917, 3,677 Soldiers of the 167th Infantry Regiment left Montgomery's Union Station to serve their nation in WWI, as part of the 42nd Infantry Division, also known as the Rainbow Division.

A bronze sculpture will be dedicated to remembering the Soldiers of the 167th. The sculpture is a second casting of a memorial that stands in honor of the 42nd Rainbow Division on the site of the Battle of Croix Rouge Farm in France.

The Alabama National Guard's 1st Battalion, 167th Infantry Regiment, carries the lineage and honors of the regiment, including six WWI campaign participation streamers. The regiment lost 616 Soldiers during the war.

The public is invited to attend the commemoration, especially any family members of WWI veterans.