Illinois State Military Museum

132nd Infantry, 66th Infantry Brigade, 33rd Division, Illinois National Guard (Originally the Second Infantry, Illinois National Guard)

Deployed for Mexican Border Campaign: June 1916 - October 1916
Preparation training for WWI in Texas: June 1917- May 1918
Travel to Europe: May 1918
Arrived in France: June 1918
Enter Combat: July 1918
Armistice Day: November 11, 1918
Board ship back to US: May 1919
Welcome Home by family: June 1919

Corporal Lee W. Reuter (soldier on right) finally reunited with his family after two years.

You can see the patch worn presumably on his mother's sleeve during the long wait for his return.

The rest of the 33rd Division would have followed a similar timeline.

May 19, 1863:
14 year-old drummer boy earned the Medal of Honor for awe inspiring courage under fire

Heavy fighting at Vicksburg, Mississippi had largely depleted the ammunition of Company C of the 55th Illinois Infantry. Colonel Oscar Malmborg lost several runners in attempting to get resupplied. Musician Orion P. Howe, a fourteen year-old drummer boy whose father and brother were in the same regiment, volunteered to fetch the much needed ammunition. To the amazement of his comrades, Howe dashed through enemy artillery and small arms fire. Despite a severe wound that would affect him for the rest of his life, Howe successfully returned with the ammunition, and then reported directly to Major General William Tecumseh Sherman as ordered. He remains one of the youngest recipients of the Medal of Honor. The previous Illinois National Guard Armory in Waukegan named after him.