Rust began basic training on the 15th of September 1942 at Camp Adair, Oregon. Basic training ended in March, 1943 and he spent the remaining months of 1943 at Camp Horn, Arizona and Camp Granite, California for Corps Maneuvers. The Division was stationed at Camp Carson, Colorado when they received their directive for movement overseas on July 6, 1944. The 104th landed in the harbor of Cherbourg France on September 7, 1944. After more intensive training by all the division units, the 104th went into combat on the 20th of October. The Division spearheaded the campaign to the Maas River in Holland and continued combat in Germany with the First U.S. Army in the drive to the Rohr River. They later pushed to Cologne and beyond the Rhine. On April 11, 1945 the Division encountered a large German concentration camp at Nordhausen. Here they discovered 5,000 corpses along with some 6,000 inmates. The 104th linked up with Russian troops on April 26, 1945. Soon afterwards the troops were sent home to the states having completed their directive. The Division suffered nearly 5,000 casualties.
From the guide to the Robert Rust photograph collection, 1930-1950, 1940-1945, (Utah State University. Special Collections and Archives)
