Show th af i T aga Q vv 4 ai A is 24 2 22 21 1 18 5 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON VF abric 11 II armistice day A day for remembering for remembering the titanic cor flicht which came to an end just 15 years ngo ago for remembering the hysterical joy as a war weary world turned its back on death and destruction st and lifted its face to the clear skies of the promise of peace tor for remembering the men and women aomen who offered up their alies for their country those who staid over there as well as those who came home and do you remember when lien they came home and staged their victory marches through the crowded cheering streets of our principal cities how you noticed the little patches of color of different design which they wore on their left shoulders perhaps you knew then what was the i meaning of those symbols but the chances are that you and roost most other americans as well have forgotten by now so this Is to recall it to you the story of the insignia of the various divisions in the american expeditionary forces the sign of the fighting nan man you may not recall although hundreds of thousands of world war veterans undoubtedly will what an uproar was calsel raised at one time over tant little patch of color on the left shoulder of the returning soldiers khaki coat for when hen the troops were ready to embark for home the war department issued an order prohibiting the wearing of divisional insignia by the doughboys dough boys upon their return to america it was unmilitary u n mill tary the department said almost instantly a tide of protest rolled into washington to engulf the department there were a hundred good reasons advanced why the doughboys dough boys should continue to wear their pet decoration but chief among them nas as the fact that these insignia adopted by the different divisions were highly useful in making possible their identification tit at a glance in action or otherwise and for purposes either of commendation or criticism as the case might be that the decoration detracted nothing from the cm clency of the men but on the other hand was an incentive to proper conduct and ordinate coordinate co effort and finally that the man wearing Aearl ng it each proud of his individual outfit was unwilling to discard it and thus lose his identity identify an and that of his command in the melting pot of the A R E F s millions so the war department decided to allow the returning soldiers to keep their divisional insl insignia and this ruling was greeted with as much widespread ap approval proal as the forbidding order had caused loudly voiced disapproval there were 91 13 divisions tit in the united states military forces and each one had its distinctive insignia limitations of spice space in this article prevent the reproduction of the insignia of all of them and an extended account of each hut but the following represents some of the more interest ing facts about some typical ones first division an elongated shield of khaki point down hearing the red numeral 1 figure 1 since this division was the first of the amer lean ican divisions to go to france the first to go into the trenches the first to suffer battle losses the first to capture prisoners and the first to enter germany after the armistice it Is only natural that it should adopt the numeral 1 only once was the first division last that was in return ing to the united states for demobilization second division A five pointed pol cited white star having ha v the head of an american indian facing to the left in red and blue stamped or embroidered on the white star the star and indian head was wa placed on a background of cloth of various shapes art and colors to designate the several organ Izat lons ions in the division the black shield figure 9 was used in the insignia of divisional head quarters third division A square of dark blue cloth with three white stripes running diagonally downward front from the tha upper right corner to the lower left figure 3 the field of blue was symbolic of lie loyalty ot of the Mar nemen the three white stripes stood for the numerical des ignation Ign atlon of the division and also symbolized the three major operations in which the third di vision won uon glory during the world war the abe marne st and macuse argonne fourth division four ivy leaves about a circle circie cle the leaves lind and circle of green placed on a khaki background figure 8 this symbol was formed by taking the roman numeral IV which not only gave the numerical designation of the division but also it hotter the ivy which means steadfast and in the language of flowers a splendid motto for a group of 11 lighting men fifth division A plain red dl diamond amonI on a back ground of khaki figure 8 5 it was wa stated by the chief of stair staff of the illusion that no significant ant meaning Is attached other than that the color red was wa selected aj as is a compliment to the then commanding general whose hose branch of 0 the bervice was the artillery officers in the division ho however Never say the red ked diamond represents a well mell known problem of bridge building it Is made up of two adjacent isosceles triangles which make for the greater strength cut but the men of the division proud of its record and justly jealous of its reputation explained this laconically diamond dye it never runs sixth division A rod red six pointed star on a background of khaki figure 2 the alie six points of the star represented the numerical designation icon of the division the sixth had three differ ent edt einsig insignia dia the first was a red hulls bulls eye in a white circle surmounted by a white bilte cross cut but this had a lugubrious appearance looks like a head headstone sione tone in a cemetery said the men so a red equilateral triangle was the next nest insignia and that was worn during all of the divisions war aenice son ice while it was winning the name of the old sightseeing sixth pew divisions of the A R S F equaled the mileage record of tills this division which swept sept up and andt down lown various front lines relieving lieving a hard pressed division here rushing into support there in reserve at other points after the armistice another red equilateral triangle was nos superimposed upon the first making the red six pointed star seventh division two black equilateral trl angles placed vertically upon a red circular d disc ise their apexes meeting in the center of the disc figure 4 ry by coincidence the outline of this design was a blocked in 10 numeral 7 crossed by tin in other such numeral 7 inverted thus forming the two triangles the similarity of the double triangle to an hourglass was responsible for the nickname of the division the hourglass division eighth division A silver figure 8 pierced by a golden arrow pointing upwards on a blue cloth shield background the figure 8 stood for the numerical designation of the division and the golden arrow symbolized the nickname of the dl division the pathfinder division which was organized and trained at camp fremont calif twenty sixth division clue blue letters YD on a khaki colored diamond field the letters stood for yankee division figure 23 made up of men of new angland ng land which was one of the first national guard forces to enter active service twenty seventh division A circle of black with alth a narrow border of red on which was displayed in white the constellation of orion fig tire lire 6 this dh dhillon islon made up of national army troops from new york city adopted its insignia in honor of its commander gen john F oryan twenty eighth division A red keystone figure 15 symbolic of the keystone state since this dhillon was made up of pennsylvania national guard twenty ninth dh division Ision Int intertwined circles of blue and gray figure 18 symbolical of 0 the blue and the gray of civil war lays days since the men in this division were ere national guardsmen guardsman guards men from maryland new jersey delaware vir virginia idia and the district of columbia thirtieth division an emblem made up of the letters 0 11 II figure 14 standing for old hick ory division made up of national guardsmen guardsman guards men from tennessee north carolina and south caro una lina the throe three states which claim old hickory andrew jackson for their own in the middle of the insignia acre ere three the roman numeral for 30 the number of the division thirty first division A triangle of white and red each half adorned with a white D figure 22 for dixie division made up of men from dixie national guard of alabama georgia and florida thirty second A red arrow oo on a square field of khaki figure 28 the arrow arron worn on the sleeves of the michigan and wiscon biscon sto sin national guardsmen guardsman guards men in this division pointed forward indicative of a promise always to go forward never hack back thirty third division A yellow maltese cross on in a black field the emblem of the prairie dl DI islon made up of national guardsmen guardsman guards men front from illinois and west virginia thirty fourth division the outline of a dexl can olla or water flask in black on which ap feared a 9 red cows skull and the words sand storm division n figure 25 recalling to mem hers of this division national guardsmen guardsman guards men fanni iowa minnesota Neb iasha and north dakota their training camp days at camp cody in new nek mexico thirty sixth division an indian arrowhead with the letter T on it the emblem of the pan ther division made up mostly of texans thirty seventh division A white 0 with a 1 tor or maroon center the 0 standing for ohio sir sine this division was made up of national guard troops from the buckeye state thirty eighth dh division islon A red and blue shirll with the letters CY on it figure 13 stant Eriv for the cyclone division composed of nation al guards guardsman guardsmen men from indiana Ngn kentucky tucky and west virginia and typifying its manner of movement move meLt t and of desired ends forty first division the setting sun on a half circle of red surrounded by a black border figure 20 the emblem of the sunset division made up of national guardsmen guardsman guards men from the west where the sun sets washington oregon montana idaho wyoming north dakota south dakota colorado new mexico some district of columbia guardsmen guardsman guards men were also in this division forty second division A trl tirl color red white and blue in rainbow form figure 11 tills this was the emblem of the famous rainbow division composed of national guardsmen guardsman guards men from 40 states and the district of columbia one of the first divisions to reach france and bring a rainbow i of hope to the liard hard pressed allies seventy sixth division the liberty ceil bell an appropriate emblem for a division bearing the numerals 76 figure 17 composed of national army men it was one of the three divisions to be raised exclusively in new england with a quota of northern new york selected service men some of its members preferred the name mayflower division to liberty bell division and wore an emblem of the ship mayflower on a blue ground later the liberty hell bell became the recognized emblem of the division seventy seventh division an outlined figure of the statue of liberty enlightening the world upon a light blue background figure 19 10 tills was the emblem of another division dl Islon recalling the revolutionary war liberty and 77 composed ed of new york city national army troops rew new yorks own was the first of the national army divisions to reach france and was to have among its units the famous lost battalion seventy ninth division A lorraine cross in white on a blue field with a white border the emblem of a div division ision made up of national army men from northeastern pennsylvania maryland and district of columbia which distinguished itself by the capture of montfaucon Mont faucon during the meuse argonne offensive eightieth division three peaks of the blue ridge mountains in blue on a red shield with a white border figure 27 this was the emblem of the blue ridge division composed of mountaineers tai tal from virginia west virginia and western pennsylvania eighty first division A black wildcat on a gray disc figure emblem of the wildcat division made up of negro soldiers of the national army from north carolina south carolina florida and porto rico who proved that they could indeed fight like wildcats eighty second division two yellow As on a blue circle superimposed upon a red square figure 12 the emblem of the all amerlean american division made up of national army men from georgia alabama and tennessee eighty fourth division A scarlet shield upon which by a blue circle aa was the word lincoln in white curved over an axe and below the numerals 84 figure 10 this emblem of the lincoln DIT division Islon composed of national army solders from kentucky indiana and southern illinois recalled the youth of lincoln in the region where be began hewing out his fame as a rall rail splitter eighty sixth division A black hawk rampant on a red shield the hawk bearing white intertwined letters B and 11 II figure 21 symbolic of the black hawk division composed of national army men of illinois and wisconsin in the region made famous by the indian chief black hawk eighty seventh division A yellow acorn with a brown cup on a foeldi of green this emblem of the acorn division recalled the origin of its members national army men from woods if arkansas louisiana and mississippi eighty eighth division two green egure rights crossed to form a four leaf clover cloer symbolizing bol izing the fact that its troops national army nen were from the four states of north da ota minnesota iowa and illinois eighty ninth dh division islon A dark blue circle in losing a W of the same color against a light aue ue background this division was made up of lat int lonal ional army men from kansas missouri south 1 lakota nebraska arizona new mexico and col dirado the W Is symbolic of its three command TS rs gen cen leonard wood who trained at camp kan and generals william 31 wright ind frank L winn who commanded it in tirrance ir ranee rance ninetieth dh division islon the letters T and 0 in maroon insoon on a khaki field figure 24 a branding iron combination for the states of texas and oklahoma from which the national army troops in this division came ninety first division A green pine tree figure 7 of the pine forests of the west ern states hence crime en me the men of the national army to make up this division ninety second division A black charging buffalo figure 20 the emblem of the western buffaloes division composed of negro troops of the national army mainly from texas and okla lioma homa 0 by western newspaper union |