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Show TheSIgBi offhe Fighting Mam' ra &' It tf- mSwk . jtfj32., AAaI- -Swttf Kfi -- (tf) I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON OVBMBEK 11! pSj&Pp2! Armistice Day ! IIstCI i For remembering tlle titanic con- "ict wnich came to an end just 15 Siiiflht 1 years as ; for remembering the hys-) hys-) terical joy as a war-weary world JaSjS' turned its back on death and de-struction de-struction and lifted it's face to the clear skies of the promise of peace; for remembering the men and women who offered of-fered up their lives for their country those who staid "over there" as well as those who came home. And do you remember when 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 dif-ferent design which they wore on their left shoulders? shoul-ders? Perhaps you knew then what was the meaning of those symbols but the chances are that you, and 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 man." You may not recall, although hundreds of thousands of World war veterans undoubtedly will, what an uproar was raised at one time over that little patch of color on the left shoulder of the returning soldier's khaki coat. For when the troops were ready to embark for home, the War department Issued an order prohibiting the wearing wear-ing of divisional insignia by the doughboys upon their return to America. It was "unmilitary," 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 should continue to wear their pet decoration, dec-oration, but chief among them was the fact that these Insignia, adopted by the different divisions, were highly useful in making possible their Identification Iden-tification at a glance, in action or otherwise, and for purposes either of commendation or criticism, criti-cism, as the case might be ; that the decoration detracted nothing from the efficiency of the men, but on the other hand was an incentive to proper conduct and co-ordinate effort; and finally that the man wearing it, each proud of his individual outfit, was unwilling to discard it and thus lose his identity and that of his command in the melting melt-ing pot of the A. E. F.'s millions. So the War department decided to allow the returning soldiers to keep their divisional insignia insig-nia and this ruling was greeted with as much widespread approval as the forbidding order had caused loudly voiced disapproval. There were 93 divisions in the United States' military forces and each one had Its distinctive insignia. Limitations of space in this article prevent pre-vent the reproduction of the Insignia of all of them and an extended account of each but the following represents some of the more interesting interest-ing facts about some typical ones: First division: An elongated shield of khaki, point down, bearing the red numeral 1. (Figure 1.) Since this division was the first of the American Amer-ican divisions to go to France, the first to go Into the trenches, the first to suffer battle losses, the first to capture prisoners nnd 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 returning return-ing to the United States for demobilization. Second division: A five-pointed white star, having hav-ing the head of an American Indian facing to the left, in red nnd blue, stamped or embroidered on the' white star. The star and Indian head was placed on a background of cloth of various shapes nnd colors to designate the several organizations organ-izations in the division. The black shield (Figure 9) was used in the insignia of divisional headquarters. head-quarters. Third division: A square of dark blue cloth with three white stripes running diagonally downward from the upper right corner to the lower left. (Figure 3). The field of blue was oymholic of the loyalty of the "Marnemen." The three white stripes stood for the numerical designation des-ignation of the division and also symbolized the three major operations in which the Third division di-vision won glory during the World war the Mnrne, St. "Slihiel and Mcuse-Argonne. Fourth division: Four ivy loaves about a circle cir-cle the leaves and circle of green, placed on a khaki background. (Figure S). This symbol was formed by taking the Uoman numeral IV, which not only gave the numerical designation of the division but also a tlower, the Ivy. which means "steadfast nnd loyal" in the language of flowers a splendid motto for a group of fighting men. Fifth division: A plain red diamond on a background back-ground of khaki. (Figure 5.) It was stated by the chief of staff of the division that "no significant sig-nificant meaning is attached other than that the color red, was selected as a compliment to the Iheu commanding general whose branch of the service was the artillery." Officers In the division, di-vision, however, say "The Red Diamond represents repre-sents a well-known problem of bridge building; It is made up of two adjacent isosceles triangles which make for the greater strength." But the men of the division, proud of its record and justly jealous of its reputation explained this laconically: laconical-ly: "Diamond dye it never runs!" Sixth division : A red six-pointed star on a background of khaki. (Figure 2). The six points ' of the star represented the numerical designation designa-tion of the division. The Sixth had three different differ-ent insignia. The first was a red bull's eye in a white circle surmounted by a white cross. But this had a lugubrious appearance "looks like a headstone in a cemetery," said the men. So a red equilateral triangle was the next insignia and that was worn during all of the division's war service, while it was winning the name of "the old Sightseeing Sixth." Few divisions of the A. E. F. equaled the mileage record of this division which swept up and down various front lines, relieving re-lieving a hard-pressed division here, rushing Into support there, in reserve at other points. After the Armistice another red equilateral triangle was superimposed upon the first, making the red, six-pointed star. Seventh division : Two black equilateral triangles tri-angles placed vertically upon a red circular disc, their apexes meeting In the center of the disc. (Figure 4). By coincidence the outline of this design de-sign was a blocked-in numeral 7, crossed by another an-other such numeral 7, Inverted, thus forming the two triangles. The similarity of the double triangle tri-angle to an hourglass was responsible for the nickname of the division, the "Hourglass Division." Divi-sion." 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 division, di-vision, the "Pathfinder Division," which was organized or-ganized and trained at Camp Fremont, Calif. Twenty-sixth division : Blue letters YD on a khaki-colored diamond field, the letters stood for "Yankee Division," (Figure 23), made up of men of New England, which was one of the first National Na-tional guard forces to enter active service. Twenty-seventh division : A circle of black, with a narrow border of red, on which was displayed dis-played in white the constellation of Orion. (Figure (Fig-ure 6). This division, made up of national army troops from New York city, adopted its insignia in honor of its commander, Gen. John F. O'Ryan. Twenty-eighth division: A red keystone (Figure (Fig-ure 15), symbolic of the "Keystone State" since this division was made up of Pennsylvania National Na-tional guard. Twenty-ninth division: Intertwined circles of blue and gray (Figure IS) symbolical of the Blue and the Gray of Civil war days, since the men in this division were National guardsmen from Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Thirtieth division : An emblem made up of the letters O. II. (Figure 14), standing for "Old Hickory Hick-ory Division," made up of National guardsmen from Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, Caro-lina, the three states which claim "Old Hickory," Andrew Jackson, for their own. In the middle of the insignia were three Xs, 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 division: A red arrow on a square field of khaki. (Figure 2S). The arrow worn on the sleeves of the Michigan and Wisconsin Wiscon-sin National guardsmen in this division pointed forward, indicative of a promise always to go forward, never back. Thirty-third division: A yellow Maltese cross on a black field, the emblem of the "Prairie Division," Di-vision," made up of National guardsmen from Illinois and West Virginia. Thirty-fourth division: The outline of a Mexican Mexi-can olla or water flask in hlack on which appeared ap-peared a red cow's skull and the words "Sand storm Division." (Figure 25), recalling to members mem-bers of this division. National guardsmen from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota, their training camp days at Camp Cody in New Mexico. Thirty-sixth division: An Indian arrowhead with the letter T on it, the emblem of the "Pan iher Division" made up mostly of Texans. Thirty-seventh division: A white O with a red or maroon center the Standing for Ohio since this division was made up of National guard troops from the Buckeye state. Thirty-eighth division: A red and (due shield with the letters CY on It. (Figure 13). standing for the "t'yclone Division," composed of National Nation-al guardsmen from Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia, and typifying its manner of movement and acco',.!li.-l',r,i(Mit of desired ends. Forty-first division: The setting sun on a half- circle of red, surrounded by a black border, (Figure (Fig-ure 2G), the emblem of the "Sunset Division" made up of National guardsmen from the West "where the sun sets" Washington, Oregon, Montana, Mon-tana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Da-kota, Colorado, New Mexico. (Some District of Columbia guardsmen were also in this division). Forty-second division : A tri-color red, white and blue in rainbow form (Figure 11), this was the emblem of the famous "Rainbow Division" composed of National guardsmen from 46 states and the District of Columbia, one of the first divisions di-visions to reach France and bring a "rainbow of hope" to the hard-pressed allies. Seventy-sixth division: The Liberty 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 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), this was the emblem of another division recalling the Revolutionary war Liberty and '77. Composed Com-posed of New York city national army troops, "New York's 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 division made up of national army men from northeastern Pennsylvania, Maryland and District of Columbia which distinguished Itself It-self by the capture of Montfaucon 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 moun-taineers from Virginia, West Virginia and western west-ern Pennsylvania. Eighty-first division : A black wildcat on a gray disc, (Figure 16), emblem of the "Wildcat Division," made up of negro soldiers of the national na-tional army from North Carolina, South Carolina, Caro-lina, Florida and Porto Rico who proved that they could, indeed, "fight like wildcats." Eighty-second division : Two yellow A's on a blue circle superimposed upon, a red square (Figure (Fig-ure 12), the emblem of the "All-American Division" Divi-sion" made up of national army men from Georgia, Geor-gia, Alabama and Tennessee. Eighty-fourth division : A scarlet shield upon which, inclosed by a blue circle, was the word "Lincoln" in white curved over an axe and below be-low the numerals 84, (Figure 10), this emblem of the "Lincoln Division," composed of national army soldiers from Kentucky, Indiana and southern south-ern Illinois, recalled the youth of Lincoln In the region where he began hewing out his fame as a "Rail Splitter." Eighty-sixth division : A black hawk rampant on a red shield, the hawk bearing white intertwined inter-twined letters B and II (B'igure 21), symbolic of the "Black Hawk Division," composed of national nation-al 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 field of green, this emblem of the "Acorn Division" recalled the origin of Its members, national army men from the oak woods of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Eighty-eighth division: Two green ngure eights crossed to form a four-leaf clover, symbolizing sym-bolizing the fact that its troops, national army men, were from the four states of North Dakota, Da-kota, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Eighty-ninth division: A dark blue circle Inclosing In-closing a W of the same color against a light blue background, this division was made up of national army men from Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Col-orado. The W is symbolic of Its three command-erg command-erg Gen. Leonard Wood, who trained at Camp I'unston, Kan., and Generals William M. Wright nnd Frank L. Winn, who commanded it In K ranee. Ninetieth division: The letters T and O In maroon ma-roon on a khaki field, (Figure 24), a "branding iron" combination for the states of Texas and Oklahoma from which the national army trobps in this division came. Ninety-first division: A green pine tree (Figure (Fig-ure 7) symoblical of the pine forests of the western west-ern states .vhence came the men of the national army to make up this division. Ninety-second division: A black charging buffalo buf-falo (Figure 20), the emblem of the "Western Buffaloes Division," composed of negro troops of the national army, mainly from Texas and Oklahoma. Okla-homa. ( ty Western Newspaper Ualoo.) |