2nd Infantry Division

Nickname: Indian Head ……. Shoulder Patch: A red faced Indian Head on a white star, super-imposed on a black shield ……. Slogan: “Second to None.” ……. Source of Division: Regular Army……. History: Organized: Bourmont, France, Aug., 1917. Actions: Chateau Thierry, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Blanc Mont and Soissons ……. Training: Airborne training, Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., Sept. to Nov., 1942; winter training Camp McCoy, Wis., Dec., 1942, to Mar., 1943. Third Army maneuvers, Louisiana, Aug.-Sept., 1943. Left for ETO, Oct., 1943 ……. Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. John C. H. Lee, Nov., 1941, to May, 1943; Maj. Gen. Walter M. Robertson, May, 1943, to June, 1945; Brig. Gen. W. K. Harrison, June-Sept., 1945: Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, Sept., 1945, to present ……. Component Units: (As of Oct., 1943): 9th, 23rd and 88th Inf. Regiments.; 12th (M). 15th, 37th and 38th (L) FA Battalions.: 2nd Engineer. (C) and 2nd Medical. Battalion. Higher Commands: Third and Ninth Armies ……. Awards: Only American division In which every wartime unit is entitled to wear the Fourragere (France) for World War I action. Distinguished Unit Citation awarded 2nd Signal Company, 2nd Engineer. Battalion., Regiment. HQ. Co., 38th Inf.; all nine Infantry Battalions. (3rd Inf. Bn., 23rd Inf. got cluster): Meritorious Service Plaque to 2nd QM Co., with star; 702nd Ord. Co., with star; 2nd Med. Bn., with star; Service Cos., 38th, 23rd and 9th Inf.; 2nd Sig. Co., 2nd MP Platoon. 2nd Div. Band, Service Btys., 12th, 37th and 38th FA Bns……. Combat Highlights: Division went into action D plus 1on June 7, 1944, at St. Laurent sur Mer, France, liberated Trevieres, struck German defense line June 11 against 3rd Parachute Division of the Wehrmacht. Fight for Hill 192 was vital strug gle on the way to St. Lo. Hill was finally taken July 11. Division slammed through Nor mandy during the fighting around St. Lo to capture Tinchebray. Then the division began a 300-mile journey to battle for Brest, which Ml Sept. 18, 1944. In Oct., 1944, the division started to bite into the Siegfried Line, in Belgium. In Jan., 1945, the division battled the Germans during the breakthrough, but by February the tide had turned and the 2nd was inching forward into Germany,. Monschau and Ahrweiler were the key German towns taken by the division in Feb. and March 1945. By the end of April the division was at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia

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