41st Infantry Division

Nickname: Jungleers Division. . Shoulder Patch: The patch is semi-circular, has a red background with sun and 12 orange rays against blue (representing the ocean). The patch symbolizes the sun setting in the Pacific. Song: “41st Division Marching Song” by Pvt. Frederick Valdez. (Additionally: “First in Old Manila” for 162d Inf.) Songs are in SIS file. . Source; Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana National Guard units (this war). . History: Organized: July, 1917, Camp Greene, North Carolina Overseas: Feb., 1918. Actions: Chateau – Thierry, Aisne -Marne, St. Mihiel (but division did not see action as a division). Demobilized: June, 1919. The 162d dates back to 1899 (2d Oregon Volunteers). . Training: Inducted: Sept., 1940, Ft. Lewis. Maneuvers: Hunter Liggett Military Reservation. Overseas: Mar., 1942 (Australia). . Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. George A. White, Sept., 1940 to Nov., 1941; Brig. Gen. Carlos A. Pennington, Nov.-Dec., 1941; Maj. Gen. Horace H. Fuller, Dec., 1941 to June, 1944; Maj. Gen. Jens A. Doe, June, 1944, to present. . Component Units: (As of Mar., 1942) 162d, 163d and 186th Infantry Regiments; 146th, 167th, 205th (L) and 218th (M) FA Battalions. Higher Commands: Eighth and Sixth Armies. . Awards: Distinguished Unit Citation to 163d Infantry Regiment for action in Papuan campaign, July 23, 1942, to Jan. 23, 1943; DUC to 2d Platoon, Co. L, 163d for action Aitape, Apr. 27, 1944; DUC to 1st Battalion., 162d for action Salamaua, June 29 to Sept. 12, 1943. . Combat Highlights: From Papua’s bloody Sanananda to equally bloody Zamboanga in the Philippines the 41st has set a combat record which is among the foremost in the Pacific theater. The 163d, first of the Jungleer units to go into action, was committed at Sanananda, Jan. 2, 1943, to help stop the Japs short of Port Moresby. At the end of 21 days they came out jungle – ragged but had stopped the Japs. Storming ashore at Salamaua, June 29, 1943, the 162d began 75 days of jungle fighting unrelieved, a record. The Division then began a 1000-mile campaign up through the New Guinea junglesassault landings at Aitape, actions at Hollandia, Toem Wakde, Biak Islands (where the 41st liquidated 8000 Japs and fought the first tank battle against the Japs, destroying 11 tanks without loss of a single U. S. tank). Elements of the 41st’s 186th struck Palawan, P. I., Feb. 28, 1945, but the major landing of 41st elements was at Zamboanga with the Eighth Army, March 10. Zamboanga City fell the next day. Actions which followed: capture of Pasanoca, Capisan, Palawan and Basilan Island. Liberation of the Sulu archipelago began Apr., 1945, with the Division landing first at Bongao and the Sanga Sanga Islands, later taking Jolo Island and Sibuco. By 8 June, 1945, an additional 2000 Japs had been killed.

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