003 3rd Infantry Division

Nickname: Marne Division. ……. Shoulder Patch: A square with three diagonal white stripes against a dark blue field, blue for Infantry; three stripes for major operations and numerical designation ……. Motto: (Unofficial) “Nous resterons la.” “We are staying there!” Brig. Gen. Preston Brown’s words at the Marne……. Song; “The Dogface Soldier.” ……. History: Organized: Nov., 1917, Camp Greene, S. C., from RA units. Overseas: Apr., 1918. Actions: Chateau Thierry, Champagne-Marne offensive, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne ……. Training: Amphibious training: 1940-41, Ft. Ord, Calif., and Hunter Liggett Military Reservation. AGP control: Mar., 1942. Other stations: San Diego and Monterey Bay, Calif.; Camp Pickett, Va. Overseas: Oct. 24, 1942 (Africa) ……. Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas, Sept.. 1941, to Feb., 1942; Maj. Gen. Jonathan W. Anderson, Mar., 1942, to Mar., 1943; Lt. Gen. (then MG) Lucian K. Truscott, Jr., Apr., 1943, to Jan., 1944; Maj. Gen. John W. O’Daniel, Feb. 1944, to July, 1945; Maj. Gen. William R. Schmidt, Aug., 1945, to present……. Component Units (As of Oct. 24, 1942): 7th, 15th and 30th Inf. Regiments.; 10th, 39th, 41st (L) and 9th (M) FA Battalions. Higher Commands: Fifth Army (Africa-Italy) and Seventh Army (Germany) ……. Awards: Distinguished Unit Citation for division, Colmar, France action, Jan. 22 to Feb. 6, 1945. Ten units Of the 3rd have also received DUC…….. Combat Highlights: It Is not possible to compress the astounding combat, record ol the famous 3rd into a brief paragraph or two. It participated in four amphibious invasionsNorth Africa, Sicily, Anzio and Francesuffering more casualties than any other division27,628 killed, wounded or missing. Its troops earned 34 Medals of Honor in 531 battle days. Names of North African points where the 3rd won glory are Fedala (initial landing), French Morocco and Bizerte. Sicily came next with Licata, Agrigento, Palermo and Messina. In Italy, principal actions were at Salerno, Acerno, Avellino, the Volturno river crossing, Migano, costly Cassino, the Anzio landing, Cisterna and Rome. Most costly day of action: May 23,1944, when the 3rd stopped three German divisions ordered by Hitler to drive them into the sea at Anzio. The Marnemen lost 995 killed and wounded. In France and Germany were added the lustre of St, Tropez landing, Aix-la-Provence, Montelimar, Besancon, Mortagne river crossing, Meurthe river, Vosges Mountains., Col-mar, Zweibrucken, Rhine crossing, Nurnberg, Augsberg, Munich and Salzburg.