022 32nd Infantry Division

Nickname: Red Arrow (called Les Terribles, World War I). . Shoulder Patch: Red line shot through with red arrow (it pierced all enemy lines faced ). . Song and Publisher: “32nd Division March.” Ward-Brodt Music Co.. Madison, Wis. . Source: National Guard ( Michigan and Wisconsin ). . History: Inducted: Camp MacArthur, July. 1917. Overseas: Mar. 1918. Actions: Haute-Alsace sector, Meuse-Argonne. . Training: Camp Beauregard, La., on activation 15 Oct., 1941; Camp Livingston, La.; maneuvers, Louisiana and Carolinas. Departed for SWP 2 Apr., 1942. . Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. Irving J. Fish, Oct., 1940 to Mar., 1942; Maj. Gen. E. F. Harding, Mar., 1942, to Jan., 1943; Maj. Gen. W. H. Gill, Feb., 1943, to present. . Component Units: (As of Apr., 1942) 126th, 127th and 128th Infantry Regiments; 120th, 126th, 129th (L), 121st (M) FA Battalions Higher command Sixth Army. . Awards: Distinguished Unit Citation given Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, each of the three Infantry Regiments and all Field Artillery battalions for action on Leyte, Nov., 1944. . Combat Highlights: The 32nd was one of the first American Infantry units to strike the Japs a hard blow. The 32nd piled up 600 combat days in action at Buna, Saidor, Morotai, Leyte, and Luzon, generally credited as more combat time than any other World War II division. The Japs were within 32 miles of Port Moresby when the 32nd was hastily moved in to the port in late Sept., 1942. Elements went into action on the Goldie river, 28 Sept. After helping to force the Japs into retreat up the Kokoda Trail, the 32nd elements flew to bases East of Bunaall but the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry, which remained behind to cross the Owen Stanley Mts. After a rest for all hands in Australia following the Buna-Sanananda victory, the 126th landed with Aussie troops at Saidor. 2 Jan., 1944, crushing all resistance by 14 Apr. The 32d next landed at Aitape 22 Apr., where six weeks of combat featured by action on the Driniumor river followed. Japs Killed numbered 9300. Other actions by the division or its elements included: Morotai, 15 Sept.: the Biak landing, 27 May 1944; Leyte, 14 Nov., 1944, including Limon, Culasion Point, the Yamashita line, and Tananga Bay: Luzon, 30 Jan., 1945, including Villa Verde Trail (119 days of mountain fighting), Balete Pass. More than 9000 Japs were killed.