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| A BRIEF 1ST DIVISION HISTORY. The First Expeditionary Division, later designated the 1st Infantry Division, was organized in May 1917 from Regular Army units then in service on the Mexican border and at various posts throughout the United States. The first units sailed from New York and New Jersey, on 14 June 1917. Throughout the remainder of the year, the rest of the Division followed landing at St. Nazaire, France, and Liverpool, England . After a brief stay in rest camps, the troops in England proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre. The last unit arrived in St. Nazaire on 22 December. Upon Arrival in France, the Division, less Artillery, was assembled in the 1st (Gondrecourt) Training Area and the Artillery at Le Valdahon. On the 4th of July, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, paraded through the streets of Paris to bolster the sagging French spirits. At Lafayette's tomb, one of General Pershing's staff uttered the famous words, "Lafayette, we are here!" Two days latter, on 6 July, the first Expeditionary Division was re designated as the First Infantry Division. On the morning of 23 October, the first American shell of the war was sent screaming toward German lines by a First Division Artillery unit. Two days latter, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry suffered the first American casualties of the war. By April 1918, the Germans had pushed up to within 40 miles of Paris. In reaction of this thrust, the Big Red One was moved into the Picardy Sector to bolster the exhausted French First Army. To the Divisions front lay the small village of Cantigny, situated on the high ground overlooking a forested country side. It was the "Black Lions of Cantigny," attacked the town and within 45 minuets had captured it together with 250 German soldiers. The first victory of the war was a First Division Victory. Soissons was taken by the First Division in July 1918. The Soissons victory was costly - 7,000 men were killed or wounded. The First Infantry helped to clear the St. Mihiel salient by fighting continuously from 11-13 September 1918. The last major World War I battle was fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest. The Division advanced seven kilometers and defeated, in whole or part, eight German divisions. The war was over when the Armistice was signed. The Division was at Sedan the farthest American penetration of the war. The Division was the first to cross the Rhine into occupied Germany. By the end of the war, the Division had suffered 22,320 casualties in the war and boasted five Medals of Honor winners. Its colors carry campaign streamers for (1) Lorraine, 1917; (2) Lorraine, 1918; (3) Picardy, 1918; (4) Montdidier-Noyon; (5) Aisne-Marne; (6) St. Hihiel; and (7) Meuse- Argonne. The 1st Infantry Division entered World War II at Oran, North Africa, as part of the "Torch" Invasion, the first American campaign against Germany. On 8 November 1942, following training in the United Kingdom, soldiers of the Big Red One landed on the coast of Algeria near Oran. The initial lessons of combat were harsh and many men were casualties in the following campaign in Tunisia. On 9 May 1943, the commander of the German "Afrika Korps" surrendered his force of 40,000. The Division then moved on to take Sicily in "Operation Husky." The1st Division stormed ashore at Gelaon 10 July 1943 and quickly overpowered the preliminary Italian defenses. Soon after, the division came face-to-face with 100 tanks of the Herman Goering Tank Division. With the help of naval gunfire, it's own artillery and Canadian Allies, the First Infantry Division fought it's way over the island's hills, driving the enemy back. The Fighting First advanced onto capture Troina and opening the allied road to the straits of Mesina. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the Big Red One stormed ashore at Omaha Beach. Soon after H-Hour, the Division's 16th Regiment was fighting for it's life on a strip of beach near Coleville-sur-Mer that had been marked the "Easy Red" on battle maps. Within two hours, the decimated unit huddled behind the seawall. The beach was so congested with the dead and the dying there was no room to land reinforcements. Colonel George Taylor, Commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, told his men "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now lets get the hell out of here!" Slowly, the move inland got underway. A German blockhouse above the beach became a command post named "Danger Forward." The Division moved through the Normandy Hedgerows. The Division liberated Liege, Belgium, and pushed to the German border, crossing through the fortified Siegfried line. The 1st Infantry Division attacked the first major German city, Aachen and after days of bitter fighting, the German commander surrendered the city on October 21 1944. The Division continued its push into Germany, crossing the Rhine River. On 16 December, twenty-four enemy divisions, 10 of which were armored, launched a massive counter-attack the Ardennes sector, resulting in what became know as the Battle of the Bulge. On 15 January 1945, the First Infantry attacked and penetrated the Siegfried Line for the second time and occupied the Remagen bridgehead. On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945 the Division marched 150 miles to the east of Siegen. On 8 April, the division crossed the Weser river, into Czechoslovakia. The war was over on 8 May 1945. At the end of World War II, the division had suffered 21,023 casualties and 43,743 men had served in its ranks. Its soldiers had won a total of 20,752 medals and awards including 16 Congressional Medals of Honor. Over 100,000 prisoners had been taken. Its colors carry World War II campaign streamers for Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead); Tunisia; Sicily (with arrowhead); Normandy (with arrowhead); Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for KASSERINE French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for NORMANDY French Croix de Guerre, World War II, Fourragere Belgian Fourragere 1940 Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at MONS Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at EUPEN-MALMEDY |
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