Americal Division Shoulder Patch

The Americal Division of the United States Army was formed in May 1942 on the island of New Caledonia. In the immediate emergency following Pearl Harbor, the United States had hurriedly sent three individual regiments to defend New Caledonia against a feared Japanese attack. These were the 132nd Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, the 164th Regiment from North Dakota, and the 182nd Regiment from Massachusetts. For morale purposes, the Army decided to form these units into a new division. At the suggestion of a soldier, Patch requested that the division be known as the Americal Division—the name being a contraction of "America" and "New Caledonia". This was unusual, as most U.S. divisions are known by a number. Image File history File links WWII and Vietnam-era patch File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links WWII and Vietnam-era patch File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... US Army Seal The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... This article is about the year. ... The Imperial Japanese Navy made its attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. ... // Size and Composition A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ... State nickname: Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State Other U.S. States Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) Official languages English Area 149,998 km² (25th)  - Land 143,968 km²  - Water 6,030 km² (4. ... The United States National Guard is a significant component of the United States armed forces military reserve. ... State nickname: Peace Garden State, Roughrider State, Flickertail State Other U.S. States Capital Bismarck Largest city Fargo Governor John Hoeven (R) Official languages English Area 183 272 km² (19th)  - Land 178 839 km²  - Water 4 432 km² (2. ... State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Official languages English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ... A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ...

Under the command of Major General Alexander Patch, the Americal Division was the first US Army unit to be sent to Guadalcanal, where it relieved the exhausted US 1st Marine Division, and carried the brunt of the fighting on the island from that time on. Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Alexander McCarrell Sandy Patch (1889–1945) was an officer in the United States Army, best known for his service in World War II. He commanded Army and Marine forces during the invasion of Guadalcanal, and the US Seventh Army in the invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon. ... The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the most important battles of World War II. The assault on the Japanese-occupied island of Guadalcanal by the Allied navies and 16,000 United States troops on 7 August 1942, was the first offensive by US land forces in the Pacific Campaign. ... The 1st Marine Division is the oldest, largest (active duty), and most decorated division-sized unit in the United States Marine Corps representing a combat-ready force of more than 19,000 men and women. ...

Largely because of transport constraints, the Americal arrived piecemeal, and was fed into combat alongside the battle-hardened Marines, and thus, in contrast to several other US Army divisions in the Pacific War, was able to learn the practical art of war against the Japanese without suffering as many casualties as might otherwise have eventuated. Despite its ad-hoc formation, the Americal Division fought well at Guadalcanal, the 164th Regiment taking on a key role in the defeat of the major Japanese offensive in October 1942, and historians describe it as the most effective of all the US Army divisions in that conflict. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military. ... US landings in the Pacific, 1942–1945 The Pacific War, which is known in Japan as the Greater East Asia War, occurred in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in Asia. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... This article is about the year. ...

Later in World War II the Americal Division (alongside the 37th Division, a Marine defense battalion, and supporting units) took up positions on the newly invaded island of Bougainville, and warned by intelligence of the storm to come, utterly defeated a massive and sustained Japanese counter-attack, which began on 7 March 1943. Despite ample warning and thorough defensive preparations, the battle soon degenerated into a bitter, close-quarters infantry affair, with artillery restricted by the need to avoid friendly troops and tanks unable to reach the scene. The 37th and Americal Divisions stood firm, and by March 25, the Japanese were forced to retreat. It was the last Japanese ground offensive in the South Pacific. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... The 37th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. World War I Activated: August 1917 (National Guard Division from Ohio). ... This article is about the island; Bougainville is also the name of a commune in the Somme département of France. ... March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in Leap years). ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ...

The Division was inactivated at the end of the war. It was reactivated in 1954 as the 23rd Infantry Division, retaining the designation "Americal" as a nickname. The Division served in the Vietnam War, where one of its companies (C Company 1st Bn 20th Infantry) was responsible for the My Lai Massacre. The Division was inactivated once again in 1971. Both Generals H. Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell served in the Americal Division in Vietnam, in 1967-68 and 1968-69 respectively. The division used a dark blue shield-shaped patch bearing the four stars making up the constellation Crux. The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and their allies—notably the United States military in support of... Photographs of the My Lai massacre provoked world outrage and became an international scandal. ... Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. ... Colin Luther Powell, (pronounced koh-lihn, born April 5, 1937) was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving from January 20, 2001 to January 26, 2005 under President George W. Bush. ... Crux, being Latin for cross, commonly known as the Southern Cross (in contrast to the Northern Cross), is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but also one of the most famous. ...

Further reading

• Eric Bergerud, Touched with Fire: the Land War in the South Pacific, Penguin, 1996. ISBN 0140246967

External links

The 164th Regiment

• http://www.americal.org/