Recognizing the exemplary service of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division (Old Hickory) of the United States Army during World War I and World War II.

Recognizing the exemplary service of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division (Old Hickory) of the United States Army during World War I and World War II. Whereas the 30th Infantry Division of the United States Army, nicknamed Old Hickory, was first activated in October 1917 for service in World War I; Whereas the 30th Infantry Division was nicknamed Old Hickory in honor of General and President Andrew Jackson; Whereas the 30th Infantry Division was composed of troops from Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and was instrumental in breaking the Hindenburg Line in World War I; Whereas, when the 30th Infantry Division was reorganized at Fort Jackson in 1941 for service in World War II, the division included two North Carolina National Guard infantry regiments, one Tennessee National Guard infantry regiment, and other elements; Whereas Company B of the 117th Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division was composed of members of the Tennessee National Guards from Athens, Tennessee, who also served in World War II; Whereas Company B was composed of 5 officers and 100 troops, all of whom were from Tennessee; Whereas 22 of those troops became officers in prominent positions in the Army; Whereas, in 1940, one year after Nazi Germany invaded Poland to trigger World War II, the War Department reactivated the 30th Infantry Division; Whereas, in 1944, the 30th Infantry Division was deployed to Great Britain to participate in the planned Allied landing in Europe; Whereas, after arriving in Europe during World War II, the 30th Infantry Division engaged directly in battle alongside the British Armed Forces; Whereas, during World War II, the 30th Infantry Division landed at Normandy on June 14, 1944, participated in the advance across Northern France, joined the invasion of the German Rhineland, defended the Ardennes-Alsace, and fought to the final defeat of Germany in May 1945; Whereas the 823rd and the 743rd Tank Destroyer Battalions were periodically attached to the 30th Division throughout its campaign in Europe; Whereas the 30th Infantry Division played a key role in the breakout of the Allied forces from Normandy at St. Lo and the subsequent advance across Northern France; Whereas the 30th Infantry Division is remembered for its role in the defense of Mortain and St. Barthelmy, France, and Hill 317 against a German counterattack in August 1944, actions in which three infantry regiments of the division (the 117th, 119th, and 120th) and a part of a fourth regiment and other elements of the division participated; Whereas the 30th Infantry Division also played a key role in stopping the German advance in the Battle of the Bulge and recaptured Malmedy and Stavelot and its vital bridge over the Ambleve River; Whereas, in March 1945, the 30th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine River and quickly advanced to Madgeburg by April 17; Whereas, while the 30th Infantry Division moved eastward into Germany, it liberated Weferlingen, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, on April 12, 1945; Whereas, at Weferlingen, the troops found 421 inmates who were in poor physical condition due to malnutrition and in dire need of medical attention; Whereas representatives of the 30th Infantry Division arranged for mayors of the German towns neighboring Weferlingen to immediately furnish food for the starving inmates; Whereas, in the report prepared for General Dwight D. Eisenhower rating the American combat units that fought in the European Theater, the Armys official historian, S.L.A. Marshall, rated the 30th Division as first among the infantry divisions that had performed the most efficient and consistent battle service; Whereas, in 2012, the 30th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the United States Army Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Whereas, in recognition of its exemplary service during World War II, the Headquarters Company of the 30th Infantry Division was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation and the French Croix de Guerre; and Whereas the proud fighting tradition of the 30th Infantry Division is perpetuated by the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina Army National Guard: Now, therefore, be it That the Senate recognizes the exemplary service of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division of the United States Army during World War I and World War II.

Summary: This resolution recognizes the exemplary service of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division of the Army during World War I and World War II.