The Coolidge examiner., 1933-11-03

structOn and lifted its face to the
clear skies of the promise of peace :;
for remembering the men and women who Of
fered up their lives for their country-those who
staid "over there well those who came
home
And do you remember when they came home
and staged their "Victory marches" through the
crowded, cheering streets of our principal cities
how you noticed the little patches Of color OF diff
ferent design which they wore on their left shou-
ders? Perhaps you knew then what was the
meaning OF those symbols but the chances are
that you. and most other Americans as well, have
forgotten by now.
So this Is to recall II to yOu-the story of the
insignia of the various divisions in the American
Expeditionary Forces, "the sign of the fighting
man."
You may not recall. although hundreds Of
thousands OF World war veterans undoubtedly
will, what m uproar was raised at one time over
that little patch of color the left shoulder of
the returning soldiers khaki coat. For when the
troops were ready to embark for home the War
department issued an order prohibiting the wear
ing of divisional insignia by the doughboys upon
their return to America. 1t was "unmitary," the
department said.
Almost instantly a tide of protest rolled into
Washington to engulf the department. There
were a hundred good reasons advanced why the
doughbOyssshould continue to wear their pet dec
Grafton, but chief among them was the fact that
these insignia adopted by the different divisions
were highly useful in making possible their iden-
tifcation Mt glance in action or otherwise and
for purposes either of commentator or criti-
cism. as the case might be: that the decoration
detracted nothing from the efficiency of the men,
but on the other hand was an incentive to proper
conduct and coordinate effort; and finally that
the man wearing It, each proud of his individual
outfit. was unwilling TO discard it and thus lose
his identity and that of his command in the melt
ing pot of the A. e. F's millions.
So the War department decided to allow the
returning soldiers to keep their divisional insig
mia and this ruling was greeted with as much
widespread approval as the forbidding order had
caused loudly voiced disapproval.
There were % divisions in the United States
military forces and each one had its distinctive
insignia Limitations of space in this article pre-
vent the reproduction of the insignia OF all of
them and an extended account of each but the
following represents some of the more interest
ing facts about some typical ones:
First division: An elongated shield of khaki
point down, bearing the red numeral /. (Figure
IL Since this division was the first OF the Amer
lean divisions TO go to France, the first to go into
the trenches the first to suffer battle losses. the
first TO capture prisoners and the first TO enter
Germany after the Armistice, ii is only natural
that ii should adopt the numeral l. Only once
was the First division last-that in return
ing to the United States for rehabilitation
Second division: A five-pointed white star. hav-
ing the head of an American Indian facing to the
left. in red and blue, stamped or embroidered on
the white star The star and Indian head was
placed on a background OF cloth Of various
shapes and colors to designate the several organ
izations in the division The black shield (Figure
9) was used In the insignia of divisional head
quarters
Third division: A square of dark blue cloth
with three white stripes running dagonally
downward from the upper right corner to the
lower left (Figure 81. The field of blue was
symbolic of the loyalty of the "Marnemen." The
three white stripes stood for the numerical des-
IgDation of the division and also symbolized the
three major operations in which the Third di-
vision won glory during the World war-the
Narne St Mihiel and Meuse-ArgOnne.
Fourth division: Four ivy leaves about a cir
Gle, the leaves and circle Of green, placed on a
khaki background (Figure 81. This symbol was
formed by taking the Roman numeral ", which
not only gave the numerical designation of the
division but also flower, the i"y, which means
'steadfast and loyal" in the language of flowers
- splendid motto for a group of fighting men.
Fifth division: plain red diamond on back
ground of khaki. (Fgure 81 1t was stated by
The chief of staff of the division that mo sig
nificent meaning is attached other than that the
solor RED was selected compliment to the
TIER coznx1Ahding general whose branch of the