6th Infantry Division ( United States ) The 6th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I , World War II , and the last years of the Cold War . Known as " " Red Star " " , and formerly called the " " Sight Seein ' Sixth " " . World War I . Activated : November 1917 Subordinate Units : The division went overseas in June 1918 , and saw 43 days of combat . Casualties totalled 386 ( KIA : 38 ; WIA : 348 ) . The 6th Division saw combat in the Geradmer sector , Vosgee , France , September 3 - October 18 , 1918 , and during the Meuse - Argonne offensive from November 1 to November 11 , 1918 . Separately the 11th Field Artillery Battalion became engaged earlier in the Meuse - Argonne offensive and fought from October 19 to the Armistice . The division returned to U . S . : June 1919 . Deactivated : 30 September 1921 at Camp Grant , Illinois World War II . Activated : 12 October 1939 Inactivated : 10 January 1949 in Korea World War II combat chronicle . The division moved to Hawaii in July and August 1943 to assume defensive positions on Oahu , training meanwhile in jungle warfare . It moved to Milne Bay , New Guinea , 31 January 1944 , and trained until early June 1944 . The division first saw combat in the Toem - Wakde area of Dutch New Guinea , engaging in active patrolling 14 – 18 June , after taking up positions 6 – 14 June . Moving west of Toem , it fought the bloody Battle of Lone Tree Hill , 21 – 30 June , and secured the Maffin Bay area by 12 July . After a brief rest , the division made an assault landing at Sansapor , 30 July , on the Vogelkop Peninsula . The 6th secured the coast from Cape Waimak to the Mega River and garrisoned the area until December 1944 . The division landed at Lingayen Gulf , Luzon , in the Philippines on D - day , 9 January 1945 , and pursued the Japanese into the Cabanatuan hills , 17 – 21 January , capturing Muñoz on 7 February . On 27 January , Special Operations units also attached to the Sixth United States Army took part in the Raid at Cabanatuan . The division then drove northeast to Dingalan Bay and Baler Bay , 13 February , isolating enemy forces in southern Luzon . The U . S . 1st Infantry Regiment operated on Bataan together with the Philippine Commonwealth forces , 14 – 21 February , cutting the peninsula from Abucay to Bagac . The division then took part in the Battle of Manila , shifting to the Shimbu Line northeast of Manila , 24 February , took Mount Mataba , 17 April , Mount Pacawagan , 29 April , Bolog , 29 June , Lane ' s Ridge of Mount Santo Domingo , 10 July , and Kiangan , 12 July . The 6th remained with the Philippine Military forces in the Cagayan Valley and the Cordilleras Mountains until VJ - day . Afterwards it moved to occupy Korea . The division occupied the southern half of the United States zone of occupation until inactivated . Medal of Honor recipients . Medal of Honor recipients for the 6th Infantry Division during World War II : Post World War . Cold War Era . The 6th Division was reactivated 4 October 1950 at Fort Ord , California . There the division remained throughout the Korean War , training troops and providing personnel for combat , but was never deployed overseas as an entity itself and was again inactivated on 3 April 1956 . In the American build - up during the Vietnam War the division was activated in 1967 at Fort Campbell , Kentucky , and later a forward brigade was located in Hawaii . There was sentiment against sending the division to Vietnam because its shoulder sleeve insignia invited a derisive nickname ( " Commie Jew Division " ) that General Westmoreland , cognizant of troop morale problems , considered too offensive , and the decision was made instead to form the Americal Division ( 23rd Infantry Division ) , with less offensive insignia , in Vietnam itself . During June 1968 the US Joint Chiefs of Staff also declared the 6th Infantry Division unsuitable for combatant deployment because it flunked its readiness report , and shortly thereafter the division was terminated on 25 July 1968 . The last incarnation of the division came on 16 April 1986 at Fort Richardson , Alaska when the assets of the 172nd Infantry Brigade were used to reactivate the 6th Infantry Division ( Light ) . Over the next seven years the 6th was the U . S . Army ’ s primary Arctic warfare division . Notable operational deployments included an eight month deployment to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt by 1st Battalion , 17th Infantry Regiment , a subordinate element of 1st Brigade , 6th Infantry Division ( Light ) , in 1990 as part of the Multinational Force and Observers . The deployment began as a six month rotation but was extended in August 1990 due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait which precipitated Operation Desert Shield and delayed the arrival of their relieving unit . The division headquarters was moved from Fort Richardson to Fort Wainwright ( near Fairbanks ) in 1990 . Commanders during the Arctic activation included Maj . Gen . David A . Bramlett , Maj . Gen . Samuel E . Ebbessen ( a former deputy of General Schwarzkopf during the Persian Gulf War who went on to direct hurricane relief in Florida in 1992 , ultimately being relieved from that position ) , and Maj . Gen . Johnnie H . Corns . The division had two active maneuver brigades and the Army Reserve ' s 205th Infantry Brigade ( Light ) was assigned as the division ' s roundout force . Gulf War . Elements of the 6th ID ( L ) participated in Gulf War operations . Inactivation . The division was inactivated most recently on 6 July 1994 , and reduced to a single brigade , the 1st Brigade , 6th Infantry Division . In reality , the 6th no longer existed as a division and command of the brigade fell under the 10th Mountain Division ( Light Infantry ) at Fort Drum , NY . The division ' s number was kept on the rolls because the U . S . Army Chief of Staff stated he would not preside over the inactivation of another division during his term . Later the brigade was reflagged back to the separate 172nd Infantry Brigade from which the division had been reestablished in 1986 . The 172nd Brigade was then reflagged as the 1st Brigade Combat Team ( Stryker ) , 25th Infantry Division on 16 December 2006 . On 16 October 2008 the division ' s HHC 6th Engineer Battalion was reactivated as a non - divisional unit in Alaska . In this new role it is configured as an Airborne unit with two subordinate engineer companies : the 23d Engineer Company and the 84th Engineer Company .