Shoulder patch of the 45th infantry division

The 45th division landed in north africa, 22 june 1943, and trained at arzew. The predecessor organization of the 45th infantry brigade 45th division was composed of army. Pay attention before you ignorant peeps go flying off the handle and claiming that this is a nazi emblem, it is not. Division insignia of the united states army wikipedia. An illustrated encyclopedia of cloth unit insignia, p. The divisions original shoulder sleeve insignia, approved in august 1924, featured a. The 45th infantry division held a contest to assist in selection of the new insignia and many designs were submitted. This icon was on the left arm shoulder patch of every soldiers uniform in the 45th infantry division. They were the national guard for oklahoma, new mexico, colorado before wwii. The embroidered gold thunderbird design symbolizes the troops from the southwestern states of oklahoma, new mexico, colorado, and arizona, who formed the unit when it was established in 1942 as a national guard division.

Us army infantry division patches, military gifts and. The 45th infantry division was an infantry division of the united states army, part of the. The division s original shoulder sleeve insignia, approved in august 1924,12 featured a swastika, a common native american symbol, as a tribute to the southwestern united states region which had a large population of native americans. Shoulder sleeve insignia of the united states army 45th infantry division, nicknamed the thunderbird division. Headquartered mostly in oklahoma city, the guardsmen fought in both world war ii and the korean war the 45th infantry division guardsmen saw no major action until they became one of the first national guard units activated in world war ii in 1941. The 45th infantry division the holocaust encyclopedia.

The 45th infantry division has an illustrious history, in both warfare and american. Us army 45th infantry division shoulder patch footggett. The predecessor organization of the 45th infantry brigade 45th division was composed of army national guard troops of colorado, oklahoma, new mexico and arizona. Separate as part of a realignment of us forces in germany and the transformation of the 1st infantry division to the us armys modular force structure. Us army 45th infantry division shoulder sleeve patch with a gold. The ssi of some army divisions have become known in popular culture. The 45th infantry division was an infantry division of the united states army, part of the oklahoma army national guard, from 1920 to 1968. Shoulder patch of the us armys 45th infantry division. The contest was overseen by a board of officers who eventually determined the thunderbird would become the new insignia of the 45th infantry division. History from swastika to thunderbird 45th infantry museum. Full machine embroidered, size is 3 14 x 3 14 inches.

Us army 45th infantry division shoulder sleeve patch with. At this time, vi corps was attached to the seventh army, under lieutenant general alexander patch, itself part of the 12th army group under. The image is a thunderbird, an american indian symbol. The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved for the 45th division on 22 may 1939. For the first 15 years of its existence, members of the 45th infantry division proudly wore on their left shoulders an ancient american indian symbol of good luck. The 45th was activated as a national guard division in 1924 in arizona, colorado, new mexico and oklahoma. For the 25th infantry tropic lighting division we offer the colored shoulder patch, subdued shoulder patch, desert should patch, world war ii hat patch, operation enduring freedom hat patch and operation enduring freedom hat patch. Original ww2 united states army 45th infantry division ssi shoulder sleeve insignia patch.

Shoulder patch of the us armys 45th infantry division from 19241939. Commonly referred to as unit patches, shoulder sleeve insignia are currently worn on the left. Fortyfifth infantry division shouldersleeve insignia. The division adopted the thunderbird shoulder patch in 1939 after the rise of the nazi party in germany which used the swastika, a symbol that bore a resemblance to the original divisional patch. As allied troops moved across europe in a series of offensives against nazi germany, they found tens of thousands of concentration. All of our shoulder patches are regulation sized and many are iron on patches. This was the shoulder patch of the us armys 45th infantry division before 1938.