US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Dix, NJ)

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9th INFANTRY DIVISIDN History SHOULDER PATCH: PaTch consisTs oT an ocToToil- a design oT eighT peTals on a khaki background. The upper parT oT The ocToToil is in red, The lower parT in blue and There is a whiTe disc in The cenTer. Under heraldic TradiTions oT The I5Th cenTury, each successive son oT a Tamily had his own in- dividual disTinguishing mark, and The mark oT The ninTh son was an ocToToil. The red and blue colors sTand Tor The colors used on division Tlags and The whiTe in The cenTer in The color oT numerals used on The Tlags. HISTORY: The 9Th lnTanTry Division was organized in July I9 I 8 aT Camp Sheridan, Ala., wiTh iTs Tield arTillery uniTs being organized aT The same Time aT Camp lvIcClellan, Ala. The division was originally composed almosT enTirely oT Regular Army uniTs. When The ArmisTice was signed on II November I9l8, The division was sfill in This counTry and iTs demobilizaTion began in December I9I8. Many oT The uniTs in presenT 9Th, however, saw combaT in The World War. The 39Th and 47Th InTanTry RegimenTs were brigade parTners in The 4Th lnTanTry Division and The 6OTh lnTanTry RegimenT was a parT oT The 5Th lnTanTry Division. All Three saw combaT duTy in France, parTicipaTing in The lvleuse-Argonne oTTensive. The 39Th and 47Th also saw acTion in The Aisne-lvlarne, ST. lvlihiel and Champagne oTTensives. The 6OTh was in acTion in Alsace, Lorraine and The ST. lvlihiel oTTensive. REACTIVATION DATE: I AugusT l94O. TRAINING: The division Trained aT ForT Bragg, N. C., upon being acTivaTed and had ForT Bragg as iTs home sTaTion while in This counTry. ln SepTember I94l The division Took parT in The Carolina maneuvers conducTed by The FirsT Army. Early in l942 The division was aTTached To The Am- phibious Corps, ATlanTic FleeT, Tor Training and in March I9-42 The 9Th came under conTrol oT Army Ground Forces. In AugusT OT ThaT year The division wenT To NorTolk, Va., Tor TurTher amphibious Training in Chesapeake Bay. DEPARTURE: ElemenTs leTT in SepTember, OcTober and December I942 Tor The NorTh ATrican TheaTer oT OperaTions. OVERSEAS TRAINING: Trained in Tunisia during lvlay and June I'-743. Final Training in preparaTion Tor acTion in Europe was given The division beTween November I943 and May I944. CITATIONS: The IsT BaTTalion oT The 39Th InTanTry RegimenT received The DisTinguished UniT CiTaTion Tor acTion on I8 June l944 near ST. Jacques de Nehou, oT Cherence Ie Roussel, France. The 2d BaTTalion oT The 39Th InTanTry Regi- menT received The DisTinguished UniT CiTaTion Tor acTion on I I and I2 July I944 aT Le DeserT, France. The 2d BaTTalion oT The 47Th InTanTry RegimenT received The DisTinguished UniT CiTaTion Tor acTion Trom 2I To 26 June I944 Tor acTion aT Cherbourg, France. The 3d BaTTaIion oT The 47Th InTanTry RegimenT received The DisTinguished UniT Badge Tor acTion during iTs drive on Cherbourg and The Hague Peninsula Trom 2l To 26 June I944. BATTLE CREDITS: lDivisionl: Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, NorThern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and CenTraI Europe. BATTLE LOG: Spearheading oT The invasions oT NorTh ATrica and Sicily, cuTTing oTT oT The CoTenTin Peninsula in France, being The TirsT lnTanTry Division across The Rhine, and reducTion oT The Ruhr PockeT are on The crediT side oT The

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--Ti-K 1 , 9Th TnTanTry Division's combaT ledger. The division wenT inTo acTion 8 November T942 when The 39Th CombaT Team landed aT Algiers while The 47Th CombaT Team was hiTTing The beach aT SaTi, French Morocco, and The 5OTh CombaT Team was hammering aT PorT T.yauTey, Morocco. When hos- TiTiTies ceased in ThaT area, The 9Th was given The iob oT guarding The Spanish Moroccan border. l.aTe in March T943 The 9Th moved inTo acTion again. The 6OTh CombaT Team ToughT aT Maknassy, Tunisia, while The remainder oT The division moved To ET GueTTar and aTTacTced The enemy on The GaTsa-Gabes axis in order To relieve pressure on BriTish Torces To The souTh. Tn The weelcs ThaT Tollowed The division conTinued To drive sTeadily Toward BizerTe, and on 7 May T943 iTs Troops rolled inTo ThaT ciTy To mop up Tinal resisTance in Tunisia. The 9Th drew a combaT assignmenT nexT in Sicily when, on 9 AugusT, iT wenT inTo acTion wesT oT Troina. By T2 AugusT one elemenT had reached FloresTa and anoTher had occupied Randazzo, lceypoinT oT The enemy's lasT deTense beTore Messina. The division remained in posiTion unTiT 20 AugusT when iT was oTTiciaTTy announced ThaT The island oT Sicily was Tree oT The enemy. The 9Th leTT Sicily in November T943, wenT To England To Train Tor The invasion oT France, and landed in Normandy on TO June T944. The 39Th CombaT Team saw acTion TirsT, capTuring Guinneville. Then The di- vision hiT The Germans hard, driving across The Douve River and reaching The easT coasT near ST. T.o, D'Ourville and Barneville early on T7 June. The CoTenTin Peninsula had been cuT OTT Through The 9Th's eTTorTs. WiTh This iob done, The division Turned norTh Toward Cherbourg, seizing OcTeviTTe and capTuring The senior enemy army and navy commander oT The Cherbourg area. By T July The 9Th had cleaned up The Cap de Ta T-Tague. T.aTer ThaT monTh iT spearheaded The ST. T.o brealdhrough and laTer joined in The chase which closed The Falaise Gap. The 9Th swung Toward The easT, across The Seine aT Meluen, pushed norTheasT To The Marne wiThouT opposiTion on 28 AugusT and swepT Through ChaTeau-Thierry The Tollowing day. On 2 SepTember T944 The division laid claim To being The TirsT Allied Torce To begin liberaTion oT Belgium, a uniT enTering ThaT counTry near Momignies. TT pushed on Through Chimay, Couvin, Toward DinanT and The Meuse River. By 5 SepTember The Meuse had been crossed and on T3 SepTem- ber The division moved inTo Germany souTh oT RoeTgen. Tn OcTober The division ToughT iTs way Through SaarTauTern, pressed German Torces baclc in November and in December, was TighTing near Aachen againsT deTermined enemy resisT- ance. During The German winTer oTTensive iT was moved To The Monschau ForesT area where iT relieved The 99Th TnTanTry Division and in biTTer TighTing beaT baclc The enemy's maior eTTorT in The division's secTor. Tn February T945 The 9Th lashed ouT Tiercely aT The enemy norTheasT oT Monschau and capTured Einruhr, Two miles Trom The viTal Roer River Dam. STiTl having To TighT every inch oT The way, iT pushed on To Take Wascheid and Gemund. Tn March T945 iT helped The TsT TnTanTry Division mop up The ciTy oT Bonn, Germany, aTTer having driven TasT and hard inTo The hearT oT Germany. l.aTe in March The 9Th was one oT The TirsT Two divisions TighTing in The Remagen bridgehead area -The TirsT TnTanTry Division To cross The capTured bridge. By The end oT The monTh iT was exTending iTs holdings in The bridgehead area by crossing The Wied River near Hopper. Tn April The 9Th surged Torward again, cuTTing The Cologne- FranTcTorT superhighway aT several poinTs and Taking The