Korea Dvi Hist

7th Infantry Division

The 7th Infantry Division , known as the "Bayonet" Division, was reactivated in July 1940. The division accepted the surrender of the Japanese Army in South Korea. After World War II, the division served as occupation forces in Korea and Japan. The 7th Division was stationed in Japan at the outbreak of the Korean War and participated in the Inchon Landing and was at the Yalu River when the Chinese entered the war. The 7th participated in such battles as the Heartbreak Triangle, Battle of Porkchop Hill, and the Battle of Old Baldy. After the Korean War ended, the 7th Division continued to stand guard in Korea, manning its outpost line in strife-ridden Korea until 1971, when the Division returned to the United States soil for the first time since 1943, and was deactivated for a period of three years.

Note: The "Bayonet" was forged in the fields of France, tempered on the frozen tundra and mountains of the Aleutians, the coral atolls and islands of the South Pacific, and then honed razor sharp in the mountains and rice paddies of Korea.

24th Infantry Division

The 24th Infantry Division was initially activated in the Regular Army at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, on 1 March 1921 as the Hawaiian Division. During World War II the division adopted its nickname, "Victory Division." After serving in five campaigns and being decorated by the Philippine government, the 24th left Mindanao on 15 October 1945 for occupation duty in Japan. When the North Koreans attacked South Korea in June 1950, elements of the 24th Infantry Division were the first to arrive in Korea, where they fought a delaying action against overwhelming odds. The delay permitted the United Nations to build up its forces near Pusan, and the division was awarded the Presidential Citation (Army) for its actions. Over the next nineteen months the division fought in seven campaigns and was twice decorated by the Republic of Korea. In February 1952 the "Victory Division" returned to Japan where it served as part of the Far East reserve. In July 1953 the division went back to Korea to restore order in prisoner of war camps. The following year the division returned to Japan, where it served until February 1955. At that time the 24th deployed to Korea for another tour of duty. When the United States reduced and realigned its divisions in the Far East in 1957, the 24th left Korea, eventually replacing the 11th Airborne Division in Germany. While in Germany, in addition to its standard infantry mission, the 24th fielded airborne units for about two years. The division remained in Germany until 1969 when it redeployed to Fort Riley, Kansas, as part of the REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) program. As the Army withdrew from Vietnam and reduced its forces, the "Victory Division" was inactivated in April 1970 at Fort Riley. The Division would be reactivated five years later. and as part of the Army's reduction to a ten-division force, the 24th Infantry Division was inactivated again on 15 February 1996.

1st Calvary Division

The 1st Cavalry Division was formally activated on September 13, 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas. However, 1st Cavalry Division units have served the nation from 1855 to the present; building a history rich in pride with solid ties to the traditions and heritage of the United States Cavalry. The famed 1st Cavalry Division was baptized by fire and blood on the western plains in an era of horse-mounted cavalry. Dubbed the "First Team" by Major General William C. Chase, the division has always strived not only to be the first, but to be the best. The division's roots date back to 1855 when the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was organized. Redesignated as the 5th Cavalry in 1861, this unit participated in a number of famous Civil War engagements, including Bullrun, Antietam, Gettysburg, Wilderness, and Appomattox The sound of the bugle and the cry of "Charge!" sent the thundering hooves of the U.S. Cavalry troopers to protect the western-bound settlers in an era when Indians roamed the western frontier and pioneering settlers clung to their land with determination and luck. The 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Cavalry regiments that would one day form the Division, clashed with the Sioux, Comanche, Arapaho, Apache, and Ute Indian Nations during the Indian Wars, led by colorful characters like Col. George Armstrong Custer. As the Indian campaigns concluded, the Cavalry patrolled the far western frontiers from the frozen tundras of Alaska to the scorching deserts of the southwest. Just prior to World War I, the Cavalry engaged Pancho Villa's forces during the punitive expedition into Mexico.

When the 1st Cavalry Division was formally activated on September 13, 1921, the 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments were assigned to the division. The 5th Cavalry Regiment was assigned on December 18, 1922. In addition to three of the four regiments of the cavalry, the original organization included the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion (Horse), the 13th Signal Troops, the 27th Ordnance Company, Division Headquarters, and the 1st Cavalry Division Quartermaster Train which later became the 15th Replacement Company. Major General Robert L. Howze was assigned as the first division commander. The division's early history is largely a saga of rough riding, patrolling the Mexican border, and constant training. Operating from horseback, the cavalry was the only force capable of piercing the desert's harsh terrain and halting the band of smugglers that operated along the desolate Mexican border. As the depression of the 30's forced thousands of workers into the streets, the division was asked to provide training for 62,500 people in the Civilian Conservation Youth Corps. These workers constructed barracks for 20,000 anti-aircraft troops at Fort Bliss, Texas in preparation for the Air Age. Although the division was created as a result of a proven need for large horse-mounted formations, by 1940, the march of progress had left the horse far behind. The era of the tank, automobile, aircraft, and parachute had dawned and eclipsed the age of the armored horseman. The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor erased all doubt. An impatient 1st Cavalry Division was dismounted in 1943 and processed for overseas movement to the Southwest Pacific as foot soldiers.

On July 18, 1950, the 1st Cavalry Division plunged ashore at Pohangdong, South Korea to successfully carry out the first amphibious landing of the Korean conflict. The landing at Pohangdong helped halt the North Korean war machine at the Pusan perimeter. The division broke out of the perimeter in mid-September and started north. Crossing the 38th Parallel on October 9, 1950, the troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division crashed into Pyongyang, capturing the capital city of North Korea on October 19. This marked the third first for the division -- "First in Pyongyang." The sudden intervention of Communist Chinese forces dashed hopes of a quick end to the war. First Team troopers fought courageously in the see-saw campaigns that followed, and successfully defended the city of Seoul. By January 1952, the division, after 18 months of continuous fighting, rotated back to Hokkaido, Japan, returning to Korea in 1957 where they patrolled the Demilitarized Zone until 1965.

Note: The patch of the 1st Cavalry Division has a history as colorful as its design, reflecting the proud heritage of the United States Cavalry in a timeless manner. On a "sunset" yellow triangular Norman Shield with rounded corners 5 1/4 inches in height, a black diagonal stripe extends over the shield from upper left to the lower right. In the upper right, a black horse's head cut off diagonally at the neck, appears within 1/8 inches of an Army Green border. The traditional Cavalry color of yellow and the horse's head is symbolic of the original organizational structure of the Cavalry. The color black is symbolic of iron, alluding to the organizational transition from mounted horses to tanks and heavy armor. The black stripe, in heraldry termed a "Sable Bend", represents a "baldric" (a standard Army issue belt worn over the right shoulder to the opposite hip - sometimes referred to as a "Sam Browne belt") which retains either a scabbard which sheaths the trooper's saber or revolver holster.

Source: Division History information obtained from The Army Historical Foundation and other Army History Internet sources.