A Summary History of the 3rd Armored Division

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"Spearhead"
(Original article written 7/10/08 by Jim Broumley)

The 3d Armored Division is a heavy mechanized division of the United States Army that served in World War Two, the Cold War defense of Western Europe, and the Persian Gulf War. The 3rd Armor Division was reduced to zero strength in 1992, but not inactivated.

The Third Armored Division was activated on April 15, 1941, at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, and by June had moved to Camp Polk to begin training. The 3rd AD arrived in England on September 15, 1943, and conducted training in the Liverpool and Bristol Areas. By June 29th the first elements of the 3rd Armored Division entered combat in the Normandy area of France. The Spearhead Division was assigned to First Army for the duration of its WWII European service.

The 3d Armored Division entered combat as a whole on June 29, 1944, taking part in the hedgerow fighting. The Division broke out at Marigny and with the 1st Infantry Division swung south in an exploitation of the St. Lo break-through. In August 1944, the Division participated in the heavy fighting involved in closing the Falaise Gap, pocketing the German Seventh Army. Six days later, on August 25, 1944, the Spearhead Division had cut across the Seine River and was streaking through Meaux, Soissons, Laon, Mons, Namur, and Liege. The 3rd Armored Division breached the Siegfried Line with the capture of Rotgen, on September 12, 1944, and continued a slow advance against heavy resistance to the vicinity of Langerwehe.

At the start of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Armor was shifted to Houffalize, Belgium, where it severed a vital highway leading to St. Vith, and in January 1945, participated in the reduction of the German salient west of Houffalize. After a brief rest, the Division returned to the front, crossed the Roer River into Duren, broke out of the Duren bridgehead, and drove on to capture Koln, Germany on March 6, 1945.

The Division began a thrust into the Rhineland of Germany on February 7, 1945. On March 31, 1945, the commander of the division, Major General Maurice Rose, famed as one of few commanding generals to frequent the front lines during combat, rounded a corner in his jeep and came face to face with a German tank. As he withdrew his pistol to surrender, the young German tank commander, apparently misunderstanding Rose's intentions, shot and killed the general.

The Division took Paderborn, assisted in mopping up the Ruhr pocket, crossed the Saale River, and after overcoming stiff resistance took Dessau. On April 11, 1945, the 3rd Armored discovered the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp. The Division was first to arrive on the scene, reporting back to headquarters that it had uncovered a large concentration camp near the town of Nordhausen. Requesting help from the 104th Infantry Division, the 3rd A.D. immediately began transporting some 250 ill and starving prisoners to nearby hospital facilities.

As the war drew to a close in May of 1945, the 3d Armored Division consolidated near Dessau. The 3rd Armor performed occupation duty near Langen until it was inactivated on November 10, 1945. During the war, the 3d Armored Division participated in 231 days of combat. They had lost more tanks in combat than any other U.S. division. The Division's casualties included a total of 2,540 killed, 7,331 wounded, 95 missing, and 139 captured. Total battle and non-battle casualties came to 16,122.

With the Cold War starting to heat up, the 3rd Armored Division was reactivated on July 15, 1947, at Fort Knox, Kentucky as a training unit. In 1955 it was reorganized for combat and the next year shipped out to Germany once again. In the event of war in Europe, the 3d Armored Division's primary mission, along with other V Corps units, was to defend the well-known Fulda Gap between East and West Germany against numerically superior Warsaw Pact forces. At the peak of East/West tensions during the 1980s, as many as nineteen Soviet and East German divisions faced off against V Corps units in West Germany.

To prepare their defenses against an invasion, the Division's units frequently conducted field training at Hohenfels, Wildflecken, and Grafenwöhr training areas. The 3d Armored Division would also frequently take to the German countryside for training maneuvers, including what became an annually staged war game, REFORGER, which simulated an invasion of Western Europe by Warsaw Pact forces.

The most famous soldier in the 3rd Armored Division during the 1950s was Elvis Presley, assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment, Combat Command C at Ray Barracks in Friedberg. After his time in service, Elvis made the movie G.I. Blues, in which he portrays a 3rd Armored Division tank crewman with a singing career. Former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell also served in the 3d Armored Division and went on to command V Corps in Germany.

By 1990, the Iron Curtain over Eastern Europe collapsed, East and West Germany would soon be reunited, and the Soviet Army was being withdrawn back to the Soviet Union. With these events, the Cold War came to a peaceful conclusion, freeing U.S. army units in Europe for other deployments.

In November of 1990, VII Corps departed West Germany for Saudi Arabia to take part in Operation DESERT SHIELD and, later, in Operation DESERT STORM. Because the 3rd Armored Division was more advanced in its modernization process, and well-equipped with Abrams Tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, they deployed with VII Corps to Southwest Asia.

On February 23, 1991, the 3d Armored Division crossed the Line of Departure into Iraq with the 1st Armored Division on their left and the 2nd Armored Cavalry on their right. The Iraqi Army was surprised by the VII Corps end run into Iraq. Most of the enemy forces were focused on defending the Kuwait border with Saudi Arabia. By the fourth day of the war, the Spearhead had advanced over 50 miles into Iraq and defeated all enemy forces they encountered, including divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard. In the 100-hour Gulf War, 3AD destroyed hundreds of Iraqi tanks and vehicles, and captured more than 2,400 Iraqi prisoners, with 15 division troops killed between December 1990 and late February 1991.

Following Operation Desert Storm and the liberation of Kuwait, the Spearhead Division returned to Germany. Camp Doha emerged as the focal point for the U.S. Armed Forces in Kuwait. The threat of future aggression necessitated the presence of U.S. forces to maintain security and stability in the Gulf region. U.S. military forces began rotating into Kuwait to provide security assistance, conduct training exercises, and perform necessary contingency planning. Among the first U.S. Army units deployed to Camp Doha after the Persian Gulf War were the 3d Armored Division, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and the 8th Infantry Division.

On January 17, 1992, the 3rd Armored Division officially ceased operations in Germany, with a ceremony in Frankfurt at Division Headquarters, Drake Kaserne. The division colors were then returned to the United States, with the 3d AD still officially active, since Army Regulations state that Divisional "Casing of Colors" cannot occur on foreign soil. Official retirement took place at Fort Knox, on October 17, 1992. At that time, the 3rd Armored Division was removed from the official force structure of the U.S. Army.

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A Summary History of the 8th Infantry Division

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"The Pathfinder Division"
(Original article written 9/25/2008) 

The 8th Infantry Division was a mechanized infantry division in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry Division went by the nickname of the "Golden Arrow Division" and later, the "Pathfinder Division." Both monikers were born of the vertical gold arrow in the unit's shoulder patch. However, many soldiers referred to the wearers of an 8ID patch as "Crazy Eights." The 8th I.D. served proudly during World War I, World War II, in Europe during the Cold War, and in Operation Desert Storm. The 8th Infantry Division was deactivated in Germany in January 1992.

The 8th Infantry Division was formed in early January 1918 for service during World War I. By the time the 8th Division had trained up and deployed to France in November of the same year, the fighting was over. Subsequently, the Golden Arrow Division did not gain any combat experience during WWI. The troopers of the 8th Division returned to the United States and the unit was inactivated in January 1919.

The Pathfinder Division was called to serve again, this time during the buildup for WWII. The Division was activated on July 1, 1940, and deployed overseas on December 5, 1943. The Allies invaded France on D-day, June 6, 1944. After training in Ireland, the 8th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach, Normandy, on July 4, 1944, and entered combat on the 7th. Fighting through the hedgerows, the 8th I.D. crossed the Ay River on July 26th and pushed through Rennes on August 8th, and continued their advance to attack Brest in September. The Crozon Peninsula was cleared by September 19th, and the Division drove across France to Luxembourg. The Pathfinder Division moved to the Hurtgen Forest on November 20th. Troopers of the 8th Infantry Division cleared Hurtgen on the 28th and Brandenburg on December 3rd.

Now the Golden Arrow Division pushed on to the Roer. That river was crossed on February 23, 1945, Duren taken on the 25th, and the Erft Canal was crossed on the 28th. The 8th Infantry Division reached the Rhine near Rodenkirchen by March 7, 1945, and maintained positions along the river near Koln. On April 6th the Division attacked northwest to aid in the destruction of enemy forces in the Ruhr Pocket, and by the 17th had completed its mission. The Division, under the operational control of the British Second Army, drove across the Elbe on May 1st and had penetrated to Schwerin when the war in Europe ended.

On May 2, 1945, as the Golden Arrow Division advanced into northern Germany, the 8ID encountered the Neuengamme concentration camp Wöbbelin subcamp, near the city of Ludwigslust. The SS had established Wöbbelin in early February 1945 to house concentration camp prisoners who had been evacuated from other Nazi camps to prevent their liberation by the Allies. Wöbbelin held some 5,000 inmates, many of whom suffered from starvation and disease. The sanitary conditions at the camp when the 8th ID arrived were deplorable. There was little food or water, and some prisoners had resorted to cannibalism. In the first week after liberation, more than 200 inmates died. The 8th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988.

During their service in WWII, the 8th Infantry Division spent 266 days in combat. Their total combat casualties numbered 13,986. Of that number, 2,852 were killed in action. The Pathfinder Division had fought in four campaigns and earned five unit citations. Troopers of the 8th Infantry Division were awarded 768 Silver Stars, 2 Distinguished Service Medals, 33 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 3 Medals of Honor.

The 8th Infantry Division was re-deployed to the United States and deactivated on November 20, 1945. However, the Golden Arrow Division would be needed again in Germany. The Division was re-activated for the Cold War and sent to Germany to replace the 9th Infantry Division in October of 1956. On December 14, 1957, having participated in NATO exercises and gone through the first of several reorganizations, the 8th Infantry Division Headquarters was stationed in Bad Kreuznach, West Germany.

From 1958 to 1973 the 8th Infantry Division, although mechanized, had an airborne infantry component. The original formation consisted of the 1st Airborne Battle Group with the 504th and 505th Infantry Regiments. In 1963, the Division reorganized to a structure that used brigades and battalions as maneuver elements. The 1-504th and 1-505th were replaced by the 1-509th and the 2-509th Infantry Regiments and were located at Lee Barracks in Mainz. Along with other elements, these two airborne battalions of the 509th made up the 1st Brigade (Airborne), and 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized). In 1973, the 1st Brigade's jump status came to an end. The 509th moved to Vicenza and was replaced in the 8th ID by the 2-28th and 2-87th Infantry.

The Pathfinder Division would stay in Germany for the remainder of the Cold War, as part of the United States Seventh Army and V Corps. The 8th Infantry Division, along with its brother units in the theater, was instrumental in the defense of Western Europe and the deterrence of communist aggression. The result of thousands of troopers' hard work in training and readiness was the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, the freeing of Eastern European countries, and the reunification of Germany.

With the collapse of "the Wall" in 1989, it would seem that the need for large units of mechanized forces was over. For some Pathfinder Division units, their work was not done. During Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the following subordinate units of the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) deployed to Southwest Asia:

The 2-29th Field Artillery Battalion from Baumholder served as part of the VII Corps Artillery. The 12th Engineer Battalion from Anderson Barracks in Dexheim was deployed with the 3rd Armored Division. The 4-34th Armor out of Lee Barracks in Mainz deployed with the Ready First Combat Team. The 5th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery home based at McCully Barracks in Wackernheim deployed in support of the 3rd Armored Division. Also, TF 3-77 Armor from Mannheim deployed to Southwest Asia.

Most 8th Infantry Division soldiers had returned to home station by the end of May 1991. The 3-77 Armor redeployed in August of that year. With their mission completed in both Europe and Southwest Asia, the Golden Arrow Division prepared for deactivation. Their colors were cased on January 17, 1992.

The 8th Infantry Division's motto is "These are my credentials." Thousands of American soldiers during the 20th Century showed the world that their actions were in fact their credentials. Those veterans will always be proud that their service was with the Pathfinder Division.

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