1279

7TH INFANTRY DIVISION GUIDON.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 300.00 USD
7TH INFANTRY DIVISION GUIDON.
17" x 29" double applique text and crest of bayonet under 7th Division black & red distinctive insignia, purple field. This guidon is an award for leadership. With the bayonet insignia not appearing in regalia of the 7th Division until after the Korean War in 1965 that helps date the issue of this guidon with no QM dated label. 7th Infantry Division has log history. Formed in December 1917, the division stood up for service in France in World War One with one of its brigades forming and training at Chickamauga National Military park, the site of a famous Civil War battle. However, only some elements of the division made it over to Europe before the war ended. These units became engaged against the Germans in the Lorraine offensive. During this time the division received its distinctive shoulder sleeve insignia which is the red and black hour glass depicted on the flag above. With the end of the war the division returned to the United States after serving time as an occupation unit. After returning to America most of the division was placed on the inactive rolls after spending time at Camp Funston in Kansas and Camp Meade in Maryland. From 1921 to 1939 only its 14th Brigade was in the active duty Army. Starting in July 1940, the division was reactivated at Fort Ord in California under the command of Major General Joseph Stillwell, who would go on to command Chinese and American troops in the China-Burma Theater and end the war in command of the Tenth U.S. Army for the invasion of Japan. After training the division as altered to a motorized infantry division for the invasion of North Africa in 1942 but that was rescinded. Additional training in amphibious operations by the U.S. Marine Corps meant the division was headed to the Pacific Theater. Their first actions were in 1943 in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska where they invaded Attu and Kiska, which had been occupied buy the Japanese in 1942. In 1944, after additional amphibious training, the division along with the 4th Marine Division took part in the Marshall Islands Campaign invading Kwajalein and Eniwetok. After securing both they heading back to Hawaii and were reviewed by General Douglas MacArthur and President Franklin Roosevelt. In October 1944, the division invaded Leyte in the Philippines and after that campaign moved to Luzon for further fighting. In April 1945, the 7th Division was part of the invasion of Okinawa. After 82 days of battle the division lost over 9000 men. Later in 1945 the division was slated to invade Japan as part of Operation Downfall but the war ended before that happened. The division's troops were awarded three Medals of Honor, 26 Distinguished Service Crosses, 982 Silver Stars and many other awards including a Presidential Unit Citation. With the end of the war the Army massively cut its division strength to just ten with four of them occupying Japan including the 7th Division. They were there when in 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea and the division was soon sent to the fight. Reduced in strength due to cuts in manpower and having to send men to beef up other Army divisions already deployed in Korea, it was not until the famous landing at Inchon that the rebuilt division entered combat. After chasing the North Koreans back into their own country the U.N. forces advanced towards the Yalu River and the border with China. The Chinese sent in hundreds of thousands of troops to strike back and in the Battles of the Chosin Reservoir, three battalions of the 7th Division were surrounded and destroyed, the division suffering some 40 per cent casualties. Pulled from the line and rebuilt, the division took part in counter-attacks until the stalemate set in. During this time both sides vied for hills and other strategic places while an armistice was discussed. Of these, Hearbreak Ridge, Old Baldy and Pork Chop Hill became the most famous and proved the divisions tenacity. By the end of the war, thirteen of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor. After a number of years in South Korea the division returned to Fort Ord. In 1965, it received its distinctive insignia of the bayonet due to its actions in Korea. Later the division took part in the invasion of Panama as well as an intervention in Honduras. Fort Ord was closed in 1994 and the division transferred to Fort Lewis in Washington. In June 1994 the division was inactivated. However, in 1999 the division headquarters was reactivate at Fort Carson, Colorado to assist in training National Guard commands and stayed active until 2006. In 2012 the division headquarters was again reactivated to control a number of units at Joint Base Lewis-McChord where it remains today. CONDITION: fine. (02-19473-32/JS). $200-300.