Finishing up a few things today and tomorrow then heading up to Wisconsin for the 100th annual reunion of the 32nd Infantry Division, also known as the Red Arrow Division because their insignia was, and is, a red arrow piercing a horizontal line. This came about because they pierced every German defensive line they faced, including the Hindenburg Line. The division was given a nom de guerre when a French general watched the fury with which they fought and advanced against the Germans. They became known as "Les Terribles" after that. They fought and defeated 23 German divisions during the Great War.
My grandfather fought with the 32nd, a division made up of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan, though they trained in Texas. Many regiments of the 32nd were awarded the Croix de Guerre, including the 128th, of which he was a member. He was gassed, I think in the Meuse-Argonne offensive and complications from that resulted in an early death. He died before I was born, died while my dad was fighting on Saipan, so I never got to know him.
This time last year, I was in France and Belgium and visited some of the places the 32nd saw action. At the reunion they will be showing a film "Dawn of the Red Arrow" that I want to see. Long way to go to see a movie, but not quite as far as those boys traveled, and hopefully I won't be getting shot at or shelled.
My grandfather fought with the 32nd, a division made up of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan, though they trained in Texas. Many regiments of the 32nd were awarded the Croix de Guerre, including the 128th, of which he was a member. He was gassed, I think in the Meuse-Argonne offensive and complications from that resulted in an early death. He died before I was born, died while my dad was fighting on Saipan, so I never got to know him.
This time last year, I was in France and Belgium and visited some of the places the 32nd saw action. At the reunion they will be showing a film "Dawn of the Red Arrow" that I want to see. Long way to go to see a movie, but not quite as far as those boys traveled, and hopefully I won't be getting shot at or shelled.