5th Infantry Division

The 5th Infantry Division was activated on 2 October 1939 under the command of Brigadier General Campbell Hodges. After the U.S. entry in World War II, it was sent to Iceland in 1942, under the command of Major General Cortlandt Parker to relieve British troops occupying this vital link on the Atlantic convoy routes.

Commanded by Major General Stafford L. Irwin the 5th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach, 9 July 1944. 3 days after the initial D-Day Invasion landings. Successful attacks led them through Vidouville and Angers, then in August they crossed the Seine at Fontainebleau, followed by crossing the Marne to seize Reims by the end of August.

The division then prepared for the assault on Metz. In mid-September a bridgehead was established and secured across the Moselle, south of Metz. The first attempts to sieze Metz in September and October failed, but a new push was renewed in November and Metz fell after a heavy 10-day battle. In early December the division had crossed the German border and reached the Saar River. When the Germans started their Ardennes Offensive on the 16th of December, the 5th Infantry was launched against the southern flank of the Bulge two days later where they remained in contact with the enemy until the end of January 1945.

Following the collapse of and victory in the Battle of the Bulge, the 5th Division moved back toward Germany and breached the Siegfried line and crossed the Rhine in March and into Frankfurt-am-Main by the end of the month.

In April the 5th Infantry Division fought in the Ruhr Pocket and was in Czechoslovakia on VE Day.

Nickname(s): Red Diamond, Red Devils Motto: We Will