- 6th Infantry Division (United States)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=U.S. 6th Infantry Division
caption=6th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
country=USA
allegiance=
type=Division
branch=Regular Army (inactive)
dates=November,1917 -September 30 ,1921 October 12 ,1939 -January 10 ,1949 April 16 ,1986 - July,1994
specialization=Light Infantry (1986-1994)
command_structure=
size=
current_commander=N/A
garrison=inactive
ceremonial_chief=
nickname="Red Star"
"Sight Seein' Sixth"
motto="Sight Seein' Sixth"
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=World War I
*Meuse-Argonne World War II
*New Guinea
*Philippines campaign Operation Desert Storm
notable_commanders=Edwin D. Patrick Orlando Ward
anniversaries=US Infantry
previous=5th Infantry Division ("Inactive")
next=7th Infantry Division ("Inactive")The 6th Infantry Division was a unit of theUnited States Army inWorld War I ,World War II , and the last years of theCold War . Known as "Red Star", and formerly called the "Sight Seein' Sixth".World War I
Activated: November 1917
*Subordinate Units:
**11th & 12th Infantry Brigades
**Infantry Regiments: 51st, 52d, 53d & 54th Infantry Regiments
**Machine-Gun Battalions: 16th, 17th & 18th
**Field Artillery Battalions: 3d, 11th & 78th
*Overseas: June 1918
*Days of combat: 43
*Casualties: Total 386 (KIA-38; WIA-348)
*Returned to U.S.: June 1919Deactivated:30 September 1921 at Camp Grant, IllinoisCommanders
World War II
Activated: 12 October 1939
*Overseas: 21 July 1943
*Campaigns: Luzon, New Guinea
*Days of combat: 306
*Distinguished Unit Citations: 7
*Awards: MH-2, DSC-10, DSM-3, SS-697, LM-18, DFC-3, SM-94, BSM-3, 797, AM-45.
*Subrdinate Units:
*1st Infantry Regiment
*20th Infantry Regiment
*63d Infantry Regiment
*1st Field Artillery Battalion
*51st Field Artillery Battalion
*53rd Field Artillery Battalion
*80th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm)
*6th Signal Company
*706th Ordnance Company
*6th Quartermaster Company
*6th Reconnaissance Troop
*6th Engineer Battalion
*6th Medical Battalion
*6th Counter Intelligence Detachment*Nickname: "Sightseeing Sixth"Inactivated: 10 January 1949 in Korea
World War II Combat Chronicle
The division moved to
Hawaii in July and August1943 to assume defensive positions onOahu , training meanwhile injungle warfare . It moved toMilne Bay ,New Guinea ,31 January 1944 , and trained until early June1944 . The division first saw combat in theToem -Wakde area ofDutch New Guinea , engaging in active patrolling 14-18 June, after taking up positions 6-14 June. Moving west of Toem, it fought the bloodyBattle of Lone Tree Hill , 21-30 June, and secured theMaffin Bay area by 12 July.After a brief rest, the division made an assault landing at Sansapor, 30 July, on the
Vogelkop Peninsula . The 6th secured the coast fromCape Waimak to theMega River and garrisoned the area until December 1944.The division landed at Lingayen Gulf,
Luzon , in the Philippines on D-day,9 January 1945 , and pursued theJapan ese into the Cabanatuan Hills, 17-21 January, capturingMunoz , 7 February. It then drove northeast toDigalan Bay andBaler Bay , 13 February, isolating enemy forces in southern Luzon. TheU.S. 1st Infantry Regiment operated on Bataan together with the Philippine Commonwealth forces, 14-21 February, cutting the peninsula fromAbucay toBagac .The division then took part in the Battle of Manila, shifting to the Shimbu Line northeast of
Manila , 24 February, tookMount Mataba , 17 April,Mount Pacawagan , 29 April,Bolog , 29 June,Lane's Ridge ofMount Santo Domingo , 10 July, andKiangan , 12 July. The 6th remained with the Philippine Military forces in theCagayan Valley and theCordilleras Mountains until VJ-dayAfterwards it moved to occupy
Korea . The division occupied the southern half of the United States zone of occupation until inactivated.Medal of Honor recipients
Medal of Honor recipients for the 6th Infantry Division during WWII:*
Corporal Melvin Mayfield - Company D, 20th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division - Cordillera Mountains, Luzon, Philippine Islands,29 July 1945 *
Second Lieutenant (then T/Sgt.)Donald E. Rudolph - Company E, 20th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division - Munoz, Luzon, Philippine Islands,5 February 1945 Commanders
Post World War
Cold War Era
The 6th Division was reactivated
October 4 1950 atFort Ord , California. There the division remained throughout the Korean War, training troops and providing personnel for combat, but was never deployed overseas as an entity itself and was again deactivated onApril 3 1956 . In the build up during the Vietnam War the division was activated atFort Campbell , Kentucky in November 1967 budgetary limitations once more ended the 6th Infantry Division's existence less than nine months later onJuly 25 1968 .The last incarnation of the division came on
April 16 1986 atFort Richardson , Alaska when the assets of the 172nd Infantry Brigade were used to reactivate the 6th Infantry Division (Light). Over the next seven years the 6th was the U.S. Army’s primary Arctic warfare division. The division headquarters was moved fromFort Richardson toFort Wainwright (near Fairbanks) in 1990 [http://www.usarak.army.mil/main/ArmyInAk/armyinalaska.htm] . Commanders during the Arctic activation included Maj. Gen.David A. Bramlett and Maj. Gen.Johnnie H. Corns . [http://www.army.mil/soldiers/july94/p30.html] . The division had two active maneuver brigades and the Army Reserve's 205th Infantry Brigade (Light) was assigned as the division's roundout force.Gulf War
Elements of the 6th ID (L) participated in
Gulf War operations [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/branches/inf/0006in.htm] .Inactivation
The division was inactivated for the last time on
July 6 1994 , and reduced to a single brigade, the 1st Brigade, 6th Infantry Division. In reality, the 6th no longer existed as a division and command of the brigade fell under the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Fort Drum, NY. The division's number was kept on the rolls because the U.S. Army Chief of Staff stated he would not preside over the inactivation of another division during his term.Fact|date=July 2008 Later the brigade was reflagged back to the separate172nd Infantry Brigade from which the division had been reestablished in 1986. The 172nd Brigade was later was used to form the 1st Brigade Combat Team (Stryker), 25th Infantry Division On 16 December 2006. [http://www.25thida.org/unitsinfantry.html#Brigades]References
*"The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States" U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm CMH] .
*"The Army in Alaska" [http://www.usarak.army.mil/main/ArmyInAk/armyinalaska.htm] .
*"Northern Edge" [http://www.army.mil/soldiers/july94/p30.html] .
*"6th Infantry (The Regulars): Lineage and Honors Information as of 7 May 1997" [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/branches/inf/0006in.htm] .External links
* [http://www.6thinfantry.com/ Brief History of the 6th US Infantry Division By Thomas E. Price] [http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=../units_index/units.asp?]
* [http://www.military.com/HomePage/UnitCreatedPage/0,11003,100005,00.html Reunion page @ Military.com]
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