"Red Devils"
(Updated 6-2-10)
The 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) has the nicknames
of "Red Devils" or the "Red Diamond" for the simple design of their shoulder
sleeve insignia. The 5th I.D., currently inactive, is a regular army division
that saw service in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and Operation Just Cause in Panama.
As part of the United States Army's buildup for World War
I, the Fifth Division was activated on December 11, 1917 at Camp Logan, near
Houston, Texas. The Division's organization called for four infantry regiments.
However, only the headquarters and a few units were at Camp Logan. The
Division's remaining units were training at locations spread over the Eastern
and Southern United States. The 5th Division did not assemble as a unit until
their arrival in France was completed on May 1, 1918.
It was during WWI that the 5th Infantry Division adopted
their shoulder patch, the red diamond, and their nom de guerre. German soldiers
during the St. Mihiel campaign called the American soldiers "Die rote teufel,"
which means "red devils."
The Red Diamonds were the eighth division to arrive in
France. On arrival, the 5th Division conducted intensive training under the
tutelage of French instructors. By the end of May the 5th Division was declared
ready for combat and placed at the disposal of the French to reinforce the
French Seventh Army in the Anould Sector in the Vosges Mountains in Alsace.
Here they occupied trenches with French troops and suffered the Divisions first
casualties on the night of June 14, 1918.
On
July 14, the Red Diamond was removed from the line and took over the St. Die
Sector, relieving French troops. The 5th Division immediately initiated
aggressive patrolling. The Division's artillery relished the opportunity to
fire on live targets. As a result, "No Man's Land" became "Our Land." The 5th
Division's machine gunners even brought down the first enemy airplane from
ground fire.
By Armistice Day, the 5th Division had advanced further
east than any other Allied division. In World War I, the 5th Division
participated in the following campaigns: Alsace 1918, Lorraine 1918, Saint
Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne. Since its first introduction into the trenches
in June 1918, the Red Diamond had been in the line for 103 days. The 5th
Division captured 2,367 German soldiers. The Red Devils sustained 9,981
casualties, 1,098 of those were killed in action. Decorations for valor were
awarded to 351 Red Devils.
After the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the 5th Division
was one of ten American divisions that served as occupation troops. Beginning
November 27, the Red Diamond was stationed in Luxembourg and southeastern
Belgium where it guarded the line of communications for Allied troops in
Germany. During the summer of 1919, the Red Devils returned to the United
States. The 5th Division was inactivated on October 4, 1921, at Camp Jackson,
South Carolina.
With the American concern over the start of World War II
in Europe, the 5th Infantry Division was once again activated on October 16,
1939 at Fort McClellan, Alabama. This time the Red Diamond was formed as a
"triangular" division with the 2nd, 10th, and 11th Infantry Regiments for an
authorized strength of approximately 15,000.
After periods of intensive training, the Red Diamond
settled in their permanent post at Fort Custer, Michigan in September 1940. By
April of 1941, the 5th Infantry Division had received their first batch of
draftees, approximately 5,000, that brought the Division up to authorized
strength. In September 1941, units of the Red Diamond began deployment to
Iceland. The remainder of the Division had arrived by May 1942. While in
Iceland, the Red Devils performed arduous and monotonous duties of operating
observation posts, unloading boats, building roads and buildings, all while
still maintaining training schedules.
In August 1943, the 5th Infantry Division moved from
Iceland to Tidworth Barracks, England. Then in October, the Red Devils moved to
Northern Ireland to continue training for the invasion of France. The Red
Diamond landed in Normandy at Utah Sugar Red Beach, in the St. Mere Eglise
area, on July 9, 1944. It was assigned to the V Corps, First Army, and relieved
the 1st Infantry Division in the Coumont area. The division launched its first
attack on Vidouville on July 26, 1944. From August 3, 1944, the 5th Infantry
Division served in the XII and XX Corps, in Patton's Third Army until the end
of hostilities on May 7, 1945.
The 5th Division, from its landing in Normandy July 9,
1944 to the last Division Headquarters in Vilshofen, Germany, traveled 2049
miles and engaged in all five of the ETO's major campaigns: Normandy, Northern
France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. The Red Diamond has
spent 300 days in combat, where they suffered battle casualties of 2,659 killed
in action, 9,153 wounded, 1,050 missing in action, and 101 captured. Red Devils
recognized for valor included the Medal of Honor (to Private Harold A. Garmen,
a medic), 34 Distinguished Service Crosses, 602 Silver Stars, 10 Soldiers
Medals, and 2,066 Bronze Stars.
The Red Diamond Division was inactivated September 20,
1946 at Camp Campbell Kentucky. However, this was not the end of the Red
Diamond's history. The 5th Infantry Division would be activated and inactivated
many times in the future. The Red Devils were part of NATO forces in Germany in
the mid 1950's as part of the United States' Cold War defense of Europe. On
March 25, 1968, the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) was alerted
for deployment to Vietnam.
In order to make the Red Devil's 1st Brigade combat
effective as a separate maneuver unit, there were a number of new assignments
and attachments. In addition to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st
Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized); the following units were assigned:
1st Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment
(Mechanized); 1st Battalion, 77th Armor; A Troop, 4th Squadron, 12th Cavalry
Regiment; 5th Battalion, 4th Artillery; 75th Support Battalion; A Company, 7th
Engineers; 298th Signal Company; 517th Military Intelligence Detachment; 86th
Chemical Detachment; 48th Public Information Detachment; 407th Radio Research
Detachment; and the 43rd Scout Dog Platoon. On February 24, 1969, the 1st
Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mech) was assigned operational control of the
3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry. Charlie Troop, 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry was
placed under the operational control of the Red Devil Brigade in the summer of
1970. At peak strength, the brigade had over 6,000 personnel assigned and was
one of the most potent fighting forces in the Republic of Vietnam.
Initially the Red Diamond Brigade conducted a 13-week
training and familiarization program to adjust the brigade's personnel to
situations in Vietnam. The emphasis was on independent small unit tactics and
rapid response to alerts. In June 1968, the brigade began the long and
difficult overseas movement. The advance party arrived in Quang Tri base on
July 2, 1968. The remainder of the Brigade had closed on Quang Tri by July 22,
and three maneuver battalions were located at separate base camps outside Quang
Tri base proper.
A Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor was the first unit of
the Red Diamond Brigade to be tactically committed. On August 12, 1968, the
unit moved north to Con Thien to support the 1st Marine Regiment for ten days
against North Vietnamese Army units attempting to infiltrate through the
demilitarized zone. A Company made five contacts, was credited with 80 killed,
and set the standard for the Brigade.
The Red Devils continued to operate in an area known as
"Leatherneck Square," assisting the 3rd Marine Division deny access to the
south through the DMZ. During April and May 1969, the Red Diamond Brigade
attempted to deny the enemy access to the rice harvest. To accomplish this, the
Brigade provided security for the friendly populace as they harvested their
crops and patrolled at night to inhibit the movement of North Vietnamese tax
collectors. The Red Diamonds showed that mechanized forces could be effective,
even though they operated in terrain that was not optimal for armored
forces.
In August 1969, the Red Devils assumed full
responsibilities for "Leatherneck Square." For six weeks, constant activity
kept all units of the Brigade busy in this area. On October 22, the Brigade was
removed from the operational control of the 3rd Marine Division and placed
directly under the commanding general of XXIV Corps. In conjunction with the
1st ARVN (South Vietnamese) Division, the Brigade now had sole responsibility
for the defense of Quang Tri and Dong Ha combat bases.
In January 1971, the reinforced 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry
Division, initiated operation Lam Son 719. The Brigade opened the QL9 Road from
Dong Ha to the Laotian border; at the same time, engineers constructed access
roads from the Rock Pile through the Punch Bowl to Khe Sanh. Following this, a
20,000-man ARVN Task Force moved to the Laotian border. The Red Diamond
Brigade's missions were to secure QL9 as a supply route and provide mobile
defense for the huge forward support area of Vandergrift and Khe Sanh. For 69
days of increasingly confused and bitter fighting, the Red Devils prevented the
enemy from making a successful offensive move against any of these vital links
in the ARVN offensive. A body count of 400 North Vietnamese was made, and the
primary mission to keep the logistical support channels operational at all
times was accomplished. When the last of the logistical units had withdrawn,
the Red Diamond resumed its search and cordon patrols and rice denial efforts
in eastern Quang Tri Province.
In June, the Red Devils received stand down orders with
stateside redeployment to commence on July 1, 1971. Brigade activities were
limited to base security in anticipation of a North Vietnamese Army effort to
achieve a propaganda victory over the departing unit. The Brigade colors
departed Quang Tri on August 8, 1971, after a ceremony the previous day in
which several Vietnamese decorations were awarded to the Brigade and to Brigade
personnel. The Red Devils returned to Fort Carson, leaving the defense of Quang
Tri in the hands of the ARVN 1st Division, a unit that they had largely
trained. On August 22, 1971, the Brigade colors were cased at Fort Carson,
Colorado. The Red Diamond was inactive once again.
The 5th Mechanized Infantry Division was re-activated and
re-organized at Fort Polk, LA in 1976. From 1989 through 1992, the division was
attached to III Corps and shared its Cold War mission of reinforcing Allied
Forces in Central Europe. According to Army doctrine of the time, the division
was organized with two active brigades and "rounded out" by a brigade from the
Army National Guard. In 1989, after months of deteriorating relations between
the governments of the United States and that of Dictator Manuel Noriega of
Panama, the situation became critical with the killing of a Marine officer and
the harassment of American personnel by the Noreiga forces. When it came time
for U.S. President George H.W. Bush to stop Noriega's repressive regime, the
Red Diamond was standing in the wings and ready to be called.
A part of the division had been deployed in the Panama
City area in May 1989 to secure American facilities. The following September
these troops were replaced by "Task Force Regulars." This task force consisted
of the 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division
(Mechanized), and supporting elements. Task Force Regulars was assigned the
mission of the assault of "la Comandcia," the headquarters of Noriega's Panama
Defense Forces (PDF). Augmenting the 4/6 Infantry were Company A, 7th
Engineers, elements of 5th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery, 5th Support
Battalion (Forward), Company C, 508th Airborne Infantry Regiment, four M551
Sheridans from the 82nd Airborne Division, four Marine light armored vehicles
(LAVs) and two platoons of military police from Fort Benning, GA. Operation
Just Cause, the invasion of Panama, opened in the first hours of December 20,
1989. Task Force Regulars returned to their home station, Fort Polk, Louisiana,
in late January. The returning Red Diamond veterans of Operation Just Cause
were honored with a division review and awards ceremony on February 9,
1990.
The last inactivation of the Red Diamond was on November
24, 1992, exactly 75 years from the date of its first order to activate,
November 24, 1917. Through the efforts of the unit soldiers, the Red Devils,
the 5th Infantry Division earned its motto: "We will."
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