78th Infantry Division:
The Lightning Division.

The 78th Division was activated as a component of the Army
of the United States on August 15th, 1942, with Headquarters
at Camp Butner, North Carolina. After one change of station
and participation in the 1944 Tennessee maneuvers, the 78th
embarked for overseas in October of 1944 and landed in
England for a short period of additional training
before moving to France and then on to Tongres, Belgium.

The half-circle of red was adopted as a shoulder patch by
the 78th Division during WW I as approved by the AEF on
October 19th, 1918, and the authority to add the lightning
bolt was given by the AEF on January 24th, 1919. The lightning
bolt and the red of the shield are based on the Division's
success in combat during WW I. The men of the 78th had fought
in three of the worst battles of the war and were also the
"point of the wedge" of the final offensive which ended WW I.
A French citation likened the 78th in combat to "a bolt of
lightning which left the battlefield blood red" thus giving
the Division a motto and the design for its shoulder patch.

Worn from:
24 January 1919 - 1 May 1959.

Training

Re-designated:
Seventy-eighth Division Training.
Worn from:
24 November 1967 - Current.

Campaigns:
World War I
(St.-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine 1918),

World War II
(Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe).