The First Corps was on active duty with Headquarters at
Columbia, South Carolina, when the United States entered WW II
and departed for the Pacific Theater on September 24th, 1942.

After the unconditional surrender of Japan became effective
on August 15th, 1945, the First Corps was assigned occupation
duty in the southern part of Honshu (the main Japanese Island)
and also had control overall of Kyushu Island.

The shoulder patch for the First Corps was originally approved
by the American Expeditionary Force on December 3rd, 1918.
The design on the original approval was "a white circle on a
"dark blue square" (white and blue are the corps colors).
On June 17th, 1922, the Secretary of War approved the patch
for continued wear but the description was changed (with no
explanation given) to a white circle on a black disc, and
this is the design that has been worn ever since.