Today in AFJ History

August 2, 2013  

1945: ‘Tropic Lightning’ and more division names

By Bradley Peniston

From the archives: August 4, 1945

Badge of the 25th Infantry Division, "Tropic Lightning"

Badge of the 25th Infantry Division, “Tropic Lightning”

Combat Division Nicknames

A list of popular nicknames of combat divisions of the U.S. Army was compiled by Army Ground Forces headquarters in Washington. The list includes Infantry, Airborne and Armored divisions. The list is not complete, Ground Forces said, because some divisions have never adopted popular names and are known by their official designations.

Many of the nicknames are the product of World War I. Others are derived from the heraldry of their colorful shoulder patches. And some, largely National Guard divisions, honor the states or areas of their origin.

Unique among Ground Forces divisions is the Americal, the only one which bears no official number, the name being a contraction of “American Forces in New Caledonia.”

Infantry Divisions

  • 1st — “The Red One”
  • 2nd — “Indian Head”
  • 3rd — “Marne” or “Rock of the Marne”
  • 4th — “Ivy”
  • 5th — “Red Diamond”
  • 6th — “Sight Seein’ Sixth”
  • 7th — “Hourglass”
  • 8th — “Pathfinder”
  • 24th — “Victory”
  • 25th — “Tropic Lightning”
  • 26th — “Yankee”
  • 27th — “New York”
  • 28th — “Keystone”
  • 29th — “Blue and Gray”
  • 30th — “Old Hickory”
  • 31st — “Dixie”
  • 32nd — “Red Arrow”
  • 33rd — “Illinois” or “Golden Cross”
  • 35th — “Santa Fe”
  • 36th — “Texas”
  • 37th — “Buckeye”
  • 38th — “Cyclone”
  • 40th — “Sunshine”
  • 41st — “Jungleers”
  • 42nd — “Rainbow”
  • 43rd — “Winged Victory”
  • 45th — “Thunderbird”
  • 63rd — “Blood and Fire”
  • 66th — “Panther”
  • 70th — “Trailblazer”
  • 76th — “Liberty Bell”
  • 77th — “Statue of Liberty”
  • 78th — “Lightning”
  • 79th — “Cross of Lorraine”
  • 80th — “Blue Ridge”
  • 81st — “Wildcat”
  • 83rd — “Ohio”
  • 84th — “Railsplitter”
  • 85th — “Custer”
  • 86th — “Blackhawk”
  • 87th — “Golden Acorn”
  • 88th — “Blue Devil”
  • 89th — “Middlewest”
  • 90th — “Texas-Oklahoma”
  • 91st — “Powder River”
  • 92nd — “Buffalo”
  • 96th — “Deadeye”
  • 98th — “Iroquois”
  • 99th — “Checkerboard”
  • 100th — “Century”
  • 102nd — “Ozark”
  • 103rd — “Cactus”
  • 104th — “Timberwolf”
  • 106th — “Golden Lion”

Airborne Divisions

  • 82nd — “All American”
  • 101st — “Screaming Eagle”

Armored Divisions

  • 2nd — “Hell on Wheels”
  • 3rd — “Spearhead”
  • 4th — “Breakthrough”
  • 5th — “Victory”
  • 8th — “Show Horse”
  • 10th — “Tiger”
  • 11th — “Thunderbolt”
  • 12th — “Hellcat”
  • 13th — “Black Cat”