The Big Red One

by Wheeler, James Scott

• ISBN13: 9780700615520
• ISBN10: 0700615520
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-11-03
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas

Summary

No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great--Duty First!" For almost a century, from the Western Front of World War I to the deserts of Iraq, this motto has spurred the soldiers who wear the shoulder patch bearing the Big Red One. In this first comprehensive history of America's 1st Infantry Division, James Scott Wheeler chronicles its major combat engagements and peacetime duties during its legendary service to the nation. The oldest continuously serving division in the U.S. Army, the "Fighting First" has consistently played a crucial role in America's foreign wars. It was the first American division to see combat and achieve victory in World War I and set the standard for discipline, training, endurance, and tactical innovation. One of the few intact divisions between the wars, it was the first army unit to train for amphibious warfare. During World War II, the First Division spearheaded the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before leading the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach and fighting on through the Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr Pocket, and deep into Germany. By war's end, it had developed successful combined-arms, regimental combat teams and made advances in night operations. Wheeler describes the First Division's critical role in postwar Germany and as the only combat division in Europe during the early Cold War. After returning to the United States at Fort Riley, Kansas, the division fought valiantly in Vietnam for five trying years, successfully protecting Saigon from major infiltration along Highway 13 while pioneering "air-mobile" operations. It led the liberation of Kuwait in Desert Storm and kept an uneasy peace in Bosnia and Kosovo. Along theway, Wheeler illuminates the division's organizational evolution, its consistently remarkable commanders and leaders, and its equally remarkable soldiers. Meticulously detailed and engagingly written, The Big Red One reflects the larger chronicle of America's military experience over the past century.

Author Biography

James Scott Wheeler is former commander of the 4th Battalion, 67th Armor, and senior military analyst to the commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Lafayette, We Are Here: Creation of the 1st Infantry Division	p. 9
Cantigny to Soissons	p. 34
Victory in Alsace-Lorraine: St. Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne	p. 63
Between the World Wars: The Twenty-Year Peace	p. 99
Mobilization for War: The Expansion and Training of the Big Red One, 1939 to November 1942	p. 127
Tunisia: The Division Comes of Age	p. 153
Offensive Operations: Gafsa to Victory in Africa	p. 184
The Invasion of Sicily	p. 227
Operation Overlord	p. 259
Crusade in Europe: The Drive to Germany	p. 292
The Battles of the German Frontier	p. 329
The Last Offensive against Germany: January to May 1945	p. 360
The Occupation of Germany and the Cold War	p. 383
The Vietnam War and the Big Red One: Deployment and First Battles	p. 412
The Year of Decision? The 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, 1967	p. 451
Tet and the Light at the End of the Tunnel	p. 484
Conclusion: The Journey Continues	p. 509
Notes	p. 529
Index	p. 585
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