87th Infantry Division
US Army WWI & WWII
The 87th Infantry Division had the Golden Acorn as it logo, representing the strength and endurance of oak trees. It’s moto was: Stalwart and Strong.
It was gold on a green background.
The unit was activated at Camp Pike, Arkansas in 1917. It was made up of draftees from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It was used to supply personnel for other units. It did go overseas in 1918.
In 1919 the unit returned to Camp Dix, New Jersey where the soldiers were demobilized.
It was reorganized at the start of WWII. In December 1942 it was ordered back into active service at Camp McCain, Mississippi. It was nicknamed the “Baby Division” because many of the soldiers were among the first to have been drafted at the age of eighteen. The lower limit of the draft age had just been lowered from twenty.
The unit embarked for England in October 1944 where it was assigned to the Third Army. It landed in France one month later. At the end of December they found themselves in Belgium fighting what is now called “The Battle of the Bulge” in the Ardennes forest. By January they had crossed into Luxembourg where it was one of the units making the final push into Germany.
In September it returned to Fort Benning for demobilization.
The brave soldiers earned themselves many awards in their 154 days of combat:
Medal of Honor--1
Distinguished Service Cross--9
Army Distinguished Service Medal--1
Silver Star--364
Legion of Merit--20
Soldier’s Medal--41
Bronze Star--1,542
Air Medal--49
It was inactivated in February 1957 including the sleeve insignia.
Undergoing further reorganization it was reactivated in September 2021 as the 87th Training Division based out of Hoover, Alabama.
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