thedrifter
05-03-05, 07:02 PM
May 09, 2005
In show of unity, soldiers sew on 1st MarDiv patch
By Gina Cavallaro
Times staff writer
Soldiers on duty in the areas west of Baghdad are wearing a combat patch, but it’s not Army. It’s the Guadalcanal Patch, the 1st Marine Division shoulder patch authorized for wear by units that were organic to the division during its four landings in the Pacific during World War II.
Marines don’t wear combat patches. In fact, Marines don’t wear any patches, but many soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, who were deployed to Ramadi in September, wear the 1st Marine Division patch proudly.
They worked under the 1st Marine Division through February and wanted to show their unity with a Marine combat patch, so much so that they paid for them out of pocket.
Some soldiers got them via mail order, others had them made at the alterations shop in Ramadi.
An earlier request by the 1st Marine Division at the time, commander Maj. Gen. Jim Mattis, that soldiers attached to 1st Marine Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom be authorized to wear the patch was turned down.
But in an Oct. 4 letter, Army G-1 Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, responding to a request from the chief of staff of the Army, approved the request.
“When 2ID was formed, we fought under Maj. Gen. [John] Lejeune in World War I and nearly 90 years later, we find ourselves fighting another conflict under the command of a Marine Corps general officer,” said Lt. Col. John Fant, commander of 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment. “So the soldiers who wear the 2ID patch on their left side are very proud of the fact that we can trace our lineage to the Marine Corps and we symbolize that by wearing their Marine patch.”
The 1st Marine Division handed control over to 2nd Marine Division in February. A spokesman for 2nd Marine Division said the new command is seeking authorization from the Army to allow soldiers assigned to the Marines’ area of responsibility to begin wearing the “Follow Me” division patch.
Gina Cavallaro covers the Army.
Ellie
In show of unity, soldiers sew on 1st MarDiv patch
By Gina Cavallaro
Times staff writer
Soldiers on duty in the areas west of Baghdad are wearing a combat patch, but it’s not Army. It’s the Guadalcanal Patch, the 1st Marine Division shoulder patch authorized for wear by units that were organic to the division during its four landings in the Pacific during World War II.
Marines don’t wear combat patches. In fact, Marines don’t wear any patches, but many soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, who were deployed to Ramadi in September, wear the 1st Marine Division patch proudly.
They worked under the 1st Marine Division through February and wanted to show their unity with a Marine combat patch, so much so that they paid for them out of pocket.
Some soldiers got them via mail order, others had them made at the alterations shop in Ramadi.
An earlier request by the 1st Marine Division at the time, commander Maj. Gen. Jim Mattis, that soldiers attached to 1st Marine Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom be authorized to wear the patch was turned down.
But in an Oct. 4 letter, Army G-1 Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, responding to a request from the chief of staff of the Army, approved the request.
“When 2ID was formed, we fought under Maj. Gen. [John] Lejeune in World War I and nearly 90 years later, we find ourselves fighting another conflict under the command of a Marine Corps general officer,” said Lt. Col. John Fant, commander of 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment. “So the soldiers who wear the 2ID patch on their left side are very proud of the fact that we can trace our lineage to the Marine Corps and we symbolize that by wearing their Marine patch.”
The 1st Marine Division handed control over to 2nd Marine Division in February. A spokesman for 2nd Marine Division said the new command is seeking authorization from the Army to allow soldiers assigned to the Marines’ area of responsibility to begin wearing the “Follow Me” division patch.
Gina Cavallaro covers the Army.
Ellie