United States Army 42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow)

U. S. ARMY 42ND INFANTRY (RAINBOW DIVISION) -  The 42nd Infantry Division (42ID) ("Rainbow") is a division of the United States Army National Guard.  The 42nd Infantry Division has served in World War I, World War II and the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).  The division is currently headquartered at the Glenmore Road Armory in Troy, New York.  The division headquarters is a unit of the New York Army National Guard. The division currently includes Army National Guard units from fourteen different states, including Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. As of 2007, 67 percent of 42ID soldiers are located in New York and New Jersey.

The 42nd came to be known as the "Rainbow Division". When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, it federalized National Guard divisions to quickly build up an Army.  In addition, Douglas MacArthur, then a major, suggested to William A. Mann, the head of the Militia Bureau, that he form another division from the non-divisional units of several states.  Secretary of War Newton D. Baker approved the proposal, and recalled Douglas MacArthur saying that such an organization would "stretch over the whole country like a rainbow."  The division was created using units from 26 states and the District of Columbia. T he name stuck, and MacArthur was promoted to colonel as the division chief of staff.

The 42nd Division adopted a shoulder patch and unit crests acknowledging the nickname.  The original version of the patch symbolized a half arc rainbow and contained thin bands in multiple colors.  During the latter part of World War I and post war occupation duty in Germany, Rainbow Division soldiers modified the patch to a quarter arc, removing half the symbol to memorialize the half of the division's soldiers who became casualties (killed or wounded) during the war.  They also reduced the number of colors to just red, gold and blue bordered in green, in order to standardize the design and make the patch easier to reproduce.

The 42nd Division was activated in August 1917, four months after the American entry into World War I, drawing men from 26 states and the District of Columbia.  WWI Casualties: total 14,683 (KIA – 2,058; WIA – 12,625).

WWII Activated:  July 14, 1943
Overseas:  November 1944
Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central Europe
Days of combat: 106
Presidential Unit Citation: 1
Awards: MH-1 ; DSC-4 ; DSM-1 ; SS-622; LM-9; SM-32; ; BSM-5,325 ; AM-104.

WWII Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 3,971
• Killed in action: 553
• Wounded in action: 2,212
• Missing in action: 31
• Prisoner of war: 1,175

Since the September 11th attacks, the 42nd has been extensively involved in the war on terrorism, in both homeland security (HLS) and expeditionary operations.  The 42ID's 1-101st Cavalry led the New York Army National Guard's efforts and provided security at Ground Zero during the rescue and then recovery efforts there.  42nd units from the New Jersey Army National Guard provided security at all the major river crossings into New York City and Newark International Airport in the months following September 11, 2001.