United States Army 45th Infantry Division (Thunderbird)

U. S. ARMY 45TH INFANTRY DIVISION (THUNDERBIRD) - The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army, part of the Oklahoma Army National Guard, from 1920 to 1968.  Headquartered mostly in Oklahoma City, the guardsmen fought in both World War II and the Korean War.  They trace their lineage from frontier militias that operated in the Southwestern United States throughout the late 1800s.

The 45th Infantry Division guardsmen saw no major action until they became one of the first National Guard units activated in World War II in 1941. They took part in intense fighting during the invasion of Sicily and the attack on Salerno in the 1943 Italian Campaign.  Slowly advancing through Italy, they fought in Anzio and in Monte Cassino.  After landing in France during Operation Dragoon, they joined the 1945 drive into Germany that ended the War in Europe.

After brief inactivation and subsequent reorganization as a unit restricted to Oklahomans, the division returned to duty in 1951 for the Korean War. It joined the United Nations troops on the front lines during the stalemate of the second half of the war, with constant, low-level fighting and trench warfare against the People's Volunteer Army of China that produced little gain for either side.  The division remained on the front lines in such engagements as Old Baldy Hill and Hill Eerie until the end of the war, returning to the U.S. in 1954.

The division remained a National Guard formation until its inactivation in 1968 as part of a downsizing of the Guard.  Several units were activated to replace the division and carry on its lineage.  Over the course of its history, the 45th Infantry Division sustained over 25,000 battle casualties, and its men were awarded nine Medals of Honor, twelve campaign streamers, the Croix de Guerre and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

WWII Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 20,993
• Killed in action: 3,547
• Wounded in action: 14,441
• Missing in action: 478
• Prisoner of war: 2,527

The division briefly patrolled the Korean Demilitarized Zone following the signing of the armistice ending the war, but most of its men returned home and reverted to National Guard status on April 30, 1954.   Its colors were returned to Oklahoma on September 25th of that year, formally ending the division's presence in Korea.

The division remained as a unit of the Oklahoma National Guard, and participated in no major actions throughout the rest of the 1950s save regular weekend and summer training exercises.  In 1963, the formation was reorganized in accordance with the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions plan, which saw the establishment of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigade within the division.  These brigades would see no major deployments or events, and were deactivated five years later in 1968.