Ninth Infantry Division

Ninth Infantry Division. “The Old Reliables”. Organized at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, on 18 July 1918, the 9th Infantry Division was the last Regular Army division activated for World War I. It disbanded on 15 February 1919. Reactivated on 1 August 1940 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the division soon began training for amphibious warfare. Commanding General Manton S. Eddy, assistant division commander before taking command on 24 July, spent the summer of 1942 on the Chesapeake Bay preparing his troops for Operation Torch, the Allied landing in North Africa. , , Configured to operate as the 39th, 47th, and 60th Regimental Combat Teams (RCTS), all three of the division's maneuver regiments had fought in World War I. Just before dawn on 8 November 1942, the 39th RCT landed at Algiers, the 47th RCT hit the beach in Safi, French Morocco, and the 60th attacked in the vicinity of Port Lyautey, Morocco. Subsequent experience in Tunisia and Operation Husky (1943), including the amphibious assault of Sicily, further prepared the 9th Division for Operation Overlord. , , The 9th Infantry Division crossed Utah Beach on D + 4. Coming ashore first, Colonel Paddy Flint's 39th Infantry Regiment, with direct support and reinforcing fires of the 34th and 60th Artillery, was attached to the 4th Infantry Division on 12 June. Two days later, the "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime - Bar Nothing!" troopers of 39th Infantry Regiment became the first combined arms team out of the 9th Infantry Division to fight in the push to clear the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. After the capture of Quinéville, the 39th Infantry detached and reverted to the 9th Division on 15 June. , , On 14 June, the 9th Division, flanked left and right by the 82nd Airborne and 90th Infantry Divisions, spearheaded VII Corps' drive across the peninsula. The 60th Infantry led the attack, and when the division's front widened the next day, the 47th Infantry moved into it. Those regiments crossed the Douve River with the 39th Infantry and 359th Infantry (attached from the 90th Infantry Division) following. Late on 17 June, the first elements of the division reached the sea. The Old Reliables' thrust of twelve and a half miles in two days had no equal in the campaign. , , When ordered on 19 June to turn north toward Cherbourg and become the left flank of the VII Corps' attack, General Eddy's troops executed the ninety-degree movement in twenty-two hours. During the attack, the 39th advanced through Octeville, the 47th seized the arsenal and western half of town, and the 60th protected the left flank while preparing to attack up the Cape de la Hague. First Army Commander Omar N. Bradley attributed the German's off-balance response at Cherbourg to the division's "unbelievably swift change in direction." A reflection of both the duration and professional excellence of General Eddy's service as commander, the division's performance on 19 June remains one of the Second World War's great tactical triumphs. Following the St. Lô breakthrough and the closing of the Falaise Gap, General Eddy assumed command of XII Corps. Serving in eight campaigns by war's end, the Old Reliables owned their nickname after the Battle of the Bulge, but the Department of the Army did not officially recognize it until 13 May 1969. , , This plaque is presented in honor of the 9th Infantry Division and given in loving memory of Captain William S. Patterson, Lynchburg, Virginia, by his family. Captain Patterson served with the 9th Infantry Division in all eight of its World War II campaigns. He was awarded the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Dedicated on Memorial Day 2007.