Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 86th Infantry Division, United States Army, known as the Blackhawk Division. The monogrammed red shield displays a black hawk with outstretched wings and talons. The Unit, activated in 1917, adopted this insignia in honor of the Native American warrior Blackhawk. Reactivated in 1942, the Unit entered the war in March 1945. It landed in France and quickly advanced into western Germany. The 86th liberated Attendorn, a civilian forced-labor camp in the Olpe District, on April 11, 1945. The Division had crossed the Danube River, and was advancing toward Salzburg, Austria, when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. The 86th Infantry processed German prisoners of war for the Army of Occupation until it was redeployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations in June 1945. It was inactivated in the Philippines on December 30, 1946.
- Date
-
unavailable:
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Badges
- Object Type
-
Color patches (military patches) (aat)
- Physical Description
- Shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI): 86th Infantry Division- shield shaped with image of an eagle in black with the initials "BH" in the center on a red background.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Width: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm)
- Materials
- overall : cloth, thread
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The badge was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 16:07:49
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514641
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Also in American military badge collection
The collection consists of five American military badges.
US Army 101st Airborne Division shoulder sleeve patch with a bald eagle head
Object
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army, known as the Screaming Eagles. The shield shaped badge has an Airborne banner and a bald eagle, originally representing a Civil War mascot named Old Abe, the origin of the unit’s nickname. The Airborne parachuted into Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to clear the way for troops to land on Utah Beach. In September, it was part of the Allied attempt to liberate the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden. The Unit was in southern Germany in late April 1945, where it discovered Kaufering IV, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp. The 101st Airborne and the 12th Armored Divisions liberated the camp on April 27th and 28th. They found approximately 500 dead prisoners; the other inmates had been transported by SS guards as Allied Forces closed in. The Divisions forced local residents to bury the dead. The Unit was moving toward Berchtesgaden when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. The 101st Division was part of the Army of Occupation until their inactivation in Germany on November 30th, 1945.
US Army 36th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a T monogram on a light blue field
Object
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the United States Army 36th Infantry Division, known as the Texas or Arrow Head Division, and as well as the Lone Star or Panther Division. The arrowhead shaped blue badge wit a green T represents the National Guard troops from Oklahoma and Texas who formed the unit when it was established in 1917. The 36th landed in North Africa on April 13, 1943. In early September, the unit entered combat in the Italian campaign, suffering severe losses. The 36th had the ninth highest casualty rate of any Army Division in World War II. On August 14, 1944, the Division was redeployed to France, and advanced into Bavaria in late December. On April 30, 1945, the 36th liberated a subcamp of the Kaufering concentration camp system, a complex of Dachau subcamps in the Landsberg area. The unit had crossed into Austria when Germany surrendered on May 7. The Division was assigned occupational duties and returned to the US on December 15, 1945, and inactivated the same day.
US Army 95th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with the numeral 9 on a Roman numeral V (5)
Object
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the United States Army 95th Infantry Division, nicknamed the Victory Division, derived from the red, white, and blue badge with the Arabic numeral 9 and Roman numeral V for 5. The 95th landed in France on September 15, 1944, and by October had reached the Roselle River. On November 14th, the division joined the offensive drive on the city of Metz, which was secured on November 22nd, earning them the nickname Iron Men of Metz and the Bravest of the Brave. In April, the 95th liberated the German labor education camp in Perl and on April 7, 1945, discovered a prisoner of war camp with over 5000 French soldiers to whom they provided much needed food rations. The unit ended combat operations in Leipzig on VE Day, May 8th, and remained on occupational duty until returning to the US on July 29th to train for war in the Pacific. The division was demobilized soon after the war ended in Japan on August 15 and was inactivated on October 15, 1945.
US Army 8th Armored Division shoulder sleeve patch with tank, gun, and red lightning bolt
Object
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 8th Armored Division, United States Army. It was originally known as the Thundering Herd, but became known as Iron Snake following an article in Newsweek that called the unit “A Giant Ironclad Snake.” They were also known by their war code name, Tornado. The patch design was used by all Armored divisions, with the division number, in this case 8, in Arabic numerals at the apex of the triangle. The colors represent the military branches that form an armored division: yellow for cavalry, blue for infantry, and red for artillery. The symbols represent the characteristics: the tank track, mobility and armor protection; the cannon, fire power; and the red flash of lightning, shock action. The 8th Division landed in France on January 5, 1945, fought its way through France and Holland, and enterd Germany in March. Near Langenstein, troops of the 8th and 83rd Infantry Division encountered a group of adjacent subcamps of Buchenwald concentration camp. The 8th liberated Halberstadt-Zwieberge subcamp between April 11 and 17, 1945. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, and the Division was placed on occupation duty until inactivated on November 14, 1945. This Division was active only during WWII.
