Red Arrow Brigade Military T-Shirt

Recently the 32nd Infantry served honorably in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Division’s history has an honored past reaching back to its antecedents: the fighters of the Blackhawk War; the volunteers who marched off to defend the Union in the Civil War, including the famous 'Iron Brigade'; and the Governor’s Guards who mobilized for the Spanish American War. Almost all of the Michigan and Wisconsin National Guard units which would be combined to form the 32nd Division had served on the Mexican Border in 1916-17. The 32nd Division was organized under War Dept. orders of 18 July 1917 of National Guard Units from both Wisconsin and Michigan. Units began leaving state camps in Wisconsin and Michigan bound for Camp MacArthur, near Waco, Texas, in early August 1917. The last units arrived at Camp MacArthur by late September 1917. The Division served on the front line during World War I from 18 May 1918 until the end of the War on 11 November 1918. It was the first American Division to pierce the famed Hindenburg Line, fought in 4 major offensives and earned the name “Les Terribles” from the French. The Division served with the Army of Occupation in Germany until 18 April 1919 and began its return to the U.S. on 1 May 1919. Returning home the Division was demobilized in May 1919 and returned to National Guard status about a year later. On 15 October 1940, the 32nd Division, Wisconsin and Michigan National Guard, was again called to Active Duty.