3rd Infantry Division Patch

The 3rd Infantry Division has been awarded the Medal of Honor 61 times, more than any other division in the Army. Audie Murphy wore these blue and white stripes, and so did the soldiers who made the Thunder Run into Baghdad in 2003. The division earned its name in July 1918 on the Marne River, holding against the German offensive when units on either side gave way. Rock of the Marne has been the division's name ever since. The motto is Nous Resterons La, We Shall Remain Here.

The division was organized on 21 November 1917 at Camp Greene, North Carolina, and the stand of Colonel Ulysses G. McAlexander's 38th Infantry Regiment at the Second Battle of the Marne gave it its nickname. In World War II it landed at Fedala in November 1942 during Operation Torch, then fought through Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. Korea made it the Fire Brigade for how fast it moved, with ten battle stars and 11 more Medals of Honor. From 1957 to 1996 the division was a major part of the Army's NATO presence in West Germany, and more than 6,000 of its soldiers deployed for Desert Storm, where its 3rd Brigade fought at Medina Ridge. In April 2003 the division fought its way to Baghdad, Second Brigade made the Thunder Run downtown, and SFC Paul Ray Smith earned the Medal of Honor at Baghdad International Airport.

This is a compact 2.12 inch square, a blue field crossed by three white diagonal stripes with a green merrowed border. There is no lettering, and none is needed. The three white stripes stand for the three major operations the division fought in during World War I, and the blue stands for loyalty to the ideals of liberty and democracy. It is the same pattern that earned the division its other nickname, the Blue and White Devils. Anyone who served at Fort Stewart knows it from across a motor pool.

Few divisions can put the Marne, Anzio and Baghdad on one record. The Dogface Soldier song, written in 1942 by Cpl. Bert Gold and Lt. Ken Hart and adopted by General Lucian Truscott, is still sung by Marne soldiers, and Rocky the Bulldog still stands for the dogface. Generations of soldiers have come home from Germany, the Gulf and Iraq with this patch on the sleeve. Fort Stewart, Georgia, is the division's home today. The Marne Division has stayed where it was told to stay for more than a hundred years.

At just over two inches square it fits a shadow box with a Combat Infantryman Badge and unit photos, or the front of a range bag or vest. It is also a good gift for a son or daughter heading to Fort Stewart, or for a grandfather who went ashore in North Africa. The iron-on backing presses on quickly, and a few stitches around the border keep it on for the long haul. Rock of the Marne, blue and white.