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The Army historian S.L.A. Marshall called the Thirtieth the "Finest Infantry Division in the European Theater of Operations".
"It is the combined judgements of the approximately 35 historical officers who had worked on the records and in the field that the 30th merited this distinction. It was our finding that the 30th had been outstanding in three operations and we could consistently recommend it for citation on any of these occasions. It was further found that it had in no single instance performed discreditably or weakly . . . and in no single operation had it carried less than its share of the burden or looked bad when compared to the forces on its flanks. We were especially impressed with the fact that it consistently achieved results without undue wastage of its men." 3Origins of the
30th
"Created on July 18, 1917, of National Guard troops from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee the 30th Division, United States Army, built for itself one of the finest battle histories of the First World War.
It was at Bellicourt, France, that the 30th Division won undying fame, for there, on September 29, 1918, it smashed its way through the famed "Hindenburg Line" , a victory that hastened the close of the war, and did honor to the memory of Andrew Jackson, whose nickname, "Old Hickory," the division bears"1
The Thirtieth Infantry Division had a proud heritage. This division formed in 1917 from disparate National Guard units distinguished itself brilliantly in the fields of France and Belgium during World War 1. After the war it was reorganized into a regular National Guard unit spread across Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Such it was until 1940 when the division was federalized in preparation for the expansion of the regular Army prior to the impending war. Of course the division again shone brightly as evidenced by Marshall's satement above.
The Thirtieth division carried on a long tradition of southern military service. The 120th Infantry Regiment was descended from the First North Carolina Infantry, famous for its performance in Pickett's Charge. The North Carolinians, led by Lew Armistead waving his hat on his sabre, broke through the Union line at Gettysburg to achieve what is called "the high water mark of the Confederacy". Furthermore, components of the 120th could trace their heritage to units which fought the Tories at King's Mountain in 1780, and to pre-revolutionary war frontier Indian fighters called the Parkton Rangers.
The 117th Infantry Regiment came from the famous Tennessee Volunteers of the Mexican War, and also could be traced to units which had fought in the revolution. 3
Why "Old Hickory" ?
The division was named after famed president and soldier Andrew Jackson. Born near the North / South Carolina line and rising to fame in Tennessee, he provided the regional flavor to this tightly knit group of soldiers. The division's patch is an obvious link to this heritage being an "O" and "H" with the Roman numeral XXX in the middle. Interestingly , the patch was worn horizontally during World War 1. Local folklore has taught that a Raleigh tailor inadvertantly placed the patches horizontally and others just copied what they did not know was incorrect.
