93th Inf Division

Genuine WWII shoulder badge of the 93rd Infantry Division.

The division was activated in December 1917 to be sent to fight in France but never did so as a whole division, despite the remarks of its commander Roy Hoffman it was divided into French brigades. She was armed with French equipment but retained her American uniform. Its name therefore derived from the wearing of the Adrian helmet.

The AEF refused to see blacks fighting alongside whites. Its incorporation as a combat unit did not go without saying for American doctrine: it was intended for rear work and it required the mobilization of personalities like William Du Bois and Asa Philip Randolph to lead it to the front line. The Franco-American agreements provided for transport across the ocean, equipment with the more efficient 75, the Chauchat machine gun, the helmet, the planes, all produced by France, which allowed a rationalization of supply. . In exchange the French command asked that the units be integrated into existing units, the losses recorded would thus be compensated, moreover the French command had no reluctance to make the black troops fight.

The division was reactivated on May 15, 1942. After its organization and training, it embarked on January 24, 1944 to participate in the New Guinea campaign, notably in the Battle of Bougainville, disembarking for the Admiralty Islands campaign . She was under the orders of Charles Hall from May to October 1942 then of Fred Miller from October to May 1943 who was relieved by Raymond Lehman (May 1943 to August 1944), himself by Harry Johnson (August 1944 to September 1945) eventually being commanded by Leonard Boyd from September 1945 until its dissolution on February 3, 1946. It ended the war by pacifying the island of Morotai and the Halmahera archipelago.

The soldiers of this unit accumulated a total of one Distinguished Service Cross, one Army Distinguished Service Medal, five Silver Stars, five Legions of Merit, sixteen Soldier's Medals, 686 Bronze Stars and 27 A.M.

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