33rd Inf. Div. Bring Back KIA Flag

[MichaelB]

The 33rd. Inf. Div. ("Prairie Division"), originally saw life in 1917 having been activated in July of 1917 at Camp Logan, IL. It shipped overseas in May of 1918 in time to participate in the Battles of Le Hamel, Meuse-Argonne, Somme, and St. Mihiel. Their total casualties during the War were 6864 with 691 KIA and 6173 WIA. During World War Two they were re-organized into the 132 Inf. Reg., which was originally sent to fight in New Caledonia, the 123 Inf. Reg., 130 Inf. Reg., and the 136 Inf. Reg. They were also joined by the 33rd. Tank Company, sent to the Philippines as Co. B of the 192nd. Tank Battalion before the Pearl Harbor attack. This outfit was captured at Bataan.

The 136 Inf. Reg. was originally formed during the War Between the States in July of 1861 at Ft. Snelling as the 2nd Reg., Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Later it would participate during the Spanish-American War(1898) as well as the Mexican Border conflict (1916). They received campaign streamers for having participated in the following conflicts/engagements:

The War Between the States

Shilo, Kentucky-1862, Tennessee-1862, Alabama-1862, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and North Carolina-1865

World war I

without inscription

World War II

New Guinea and Luzon

During World War Two, the 136th Infantry (known as the "Bearcats") was activated in April of 1942 and assigned to the 33rd Division. After a stay in New Guinea, they moved to the island of Morotai where for the first 20 days (Sept. 15, 1944-Jan. 14, 1945) they fought virtually alone against a determined Japanese defense. Final Japanese casualties were 870 KIA and 10 captured, while the Americans lost 46 KIA and 104 wounded. The island was important as it would provide a strategic stepping off point for the Australian invasion of Borneo and the American operation to reclaim Leyte. Following that they moved to Luzon, in the Philippines. The 136th Infantry participated in engagements at Kennon Road and Skyline Ridge as part of overall action to secure the island.


MichaelB