Americal Division

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The 23rd Infantry Division, also known as the Americal Division, was an infantry division of the United States Army during World War II from 1942 to 1945, briefly in the mid 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1967-71. The division was activated 27 May 1942 on the island of New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. In the immediate emergency following Pearl Harbor, the United States had hurriedly sent a task force to defend New Caledonia against a feared Japanese attack. This division was the only division formed outside of the United States during World War II (a distinction it would repeat when reformed in 1967). At the suggestion of a subordinate, the division's commander, Major General Alexander Patch, requested that the new unit be known as the Americal Division—the name being a contraction of "American, New Caledonian Division". This was unusual, as with the exception of the Philippine Division, all other active U.S. divisions were known by a number. After World War II the Americal Division was officially re-designated as the 23rd Infantry Division. However, it was rarely referred to as such, even on official orders. During the Vietnam War, the division had a mixed record. It combined participation in numerous battles and campaigns but gained notoriety and infamy due to the My Lai massacre, which was committed by a platoon of the division's subordinate 20th Infantry Regiment, under the 11th Infantry Brigade, led by 1st Lieutenant William Calley. The division suffered a tactical defeat in the early morning of 28 March 1971, when Viet Cong sappers assaulted FSB Mary Ann. The attack destroyed key infrastructure, as well as killing 33 and wounding 83 Americans. The division was inactivated following its withdrawal from South Vietnam in November 1971.