US Army 80th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with three blue mountains

Identifier
irn35169
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2004.749.18
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Width: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm)

Archival History

The badge was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

Scope and Content

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 80th Infantry Division, United States Army, called the Blue Ridge Division, with a light green badge with three blue mountains. When the Unit was activated in 1917, it was composed of soldiers from the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia, through which the Blue Ridge Mountains pass. The 80th Infantry landed in Normandy, France, in August 1944 and began fighting German forces in Argentan. The Division participated in the Battle of the Bulge in December, and then pushed into central Germany. They provided relief to the 6th Armored Division at Buchenwald concentration camp on April 12, 1945, and continued into Austria and liberated the prisoners in Ebensee slave labor camp, a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp, on May 4th and 5th. The conditions were so terrible that several hundred inmates died the day the camp was liberated. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 and the 80th Infantry Division became part of the Army of Occupation in Austria until their return to the US and inactivation in January 1946.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Rectangular shaped shield military patch machine embroidered on white net backing with pointed winglike upper corners and a center point and rounded corners at the bottom. It has a light green field and a white embroidered border. In the center is a row of three overlapping light blue arched mounds above a narrow white horizontal band. The front is frayed and slightly discolored.

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.