US Army 83rd Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a yellow monogram of Ohio

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 83rd Infantry Division, United States Army, nicknamed the Thunderbolt Division. The Division was formed in Ohio when it was activated in World War I, and the badge insignia has compressed yellow circles and lines that spell OHIO. The 83rd landed in Normandy on June 18, 1944, and advanced through France and Luxembourg into Germany. Troops of the 83rd and 8th Armored Division encountered a group of adjacent subcamps of Buchenwald concentration camp. The 83rd liberated Langenstein subcamp on April 11, 1945, where they found 1,100 severely malnourished prisoners, most weighing only 80 pounds. The Division ordered the local German mayor to provide food and water and requisitioned medical supplies from the US Army’s 20th Field Hospital. They recovered the camp’s documents for use by war crimes investigators. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, and the Division was on occupation duty until their return to the US on March 26, 1946. They were inactivated on April 5, 1946.