[CNS News] This past week I attended the 99th reunion of America’s First Infantry Division, also known as the Big Red One, in Lombard, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.It was an amazing event with some 400+ gathered to reminisce and honor our Fallen companions. The Big Red One (BRO) is America’s first and oldest Infantry Division, and our museum is located at Cantigny Park on the estate of Colonel McCormick, who was the 37-year-old owner of the Chicago Tribune. McCormick served in the BRO during World War I. The Big Red One can also claim President Teddy Roosevelt’s son, Teddy Jr., as a member of our Division in World War I.
And so it was, 100 years ago, the First Infantry Division was deployed to France conducting combat operations in places that we probably do not teach about ‐ Cantigny, Sosissons, Saint Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. Frank Buckles was the last American survivor of the "Great War," so now we can only rely upon museums and history books to remind us of the sacrifices of those who went before us‐how they stood against the evil of tyranny, left their families, homes, and businesses to go "over there." And that was why we gathered at the Westin Hotel in Lombard, Illinois.
We were fortunate to have several World War II veterans of the First Infantry Division at our reunion. I share a little history with two of them, Ray Lambert and Andy Anderson, veterans of the 16th Infantry Regiment. They landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. But long before then, the First Infantry Division fought in the deserts of North Africa. Sadly, they suffered a horrific defeat at a place called Kasserine Pass‐but they recovered.
The Big Red One left North Africa and landed in Sicily to push the Nazis and the Italian fascists into retreat. After D-Day, the Big Red One pushed across Normandy, liberated Paris, and then was part of the juggernaut heading into Germany. They took part in the infamous Battle of the Bulge, and after that victory, they penetrated Germany and then onto Czechoslovakia where they liberated Nazi concentration camps.