Battalion Indian Head Patch
During World War I the Fifth and Sixth Marines fought in France as the Fourth Marine Brigade of the US Army's 2nd Infantry Division were forced to wear the Army's uniform. The Marines had only the eagle, globe, and anchor on their soft covers to distinguish themselves from their Army brothers-in-arms. As this did not sit well with the Marines, a patch was designed to distinguish them from their counterparts. A black shield with one five-pointed star and an Indian head with full war bonnet was selected. It is said that the black was for mourning and respect for their casualties, the shield for defense, and the star for the Second Division Commander, Brigadier General John A. Lejeune, and the Indian for General Lejeune's nickname "Old Indian." Another source says the patch was derived from a U.S. Coin in circulation at the time.
General Lejeune himself gave a somewhat different history as to the origin of the patch in his 1930 autobiography "The Reminiscences of a Marine." He states; "There was no inferiority complex about the Second Division. We knew that we were second to none, but also that we were better than any! So we adopted the star and Indian head as Division Insignia, the Indian head representing its fighting ability, and the star its spirit or espirit de corps. It was, I think, the First Division of the A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force) to wear insignia."
"We carried the idea out, too, to its logical conclusion by providing a different background for each regiment, each Battalion, and each separate detachment."
The Sixth Marine Regiment used the same design in a diamond shape instead of a shield. The color of the background on which the star was placed shows the battalion: black, headquarters; green, supply; purple, machine-gun company; red, First Battalion; yellow, Second Battalion; and blue, third battalion.
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Famous quotes containing the words indian, head and/or patch:
“Music is so much a part of their daily lives that if an Indian visits another reservation one of the first questions asked on his return is: “What new songs did you learn?””
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The mountainous region of the State of Maine stretches from near the White Mountains, northeasterly one hundred and sixty miles, to the head of the Aroostook River, and is about sixty miles wide. The wild or unsettled portion is far more extensive. So that some hours only of travel in this direction will carry the curious to the verge of a primitive forest, more interesting, perhaps, on all accounts, than they would reach by going a thousand miles westward.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
O that that earth which kept the world in awe
Should patch a wall t’expel the winter’s flaw!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)