Divisional History
A History of the 90th Division in World War II
6 June 1944
To
9 May 1945
Tribute
“This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am Well Pleased”
A father rejoices in the accomplishments of his children. We who were the 90th in World War I were in much the same position after the re-birth of the 90th at Camp Barkeley in 1942. Anxiously we watched as you were assembled, your training begun. Just as any anxious father, we wished for some way we could be of help.
The 90th Division Association has been in existence since 1919. A committee from this association, working with a committee appointed by Maj. Gen. Henry Terrell Jr., Division Commander, planned the ceremony in which we attached our old battle streamers to the colors of the organizations in the “New 90th.” We were trying to pass on to you something we had built in the mud, sweat, and blood of another war. We tried to convey to you the realization that the division so newly yours was a proud unit which in the hard way had earned its spurts and the right to hold its head high in any company. The 90th was to be proud of you; we wanted you to know you could be proud of the 90th; proud because it had never lost a foot of ground; had never failed to take an objective; proud because it had proved it could “take it” from the best the Kaiser’s Germany could throw at us. And we saw him and we raised him one.
A father wants his son to fare better than did the father. We started from scratch, with not pattern set for us to follow; no record for us to try to better. We wanted you to take up where we left off and go on from there. Through our symbolic will and testament we tried to bequeath to you the wealth we had accumulated; wealth in victories, in reputation, in honor, in the best traditions of the service.
We felt that you could not realize all these things that summer day as you sat in the broiling sun and the wind blew sand around you. And you listened to an older man brag about an older division, and you watched older men tie their old battle streamers to your new colors. But time passed, and the recruits who so recently had been civilians were transformed into soldiers. Later these soldiers, through contact with the enemy, were transformed into combat infantrymen. By this time, we believe, the heritage of the reborn 90th, the spirit, the traditions, the proud name which we had tried to convey to you that hot day at Camp Barkeley were finally realized, were made yours. You had come of age. You spoke the soldier’s language. You could meet a soldier, an old soldier, on common ground.
We watched you then. We read everything we could find on your progress. We got letters from those of us who, as “re-treads,” were serving with you in a second war. From the beach-heads of Normandy, through France, Germany, and into Czecho-Slovakia we followed your victorious progress. Long since had you passed from the role of a son living up to the standards set by his father. You were setting new standards, new records. Long since had we changed from watchful waiting for you to prove yourselves, and were proudly pointing to your achievements.
And you come to the end of your journey as a fighting division. You turned your steps homewards. We felt anew the thrill of pride in your job well done. Men of the “New 90th,” you have done yourselves and us, proud! We salute you!
“And lo, a voice out of the heavens saying, ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.’”