Thirty-fourth “Red Bull” Infantry Division

The Thirty-fourth “Red Bull” Infantry Division is a U.S. Army National Guard division based in Minnesota. It had more days in combat during World War II than any other American division. Since September 11, 2001, “Red Bulls” have deployed where needed in the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

In late summer 1917, not long after the United States entered World War I, the army combined existing National Guard units from Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Nebraska to form the Thirty-fourth Infantry Division. The men trained for many months at Camp Cody, near Deming, New Mexico, while waiting anxiously to ship for France. In May, to their disappointment, they were named as a “depot” division. Companies, batteries, and regiments were broken up and the men sent overseas to fill openings in other units. The division was refilled with new draftees and finally departed for France, but by the time it arrived in October, it was too late to see action. The war ended on November 11, 1918.

After World War I, the Thirty-fourth was reorganized with Guardsmen from Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. By summer 1940, fighting again raged in Europe. As a precaution, Congress and President Roosevelt authorized a draft and mobilized the National Guard for a year of training. The Thirty-fourth was activated on February 10, 1941, and sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. When the U.S. entered World War II that December, the Thirty-fourth became the first American division sent to Europe. The men trained in Northern Ireland.

Combat began for the division on November 8, 1942, when elements landed successfully at Algiers, on the North African coast, as part of Operation TORCH. They encountered stiff German opposition as Allied forces thrust eastward into Tunisia toward Bizerte and Tunis, essential ports for the German army. Hill 609, a key German position, stood in the way. In late April 1943, the Thirty-fourth took Hill 609 in an intense, week-long battle. The enemy surrendered two weeks later, ending the North African campaign.

Italy came next. After landing at Salerno in September 1943 as part of the Fifth Army, the division advanced slowly northward through mountainous terrain and terrible weather toward the Gustav Line, a formidable chain of German positions that spanned the Italian peninsula. The Allied advance stalled at Monte Cassino, which strategically anchored the Line. After months of bombardment and bitter fighting by the Thirty-fourth and other divisions, Cassino was finally taken. It opened a way to the Liri Valley beyond, but at high cost in casualties.

Meanwhile, Allied commanders bypassed Gustav and established a beachhead at Anzio. The division landed there in March 1944. The breakout came in May, followed by a drive on Rome. After Rome, the division continued pushing northward through heavily entrenched German positions. By spring 1945, it faced a stubborn but wavering enemy in the plains of northern Italy’s Po Valley. German surrender in Italy came on May 2, 1945.

By then, only a handful of its original soldiers were still with the division. Casualties, transfers, and rotations accounted for the rest. With "Attack, Attack, Attack" as its slogan, the “Red Bulls” completed 517 days of front-line combat in five major campaigns—more combat days than any other American division in the war—with some units at 611 days.

In 1946, the Thirty-fourth was reconstituted with Guardsmen from Iowa and Nebraska, but it was disbanded as a division in the 1960s due to Guard reorganization and budget cuts. Its reputation as one of the toughest combat outfits in World War II was not forgotten, however. On February 10, 1991, the Minnesota-based Forty-seventh “Viking” Infantry Division was redesignated as the Thirty-fourth “Red Bull” Infantry Division. The Thirty-fourth’s proud legacy was thereby taken up by a new generation of soldiers.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, National Guardsmen have been mobilized for federal active duty on a regular basis. Units of the Thirty-fourth have deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Egypt, Honduras, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq. In 2006–2007, its First Brigade Combat Team spent sixteen months in Iraq (twenty-two months overall) in one of the largest and longest single-unit deployments for the National Guard since the Korean War. Governors also call up units when needed for state missions requiring military-level support.