Col. Robert R. McCormick Research Center Digital Archives
1st Infantry Division General Orders—Vietnam Our eighth digitized collection consists of documents scanned from 224 binders titled HQ 1st Infantry Division General Orders. Each binder contains approximately 400 pages, for a total of 89,600 pages. Issued by the 1st Infantry Division Headquarters during the Vietnam war, these General Orders contain awards to individual soldiers for both bravery and merit. The first General Order is dated 1 February 1966 and the last is dated 31 March 1970. The awards listed include the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Silver Star Medal, the Soldier’s Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Many General Orders have a paragraph describing in detail the action for which the soldier received his award. Difficult to access in hard copy format, these keyword searchable digital documents are a rich source of history now readily available online to 1st Division veterans, soldier’s families, military historians, authors, and scholars.
1st Infantry Division Publications—Balkans Our third digitized collection consists of pages scanned from the magazines published by the 1st Infantry Division during peace-keeping operations in the Balkans. From October 1996 through November 1997, as part of Task Force Eagle at Eagle Base in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the 1st Infantry Division published The Talon. A year later, units of the 1st Infantry Division were stationed at Camp Able Sentry in Macedonia from March 1998 to March 2000. Under Task Force Able Sentry, Task Force Sabre, and then Task Force Falcon, the 1st Infantry Division published The Sentinel. These publications give a weekly insight into the experience of the Big Red One during peace-keeping in the Balkans.
1st Infantry Division Publications—Vietnam Our second digitized collection consists of pages scanned from the newspaper, magazine and unit histories published by the 1st Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. A weekly publication, the American Traveler newspaper provides articles on both the division’s soldiers and combat actions. The periodical, Danger Forward, the Magazine of the Big Red One, Vietnam, was a monthly review of the division’s major operations and campaigns. The three unit histories, The First Infantry Division in Vietnam, Vols. 1-3, are nicknamed the “Yearbooks”. Based on when the veteran served with the division, the relevant volume provides an overview of the soldier’s tour of duty with the Big Red One in Vietnam. Hard to find in hard copy form, digitizing these publications now makes them available to all 1st Division Vietnam veterans and their families.
1st Infantry Division Unit Histories—World War One Our seventh digitized collection consist of five scanned World War One histories about the 1st Division and its infantry regiments. The five titles are as follows; History of the First Division During the World War, 1917-1919, The Story of the Sixteenth Infantry in France, History of the 18th U.S. Infantry, First Division, 1812-1919, The Twenty-sixth Infantry in France and The Story of the Twenty-eighth Infantry in the Great War. Published right after World War One, these histories were written for both the unit’s veterans and Gold Star families. Each book contains a combat history and an Honor Roll list. Some also contain lists of officers, command posts locations, unit commendations, and field orders. Difficult to find in hard copy, these unit histories are now digitized and keyword searchable on our Digital Archive. They are a great information resource about the 1st Division and its infantry regiments during World War One.
Historical Records of the First Infantry Division and its Organic Elements, WWII Our first digitized collection consists of 1st Infantry Division WW2 battle records scanned from 172 microfilm reels. These documents include battle plans, field orders, combat journals and individual citations for bravery. Significant files include documents about the division’s amphibious assaults in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy, as well as the fight across northern France into Belgium and Germany. These detailed battle records are now available online to all those interested in the WW2 battle history of the “Big Red One”.
Muster Rolls & Rosters; Nov. 1912-Dec. 1939 Our fourth digitized collection consists of scanned documents from 71 microfilm reels titled "Muster Rolls & Rosters: Nov. 1912-Dec. 1939". These rolls and rosters lists those soldiers who served in units that came to be associated with the First Division during WWI and the interwar years. In commemoration of the 1st Infantry Division's Centennial, these digitized personnel lists are new available online. Genealogists will find this collection of special interest.
The Bridgehead Sentinel Our sixth digitized collection consists of 197 issues of the official publication of the Society of the First Division. Founded in 1919, the Society is an association composed of those veterans who served in the “Big Red One”. The Bridgehead Sentinel serves the needs of the Society and its members by providing current news about the Society and the active duty 1st Infantry Division. The newsletter publishes articles about “Big Red One” history, and recollections by those who served in the division. Keyword searchable, this collection is a rich source of historical information on the 1st Infantry Division and its veterans.
World War Records First Division A.E.F. Regular Our fifth digitized collection consists of 1st Infantry Division WW1 Battle Records scanned from 29 volumes titled World War Records, First Division AEF Regular. These volumes include field orders, Summaries of Intelligence, Operations Orders, Field Messages, Journal of Operations, War Diaries, Station Lists, Training, Citations with last name alphabetized index, as well as one volume of translated French documents, and four volumes of translated German Documents. These keyword searchable records will be of special interest to both military historians and genealogists.