93rd Infantry Division (United States)

93rd Division 93rd Infantry Division (Colored)
93rd Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1917–1919 1942–1946
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	The Blue Helmets
Engagements	World War I World War II New Guinea Northern Solomons Bismarck Archipelago Liberation of the Philippines
Commanders
Notable commanders	Charles P. Hall Harry H. Johnson

The 93rd Infantry Division was a "colored" segregated unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. However, in World War I only its four infantry regiments, two brigade headquarters, and a provisional division headquarters were organized, and the divisional and brigade headquarters were demobilized in May 1918.^[1][2] Its regiments fought primarily under French command in that war and saw action during the Second Battle of the Marne. They acquired the nickname Blue Helmets (French: Casques Bleus) from the French, as these units were issued horizon blue French Adrian helmets. Consequently, its shoulder patch became a blue French helmet, to commemorate its service with the French Army during the German spring offensive.^[3]

The division saw service in the Pacific Theater during World War II, but saw little fighting. The division was reactivated with the "colored" infantry designation on 15 May 1942 at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and shipped to Guadalcanal in 1944. Most of its regiments were mainly used as construction units and in defensive operations in the South Pacific. In 1945, the 93rd Infantry Division was inactivated, it had suffered 12 killed in action throughout the war. The lineage of several of its units are carried on by units in the Illinois and Maryland Army National Guards.