Item #187 It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing. United States Army 69th Division Information Education Office.
It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing
It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing
It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing
It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing
United States Army 69th Division Information Education Office

It's Our Birthday. 69th Infantry Division's Second Anniversary Mailing

Germany: United States Army, 1945. Fine. Item #187

Large foldout birthday card mailing announcing the 2nd anniversary of the Fighting 69th (69th Infantry Division) produced in 1945 and with a reproduction of Major General S. F. Reinhardt addressed to the men and women of the 69th. Folds into postcard size for mailing. Expands to 17"x11". Glue tab is affixed and unused. Some aging to exterior-most sides when folded. Inserted into the mailing envelope is a special edition of the Fighting 69th Sentinel newspaper dated May 15, 1945. Four pages measuring approximately 10.5"x15" on aged toned paper with folds matching the envelope.

Originally nicknamed "Bolte´s Bitching Bivouacking Bastards", the 69th Infantry Division was originally scheduled for activation before the end of World War I, but Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, halted this. By January 1943 or earlier, the widening WWII and its troop demands brought these plans out again. A large group of infantry and some supporting unit officers were called from the 96th Infantry Division training at Camp Adair, Oregon, to supply the cadre (nucleus) for The 69th Infantry Division, which trained at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Just before the 69th departed the USA for Europe, Major General Emil F. Reinhardt took division command. Renamed "The Fighting 69th" after the troops passed their first test of battle with flying colors—going into the front lines on February 11, 1945, Siegfried Line Dragon's Teethand quickly smashing through the vaunted Westwall, dubbed the "Siegfried Line" by American and British troops.

Price: $50.00