US Army 71st Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a blue 71 on a red rimmed white circle

Shoulder sleeve insignia, 71st Infantry Division, United States Army, nicknamed the Red Circle, of the type used during World War II. The circular badge features a blue 71 on a white circle with a red border, the national colors. The Unit was activated in 1943 and fought in France and Germany in 1945. While advancing through northern Austria to rendezvous with Soviet forces, the Unit liberated Gunskirchen, a subcamp of Mauthausen concentration camp, on May 5th and 6th. Troops found 15,000 ill and starving prisoners in the camp, which had been abandoned by the SS guards on May 4th. The 71st ordered the nearby town to provide food and water for the liberated inmates. The Division continued on to Linz to meet with the Soviet Army before Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. The Unit was assigned to the Army of Occupation until its return to the United States and inactivation in March 1946.