US Army 1st Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a big red numeral one on a green field

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Infantry Division, United States Army, the oldest continuously serving division in the Army. The Division is nicknamed the Big Red One in honor of their light green badge with a red Arabic numeral one on a light green field and for their status as the first US Division to land in France during World War I. The 1st stormed Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. They moved north to capture Aachen, Germany, in October 1944 and held the line at Bullingen, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. By the time Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, the 1st Infantry had pushed through Germany to Czechoslovakia. On May 8th, the 1st Infantry Division and the 9th Armored Division liberated Zwodau and Falkenau an der Eger, subcamps of Flossenbürg concentration camp. They provided medical aid and food to the starving female prisoners of both labor camps. The 1st Infantry Division stayed in Europe as part of the Army of Occupation until 1955.