They were called the Thunderbirds. Most people today probably couldn't pick their patch out of a lineup, but if you ask any historian about the toughest outfits to ever lace up boots, the 45th Infantry Division is always in the conversation. It wasn't just some regular Army unit. It was a National Guard division, mostly guys from Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. They were rugged. Honestly, they had to be. General George S. Patton once called them "one of the best, if not the best division" in the entire history of American arms. That's high praise from a guy who wasn't exactly known for handing out compliments like candy.
The story of the 45th Infantry Division is messy. It’s a 511-day slog through the mud of Italy and the forests of Germany. It's a story of incredible bravery mixed with some of the darkest moments of the 20th century.
The Thunderbirds and the Swastika
You might find this weird, but before the 45th Infantry Division wore that gold Thunderbird on a red diamond, their symbol was a swastika.
Wait. Don't freak out.
It was a yellow swastika on a red background, a traditional Native American symbol for good luck. They wore it for fifteen years. But by the late 1930s, as a certain regime in Germany started making that symbol synonymous with evil, the division realized they needed a change. In 1939, they officially switched to the Thunderbird. It was a smart move. Can you imagine the confusion on the battlefield if they hadn't?
The division was unique because of its demographics. It had a massive representation of Native American soldiers from over 50 different tribes. We're talking about men who brought a specific kind of woodcraft and toughness to the front lines. Guys like Jack Montgomery, a Cherokee from Oklahoma, who earned the Medal of Honor for single-handedly taking out several German machine-gun nests and capturing dozens of prisoners.
511 Days of Combat: The Reality of the US 45th Infantry Division
To understand the 45th Infantry Division, you have to look at the sheer duration of their service. They weren't just "in the war." They lived it. For over five hundred days, they were in contact with the enemy. Most modern soldiers don't see that kind of sustained intensity in a lifetime.
It started with Operation Husky—the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
The 45th hit the beaches near Scoglitti. It was chaos. High winds, rough seas, and a green division trying to find its legs. But they didn't just survive; they thrived. They pushed through the rugged Sicilian interior, outmarching even the veteran divisions. This was where the "citizen-soldier" myth became reality. These were guys who grew up in the Dust Bowl or working ranches in Arizona. They knew how to handle heat, scarcity, and hard work.
Then came Salerno. Then Anzio.
Anzio was a nightmare. Basically, the Allies were stuck in a tiny beachhead while the Germans sat on the high ground and rained shells down on them for months. The 45th held the "Caves" near Carroceto. It was miserable. Trench foot, constant shelling, and the smell of death. It's where the division earned its reputation for being "stubborn." They just wouldn't move. They dug in and stayed.
The Liberation of Dachau and the Burden of Memory
If you look at the history of the 45th Infantry Division, you eventually hit April 29, 1945. This is the day everything changed for the men in the unit. They reached the gates of Dachau concentration camp.
They weren't prepared. Nobody could be.
The soldiers found the "death train"—dozens of railcars filled with emaciated corpses. When they entered the camp, the smells and the sights of the survivors were more than many could handle. This led to one of the most controversial incidents in American military history: the Dachau liberation reprisals. Some soldiers, pushed past their breaking point by the horror they witnessed, summarily executed German SS guards.
It’s a heavy topic. Some historians defend the soldiers' actions as a natural reaction to witnessing genocide; others see it as a breakdown of military discipline. Colonel Felix Sparks, who led the 3rd Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment, spent years trying to clarify what happened that day. He admitted that the chaos was real. It wasn't a "clean" liberation. It was raw and horrific.
Beyond the Battlefield: Why the 45th Matters Now
The 45th wasn't just a World War II unit. They were called back up for the Korean War in 1950. Think about that for a second. These guys had just gotten home, started families, and then they were shipped off to another brutal peninsula to fight in the snow. They were one of only two National Guard divisions to see combat in Korea.
They held the line at "Old Baldy" and "Pork Chop Hill."
Today, the legacy lives on through the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City. It’s actually one of the best military museums in the country. They have a massive collection of tanks, planes, and—interestingly enough—Adolf Hitler’s personal mirror and towels, which 45th soldiers liberated from his Munich apartment.
What People Get Wrong About the 45th
- They weren't just "replacements." People often think National Guard units were B-teams. The 45th proved they were elite.
- The "Thunderbird" wasn't always the plan. As mentioned, that swastika history is real and a fascinating look at how global politics can ruin a symbol.
- The casualty rates were staggering. The division suffered over 20,000 casualties during WWII. That’s nearly the entire strength of the division replaced twice over.
The 45th Infantry Division represents the transition of the United States from an isolationist country with a tiny professional army to a global superpower fueled by citizen-soldiers. They were the bridge.
Practical Steps for Researching the 45th
If you're looking to dig deeper into the history of this specific unit or perhaps find a relative's service record, don't just stick to Wikipedia.
- Visit the 45th Infantry Division Museum website. They have digitized many of the unit's records and have a massive photographic archive.
- Search the National Archives (NARA). Use the term "157th, 179th, and 180th Infantry Regiments"—these were the core components of the 45th.
- Read "The Liberator" by Alex Kershaw. It's probably the most readable account of Felix Sparks and the 45th's journey through Europe. It’s visceral and well-researched.
- Check the "After Action Reports" (AARs). These are the daily logs kept by officers during combat. They are dry, but they tell you exactly where a unit was on a specific day, down to the coordinates.
The story of the 45th is a reminder that history isn't just dates on a page. It's the story of a ranch hand from New Mexico sitting in a frozen foxhole in the Vosges Mountains, wondering if he'll ever see a desert sunset again. It's about the weight of what they saw at Dachau and how they carried that home to small towns across the American West. They weren't superheroes. They were just men who did a job that nobody should ever have to do.
💡 You might also like: Why Student-Teacher Boundary Violations Still Happen and What the Law Says
If you want to understand the American experience in the mid-20th century, you have to understand the Thunderbirds.