Men In "Red Bull" Division Receive 6th Overseas Bar
By Frank Miles
With the Fifth Army in Italy (IDPA) -- A few soldiers of the 34th division, most of them Iowans and Minnesotans, have sewed a sixth overseas bar on their jackets and shirts for 36 months in military service out of the United States.
The Stars and Stripes reported:
"Everyone knows the story of the "Red Bull" division. Three years ago they were made up almost entirely of Iowa and Minnesota national guardsmen. They were the group, which had most nearly completed its training, and theirs was the job of setting up machinery in Ireland for other troops to come.
"There was a time when anyone, who did not come from Iowa or Minnesota, especially Iowa, was considered a stranger and people asked how he got into the division. But that was long ago. It has been an expensive tour from North Africa to North Italy and the replacements have been many. Now when you see a man from Iowa or Minnesota, you look at him a little different because you know that he is one of the old men.
"It would be great to be able to report that there are no men left, who have not had a crack at going back to the states on rotation or furloughs, but such is not the case. When you get an outfit where everybody has been overseas about the same length of time, some guys have to wait.
"There are still many three-year men sweating it out -- guys like Sgt. Raymond Krause, of Fairfield, Iowa, and Lt. Walter Ranard, of Eldon, Iowa, who, like many of the 34th's junior officers, came overseas as enlisted men.
"These fellows in the service company of the 133rd infantry, like those in other units of the regiment, have seen a great change -- not only in personnel but in the character of the regiment."
Source: Mount Pleasant News, February 17, 1945
