The 5th Infantry Division was activated on December 11, 1917 and deployed to France in the Spring of 1918. After several months patrolling in the French 7th Army area, the Division captured the town of Frapelle on August 17, 1918.In the St. Mihiel offensive in September, the 5th Division earned the nickname "Die rote teufel" or Red Devils, and 21 Distinguished Service Crosses. During action on the Meuse leading up to the Armistice in November, members of the Division earned two Medals of Honor and a further 87 DSCs., sustaining 1,098 KIAs. After occupation duty in Luxembourg, the Division returned home and was deactivated on October 4, 1921 at Camp Jackson, SC.
On October 16, 1939 the 5th Infantry Division was reactivated with the 2nd, 10th, and 11th Infantry Regiments. During 1940 and 1941, the Division moved piecemeal to Iceland for garrison duty. In the Fall of 1943, the Division redeployed to Britain to prepare for Normandy, landing at Utah beach in the area of St. Mere Eglise on D+3. The 5th Division transferred to Patton's Third Army in August, participating in the sweep across France during the summer of 1944. The Division suffered heavy losses taking Metz in November, and participated in the counterattacks that followed the Germans' Ardennes offensive. The 5th Division crossed the Rhine on March 22, 1945, taking Frankfurt on March 28, and participating in the mop up of the Ruhr Valley before finishing the war in Czechoslovakia. The 5th Division was deactivated on September 20, 1945 at Camp Campbell, KY.
Reactivated and inactivated numerous times in the postwar period, the Division's 1st Brigade in 1968, fighting near the DMZ, in the Quang Tri province and around Lang Voi near the Laotian border. The brigade left Vietnam in July 1971, and was deactivated at Fort Carson, Colorado in August 1971. The division reactivated at Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1976. Elements of the Division served in Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. The Division inactivat
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