Upon my arrival at Company M, 14th Infantry, 71st Infantry Division, my life changed tremendously, for the better, I think.The figure at the top is the Regimental Crest of the 14th Infantry, with parts suggested from its participation in the Phillipine Insurrection, the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, and the American Civil War. The figure below it is the shoulder patch of the 71st Division.
The regiments of the day had three battalions, each with a Hq&HqCo and four lettered companies. Companies A-C, E-G, and I-L (no J) were rifle companies, and companies D, H, and M were heavy weapons companies armed with water-cooled machine guns and 81-mm mortars. Since I had training on all infantry weapon in basic and OCS, I was pleased to be assigned to a mortar platoon.
The division had been organized the year before as the 71st Light Division, had been furnished mules for transport, and trained in Hunter Liggett Military Reservation in California, and at Camp Carson in Colorado. That did not work out very well so then it was being reorganized and retrained as the 71st Infanty Division at Fort Benning, Georgia, with more troops and trucks for transport.
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