Talk:Americal Division

Untitled
Also said that Americal is the 23rd Infantry Division. ~ender 2003-04-13 03:38 MST


 * Hmm, interesting, it seems that you're right. Every site I've been to, including globalsecurity.org and americal.org (the first is reliable, and the second should know) has stated that they are the same. I will redirect 23rd Infantry here. ugen64 03:32, Dec 7, 2003 (UTC)

Someone added this, only to have the entire edit reverted.


 * The 1968 My Lai Massacre of 500 villagers in Songmy village, also called My Lai 4, in South Vietnam by Charlie Company was the most shameful moment for the division. Lt. William Calley was convicted of premeditated murder of 22 villagers during the atrocity. Only one of his senior officers in the Americal Division was prosecuted for the mass killing and he was not convicted.


 * * Robert Mann. 2001. A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam. Basic Books.

Is this untrue? Or has someone simply censored it? If true, then the information is certainly relevant, and must be included. It would make sense to also include other information about the division, as My Lai is surely not the only thing that it is notable for since 1945. Tannin 10:54, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Origin of the name
for reasons not altogether clear to history A book I have says that the name "Americal Division" was suggested by one of Patch's soldiers, and approved by the Army on Patch's recommendation. I will put this into the article. I don't know if the claim is disputed, but if so I hope someone will come along later to correct me. Isomorphic 21:16, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * The book in question, should anyone need this, is The Great Commanders of World War II, Volume III:The Americans, by Charles Pfannes and Victor Salamone. Isomorphic 21:25, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Why was this unit awarded Vietnam Gallantry Cross ? ? ? ?

If you know, please email to Glamunyon@aol.com

Thanks
 * The origin of the Americal name stems from World War 2, and has its roots in Americans In new Caledonia, which is where it was formed. The "original" name of the Vietnam version was Task Force Oregon, which took three brigades from a variety of sources. They were later combined into a division and given the name "Americal" because that name was historically associated with a division formed outside the United States. Within a year or so, and accelerated by My Lai, the name was officially changed to 23rd Infantry Division (Americal).Intothatdarkness (talk) 18:24, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Force A
March 14, 1942 Two days after the task force later to be known as the Americal Division landed in Noumea, New Calidonia, the 182 Infantry was detailed to provide a special unit to be called Force A for advance occupation and outpost of the New Hebridies, a group of islands lying directly across the supply to U.S.

Assigned to this duty Co's L and M and attached units from Headquarters Co., Service Co., and Medical Det. plus a platoon of the 101st Engineers.

The total strength being in the vicinity of 480 men was in command of Brig. Gen Rose. That a B.G. should be placed in command of two infantry rifle companies indicated the degree of importance -- and hazard-- that G.H. G. placed upon the mission

comment from the source, a personal diary

It was sobering but then so was the entire situation and I think most of us felt it a distinction of sorts to be in the forefront

The men were assembled and told that Force A and 50 Aussies held the most advanced outpost of the Allied Forces in the Pacific. No retreat is possible, No reinforcements can be relied on. Supply is unreliable and limited. Japs are assembling a task force in the Truk area about 600 miles to the north, and their attack is expected. Our objective is to hamper their occupation of the New Hebridies in every way possible by destroying facilities, retreating to the interior and harassing them by guerilla action. Meanwhile we will set up observation outposts around the island and train ourselves in jungle survival, hit and run attack, Keeping radio contact with New Calidonia.

March 28, 1942 a unit of Force A left an isolated coconut plantation called Euralia for Port Havanah with (2) 2nd lt and 22 men on a small auxiliary sailboat with equipment and 10 days rations to begin their guerilla action by gathering the native headhunters and plantation workers from the nearby islands as force extenders.142.0.102.230 (talk) 12:05, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Espirito Santo Airport
May 27, 1942 Force A left Vila as deck cargo on New Zealand cruiser Leander []

May 28 At dawn anchored at Loganville Espirito Santo. No other vessels in harbor. US Destroyer escort patrolling harbor mouth while we unload. Only other military, two navy planes with ground crew and pilots also on beach

July 2, 1942 Jap convoy reported headed our way. Orders received to be ready to evacuate to interior. Buildings will be burned and surplus supplies destroyed if attack develops. M Company led by planter explored evacuation route into interior.

July 11, 1942 Naval Construction Bn. (CB's) surveyed and laid out airport in M. Michelles coconut plantation over a mile long to accomodate bombers. Schedule calls for ready to use in THREE WEEKS! Labor will be provided by L and M co.s

July 20 1942 New airfield looks like prairie. Three times since cutting began the direction of runway has been changed. Marines are instaling AA batteries all over the place. One just outside hospital making us the bullseye of counter battery fire.

July 21 Freighter anchored in front of Hospital today with heavy equipment and pierced steel matting for airfield, Also air bombs.

July 28 First planes came in to land today. Gen Rose first to alight, exuberant that field was done on time 17 days from survey to first landing 142.0.102.180 (talk) 11:44, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

FSB Mary Ann
24.68.226.166 21:21, 3 August 2007 (UTC) I've changed the empty link to Fire Base Mary Ann to link to the article surrounding the battle.

My Lai section is a little dismissive
the section states "The My Lai Massacre has always overshadowed the accomplishments of the Americal. This massacre involved a small group of idiots led by an idiot. Aside from this tragedy, no atrocities were committed by the Americal, as noted."

this phrasing seems too dismissive since there were hundreds if not thousands of actions that resembled My Lai. the cause of My Lai wasn't idiocy it was the assumption on the part of the USA Military Command that all the villages in any of the many free-fire zones were rebel held or rebel supporting. this resulted in unit commanders being given very general orders for clearance operations with, as always, a focus on the body-count.

which in turn resulted in units commiting these kind of crimes

sorry for the essay but this sort of POV shouldn't be in wikipedia

user name is teknotiss (didn't sign in) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.43.19.231 (talk) 00:26, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

There are numerous sources of My Lai not being the only atrocity or massacre committed during the Vietnam war. For instance Richard Stacewicz; Winter Soldiers: An Oral History of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War; Twayne Publishers, 1997  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.97.201 (talk) 21:46, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Never lost a battle?
That claim was proven to be nothing more than a silly myth; I have added the link to the Battle of Kham Duc as a point. The Americal Division was beaten in numerous battles.Canpark (talk) 12:13, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Looking for materials to flesh out his article?
If you are working on this article, be sure to use the holdings of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. As a participating GLAM Institution, the staff at PMML is eager to help other editors in making improvements to this article. TeriEmbrey (talk) 20:10, 24 August 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Requested move 4 July 2022

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

23rd Infantry Division (United States) → Americal Division – WP:COMMONNAME. Page was at Americal Division until it was moved without discussion in 2008. The official World War II history of the division, US Army sources, and even the official division reports overwhlemingly use the name Americal Division rather than its numerical designation. The division veterans organization is named Americal Division veterans. Wikipedia policy discourages use of the official name of a subject in cases where the official name is not the most common name of the subject, see WP:COMMONNAME and WP:OFFICIALNAMES. However, given the use in official sources published by the division of Americal Division as its name, it is questionable whether 23rd Infantry Division even has dominance as the official name. For example, a newspapers.com search of American newspapers from 1968 to 1971 gives 44k hits for Americal Division and only 3k matches for 23rd Infantry Division. Press coverage of My Lai, which the division received the most coverage for, mostly does not even mention the numerical division of the unit and refers to it solely as Americal. This would seem to be overwhelming evidence that Americal Division was the common name during Vietnam despite the official numbering. Our article should be at the most common name for the unit regardless of an insistence on strictly adhering to official nomenclature even when the latter is relatively rarely used. &#32;Kges1901 (talk) 22:09, 2 July 2022 (UTC) — Relisting. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 23:27, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
 * This is a contested technical request (permalink). Polyamorph (talk) 20:08, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Content immediately below copied from WP:RM/TR:


 * Given it's been moved a few times before, and has been relatively stable at it's current name since 2008 (except for a brief move and back again in January 2010 it looks like), i.e. longer than it was at Americal Division or Americal Division (United States), I don't think this is uncontroversial. I am not objecting to the request though. -Kj cheetham (talk) 22:47, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
 * The division was only officially known as Americal during World War 2. When it was reactivated for a time in the mid-1950s it was the 23rd Infantry Division, and officially in Vietnam it was also the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal). I would support a redirect from Americal to 23rd Infantry Division, but not moving the article to Americal. Shelby Stanton's "Vietnam Order of Battle" says the decision to use Americal in some Army documents was a MACV decision and wasn't official as far as the Army proper was concerned. What the veterans' organization calls itself doesn't really matter. It's not an official designation. and it's not uncommon for veterans' groups to use unit nicknames for their names. On the whole, the division was officially Americal for about two or three years in World War 2, and over five years as the 23rd Infantry Division (with or without Americal attached). Intothatdarkness 15:09, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
 * The Americal Division designation was the common name during Vietnam, however, and WP:COMMONNAME overrides what faraway Army officials at the Pentagon called it on paper when the relevant theatre command, MACV and its own documents often called it the Americal Division. For example, a newspapers.com search of American newspapers from 1968 to 1971 gives 44k hits for Americal Division and only 3k matches for 23rd Infantry Division. Press coverage of My Lai, which the division received the most coverage for, mostly does not even mention the numerical division of the unit and refers to it solely as Americal. This would seem to be overwhelming evidence that Americal Division was the common name during Vietnam despite the official numbering. Our article should be at the most common name for the unit regardless of an insistence on strictly adhering to official nomenclature even when the latter is relatively rarely used. Kges1901 (talk) 02:33, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I would be careful about using reports as documentation for a unit's name. It's not at all uncommon to see units referenced by their semi-official nickname in those documents. It's also worth referencing the stuff on the 1st Cavalry Division here. The official designation during Vietnam was 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), even though the term 1st Air Cavalry Division was used in both reports and press coverage. But I'm sure, as usual, Wikipedia will go its own way. Maybe we can even use the obituary defense, as the division isn't currently active. Intothatdarkness 15:26, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Intothatdarkness is completely correct here in regard to widespread formation and unit use of incorrect nicknames in official documents. See User talk:VilePig for more contemporary examples. Buckshot06 (talk) 18:45, 7 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Oppose the official designation should be used. Mztourist (talk) 03:08, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment on policy and guidelines: Here Kges1901 is arguing for WP:COMMONNAME at last name used, Vietnam. Mztourist and others arguing for the official name are arguing in line with the official designation, which is the first and highest-priority recommendation in WP:MILMOS. I've just spent a couple of minutes checking which, COMMONNAME or the MILMOS, if either, has the highest status in Wikipedia policy and guidelines. It turns out that COMMONNAME is *policy* while the MILMOS is a *guideline.* That is, if we were arguing purely over which had the highest claim in line with WP instructions, we would go with COMMONNAME, but that would have to be considered across the division's whole history, though, Kges1901 is correct, Vietnam as the most recent and highest-profile action for the division does have a strong input. Buckshot06 (talk) 05:04, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I should note I am no scholar of the Southwest Pacific or particularly of the American War in Vietnam, and I am Neutral. Buckshot06 (talk) 05:04, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
 * My argument is that MILMOS does not disallow exceptions for common names that differ from original designations as the guideline stats that The name should generally be either the official name used by the armed forces to which the unit or base belongs; or, in cases where no relevant formal name exists or where a formal name is not commonly employed by historians, the most common name used in historical literature. There are numerous examples of historians who use Americal Division solely to return to the unit, and even Shelby Stanton refers to the unit in Rise and Fall of an American Army' as the Americal Division after his initial mention that includes its numerical designation. Some examples of authors who use Americal Division solely or almost solely regarding Vietnam are John Prados in Vietnam, Darryl James in Americal Division Artillery Air Section Helicopters in Vietnam, Keith William Nolan in Into Laos, McLeroy and Sanders in Bait: The Battle of Kham Duc, Adrien Traas in the US Army Center of Military History's own Turning Point 1967-1968. Traas admits in the publication that the division is better known as the Americal Division, and uses the Americal designation to mark the unit on the book's maps and follows this for his subsequent works in the US Army-published pamphlet series on Vietnam. Even in Erik Villard's Staying the Course'', the most recent book-length US Army official history volume on Vietnam (CMH, 2017), he only mentions the 23rd Infantry Division two or three times and the other 38 mentions including the maps refer to the 'Americal Division' without mentioning the number. This shows that even the US Army Center of Military History acknowledges that Americal Division is the common name for this unit. In these books, the 23rd Infantry Division designation, if mentioned at all, is mentioned only to introduce the unit and it is referred to afterwards solely as the Americal Division. Of course, all WWII mentions of the division are about the Americal Division only since it saw substantial combat in the South Pacific during the war as the 23rd Infantry Division designation was a postwar, solely on paper invention by the Army Staff. Ultimately, WP should not blindly follow official names when they are not the common name. Kges1901 (talk) 00:22, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
 * So how do you plan to deal with the version that was activated in the mid-1950s? It was never called Americal. I see nothing wrong with a redirect from Americal to the official, post-World War 2 designation for the unit. Use of nicknames is not uncommon in works both official and unofficial (Big Red One for the First Infantry Division, or The Cav for the First Cavalry Division, for example), so I don't consider that definitive. Intothatdarkness 16:33, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
 * In fact, the 1954-1956 iteration was called Americal as well, see this newspaper clipping for one example. The usage of Americal is different from the examples you mention because the level of usage is much different given that Americal Division designation (not just a nickname) is primarily and often almost exclusively used to refer to the unit. Conversely, I doubt you could find a US Army official history that exclusively refers to the 1st Cavalry Division as The Cav. Kges1901 (talk) 18:54, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I still think preference should be given to the official designation. Even the Army's own official unit awards and campaign recognition registry lists it as the 23rd Infantry Division. But given Wikipedia's preference for recreating things in its own image I'm pretty sure your view will prevail. Intothatdarkness 22:46, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Support per WP:COMMONNAME. I am a scholar of the South West Pacific Area, and this was the official name during World War II. It wasn't a nickname like the Big Red One. During the Vietnam period it ran afoul of an Army regulation that divisions are numbered.   Hawkeye7   (discuss)  21:28, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * This doesn't address the division's activation in the 1950s or its official designation during Vietnam. No one has contended the designation of Americal for World War 2 is incorrect...it's the later period that raises issues. Intothatdarkness 15:15, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Support - Per WP:COMMONNAME, the official name of the units Does. Not. Matter. if it was commonly known as something else for all or part of its history. What matters is what it is commonly known as in reliable sources now. Reliable coverage of, for example, the My Lai Massacre referring the division "Americal" are trivial to show, and this was during the period when it was officially something other than "Americal". FOARP (talk) 15:32, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
 * The official name DOES matter. If Wikipedia choses to ignore that, whatever. Obviously the move is going to happen, but saying the official name does not matter is simply ridiculous. No lineage or campaign honors are tracked using the supposed common name, for example. Intothatdarkness 17:58, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
 * We already decoded to do that on Wikipedia. The official name is 23d Infantry Division but a decision was taken to not use American ordinals. Hawkeye7   (discuss)  18:21, 27 July 2022 (UTC)