posted Friday, January 21, updated Sunday, January 23, 2005

Letters to David Irving on this Website

… and incidentally…1951 shipping line’s flag

US Army National Guard had swastika badge -until WW2

WITH regard to your piece on the swastika, I have some more news about the use of this symbol.

In the US Army National Guard, the 45th Infantry Division used a swastika as their shoulder patch. It was used up to (I think) 1939 or 1940. The division, which recruited in Arizona and New Mexico, had a high proportion of Indians (‘Native Americans’ in PC-speak), who also thought the swastika was a symbol of the sun.

However, once the US started to warm up for war, this symbol was obviously not one with which they wished to be associated, so the shoulder patch was changed to a stylised ‘Thunderbird’.

The division served with distinction in WWII, in Italy, Southern France, and Germany. One of the division’s more notable members was the cartoonist, Bill Mauldin, whose ‘Willie’ and ‘Joe’ GI characters won him a Pulitzer prize.

Tony Walker

Author of ‘Snides’, the first in a series of action thrillers featuring John and Sally Pilgrim. ‘Snides’ is now on sale at Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, and in the Phoenix area, at the Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe. The sequel, ‘Pilgrim’s Banner’ will be available in June 2005. Check out my web site at: www.johnpilgrimbooks.com

The new Little Hitlers Germans demand Europe-wide ban on use or display of swastika, Nazi symbols  The crooked cross Hindus in Britain have started a campaign to ‘redeem’ their Aryan swastika from its Nazi past Worked into a woodwork project