1941 Division Artillery Insignias

The 25th Division Artillery was constituted and activated on 1 October 1941. Of the four battalions, only the 8th Field Artillery Battalion had a Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) that had been previously authorized by the Army for the 8th Field Artillery Regiment. The design of a distinctive unit insignia, the approval of the design by the Army and then its manufacture often took years. To build espirit de corps, the 64th Field Artillery, which had previously been the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Field Artillery Regiment, painted over their 8th Field Artillery insignias with a 64. The need for each battalion to have distinctive identification for morale purposes was recognized by the Commanding General, 25th Division Artillery. Approval was given for interim insignias for the Division Artillery Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) and the 64th, 89th and 90th Field Artillery Battalions until Army-level authorized insignia were procured. Thus a sewn-on felt red circle with yellow unit numerals was approved for wear on the khaki garrison cap.

The Japanese attack on Hawaii on 7 December 1941 gave procurement of authorized DUIs a very low priority. So low that all three battalions fought WW II without authorized DUIs. The 89th did not receive an authorized DUI until after it had been reassigned to the 11th Airborne Division in 1951. The 64th and 90th fought the entire Korean War and were back at Schofield Barracks when the 64th finally received its DUI in 1954 and the 90th theirs in 1955. Both were inactivated in 1957. The 69th Field Artillery which joined the 25th Division Artillery in Korea, also fought through WW II and Korea without a DUI, finally receiving it in 1953. The 69th was also inactivated in 1957. The HHB Division Artillery was authorized to wear the 25th Division DUI when it was approved in 1965.
–Images and notes courtesy of John Keliher.

HHB, 25th Div. Arty	8th Field Artillery	64th Field Artillery
64th Field Artillery	89th Field Artillery	90th Field Artillery