This is the Crest of the 290th Regiment of the 75th Infantry Division -- Dad's unit in WWII.

On Memorial Day, 1999, Rob Smith, a friend, and himself a member of the 75th Infantry Division, 290th Regiment, Anti-Tank Company, sent this Crest to several of us in the "75th Family."

Here's the History according to Rob: The Crest was originally designed in the Summer of 1945, while the Regiment was stationed in France after V-E-Day. The Division and Regiment were deactivated, however, before the Crest could be approved and adopted by the Army Bureau of Heraldry. It was reconstructed 50 years later by Raymond C. Smith, Antitank Co.-290th, from the original design.

Four insignia represent the four major campaigns of the 75th Division in World War II. In order, they are . . . the Pine Tree, which represents The Ardennes Forest in Belgium; the Cross of Lorraine, which represents the Colmar Pocket in Alsace-Lorraine, France; the White Diagonal, which represents the crossing of the Rhine River; and finally the Toothed Gear, which represents the Industrial Rhur Valley in Germany.

What is interesting to me is that when my Grandmother Peirson died in 1960, I found a Cross of Lorraine among her things. I don't know why she had it, or whether it had belonged to my Dad, but it was silver, and it shined up bright.

While I was never particularly religious, I kept the Cross, and in 1968-69, for reasons that are still unknown to me, I wore it with my own dog tags through the thick & thin of Vietnam, successfully, as it turned out, though with still no clue of any possible significance. It's not very bright in this picture, nor was it in Vietnam, where bright was never an advantage.

Through all these years, until Memorial Day, 1999, I didn't even know what a Cross of Lorraine was.

But today, Memorial Day, 1999, Rob sent the 290th Crest, and it hit me: The Cross may have been much more than a random keepsake. Who knows, it might even have kept me alive, or helped me get through. Dad was killed in the Ardenne Forest and never made it to the Colmar Pocket or Alsace-Lorraine, but even the possibility of a connection between Dad's unit and my survival will cause me to treasure both the Cross -- and the Crest -- forever.

Thanks, Rob.


-- RFP

PS. Also in just today . . .(5/30/99) is a picture from old friend Bob Svoboda, who himself was with the Naval Amphibious Forces during WWII. This shows Bob's daughter, Kathy, and his son, Tom, with Bob's wife, Jean, walking through the Military Cemetary at Bastogne, several years ago.

Thanks, Bob. I have continuing pride that men like you and Rob served with my Father.


Here are links to four generations . . .

>>>>Click Here to go back to the first page in this series.
>>>>Click Here to go on to the first Frost page.
>>>>Or Click Here for Rik's page.
>>>>Or Click Here for Lindsey's site.