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123rd Infantry Regiment DUI -- Help!


MrStiv
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I’m a little confused about an insignia that is supposed to be the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 123rd Infantry Regiment. What makes it a bit confusing is that there were two 123rd Infantry Regiments. The first was organized in 1846 as 1st Regiment, Alabama Volunteers, and was redesignated 123rd Infantry Regiment, 31st Division in 1917. It was demobilized from 1919 until 1946 when it was reconstituted, reorganized, and redesignated the 200th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division, Alabama National Guard. Note that this unit could not have served in World War II because it wasn’t even mobilized during that time.

 

The second one was activated in 1942 and served with 33rd Infantry Division in the Pacific Theater and apparently has been inactivated/disbanded for some time. Its Distinctive Unit Insignia has a winged dragon and the motto “1-2-3-Go.” The Institute of Heraldry says the winged dragon insignia was approved on 9 November 1951 and rescinded on 7 January 1975.

 

What’s confusing is that several sources list the insignia below as the 123rd Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, but the only description I can find of it does not match the history of either regiment. In Barry Jason Stein’s book on U.S. Army Heraldic Crests, the description matches the DESIGN of the insignia, but does NOT match the HISTORY of either regiment.

 

For one thing, it says that the red and yellow in the insignia refer to the “organization’s service as cavalry during World War II,” which doesn’t apply to either regiment (as far as my research can discern). It goes on to say “the unit was cited twice by the Republic of France: once for action in Lorraine symbolized by the aileron and the other for action in Normandy.” Obviously, this can’t apply to the Pacific-deployed regiment, and the first 123rd Regiment could not have seen action in Normandy because there wasn’t any during World War I. Lastly, it says the six pierced mullets are for “six campaigns of World War I and World War II,” a statement that again can’t apply to either of the regiments above.

 

Any insight on what’s going on with insignia would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

post-168114-0-17786000-1578410520.png

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The DI of the 123rd Inf adopted in 1952. Discontinued in 1954 when the 123rd until was inactivated

post-34986-0-17302800-1376032938.jpg

 

 

And the one adopted in I think 1968, these were originally the DIs of the 106th Tank Battalion, the 106th was redesignated as the new 123rd Inf then, not sure if the 123rd Inf is still around in the IIlinois NG.

post-34986-0-30434000-1376033207.jpg

 

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The Heraldry in so far as devices, are taken from units these units were consolidated with in the post war period.

 

 

With the 123rd TK Bn/123rd Inf, Those Mullets are from the old 106th Cavalry IIING which was in the ETO as the 106th Cavalry Group with the 106th and 121st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons, Five Campaigns in all, Normandy, Northern France, The Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, not sure on the sixth mullet, maybe one for some other obscure unit amalgamated with this unit in the post war period when it was the 106th Tk Bn or the new 123rd Inf, the army does stuff like that

 

 

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The 106th Cav, Tk Bn, thus the 1968 activated 123rd Inf gets it's WWI credits from the old 122nd Field Artillery Regiment, Three Campaigns

 

It is confusing as hell, this unit takes lineages from a whole lot of redesignated units parent to this Illinois NG unit, thrree ANNEX's even I get confused :lol: So not sure why the Six Mullet, should be Eight, and more cause they tacked on the Pacific credits for the other various units it was ultimately consolidated with.

 

https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/armor-cav/106cvrg.htm

 

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I think I've got it sussed out...so, the 106th Cavalry was redesignated as the 123rd Infantry, and the old design was rescinded and this new one used based upon the history of the 106th Cavalry which did serve in Europe. I'm still trying to figure out where the 123rd Tank Battalion fits into this..

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The 106th Tk Bn wore the "old" DI of the 106th Cavalry. The 241st Tank Bn (149th Armor Gp) wore the "old" DI of the 149th Inf until it was rolled up into the 123rd Armor Regt - CARS "Guide On Our Tracks. At least I think that's what Sawicki said.....

 

and when I look at the ASMIC TP Search Index, I found in the Oct-Sec 81 issue that the "Guide On Our Tracks" DI was auth for the 123rd Arm 20 Mar 66 and redesignated for 123rd Inf 5 Oct 74.

 

You CAN lose your mind with all these Army redesignations, which from a collector or historian's point of view make NO sense. It's like they use a dart board or Ouija board sometimes.

 

And even after writing this, I'm still confused.

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The 106th Tk Bn wore the "old" DI of the 106th Cavalry. The 241st Tank Bn (149th Armor Gp) wore the "old" DI of the 149th Inf until it was rolled up into the 123rd Armor Regt - CARS "Guide On Our Tracks. At least I think that's what Sawicki said.....

 

and when I look at the ASMIC TP Search Index, I found in the Oct-Sec 81 issue that the "Guide On Our Tracks" DI was auth for the 123rd Arm 20 Mar 66 and redesignated for 123rd Inf 5 Oct 74.

 

You CAN lose your mind with all these Army redesignations, which from a collector or historian's point of view make NO sense. It's like they use a dart board or Ouija board sometimes.

 

And even after writing this, I'm still confused.

Welcome to the Club tred, I'll never understand even half of what they did with lineages :lol:

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The Heraldry in so far as devices, are taken from units these units were consolidated with in the post war period.

 

 

With the 123rd TK Bn/123rd Inf, Those Mullets are from the old 106th Cavalry IIING which was in the ETO as the 106th Cavalry Group with the 106th and 121st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons, Five Campaigns in all, Normandy, Northern France, The Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, not sure on the sixth mullet, maybe one for some other obscure unit amalgamated with this unit in the post war period when it was the 106th Tk Bn or the new 123rd Inf, the army does stuff like that

 

 

A Typo on my part,123rd TK Bn/123rd Inf, Should read 106th Tk Bn/123rd Inf.

 

tred is right on the 106th Tk Bn, they did indeed wear the DI for the old 106th Cav, that new one with the Mullets will be that late 60s adopted one.

 

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Just to show you, this from the Post the Patch Type Crest Being Worn topic.

 

The 33rd Infantry Division as seen on Pvt Edward Colwell, the infamous upside down wearing CIB GI from CHASEUSA11B's recent post, posted here with his kind permission. Colwell is from the 123rd Infantry, the reason Colwell wears this type of Crest is that the WWII era 123rd Infantry had no DI, it only got one for the first time in March 1952, when the 123rd Inf was on active duty with the 44th Infantry Division lIlinois National Guard.

 

post-34986-0-32280100-1376032850.jpg

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

Dco, 1st Battalion, 123rd Inf of the Illinois Army National Guard was my first unit in my military career (1993-1995) before I went active duty. There was some confusion with the DUI because there was the Flying Dinosaur with a dagger "1-2-3-Go" DUI and the Guide on our Tracks. I got issued the Guide on our Tracks DUI when I joined the unit. My belief is that the flying dinosaur DUI was discontinued and Guide on my Tracks was adopted at some point prior to me being there. What I'm trying to figure out right now is if my old unit's lineage is associated with the 123rd Infantry Regiment that fought in WW2 under the 33rd Inf Div in the Pacific.

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26 minutes ago, bugkill said:

Dco, 1st Battalion, 123rd Inf of the Illinois Army National Guard was my first unit in my military career (1993-1995) before I went active duty. There was some confusion with the DUI because there was the Flying Dinosaur with a dagger "1-2-3-Go" DUI and the Guide on our Tracks. I got issued the Guide on our Tracks DUI when I joined the unit. My belief is that the flying dinosaur DUI was discontinued and Guide on my Tracks was adopted at some point prior to me being there. What I'm trying to figure out right now is if my old unit's lineage is associated with the 123rd Infantry Regiment that fought in WW2 under the 33rd Inf Div in the Pacific.

The ASMIC Armor Cav DI Catalog Volume 2 101-end shows your GUIDE ON OUR TRACKS DI (126th Armor was redes 123rd Inf 5 Dec 75. Good luck w/ the lineage.     

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7 hours ago, tredhed2 said:

The ASMIC Armor Cav DI Catalog Volume 2 101-end shows your GUIDE ON OUR TRACKS DI (126th Armor was redes 123rd Inf 5 Dec 75. Good luck w/ the lineage.     

Thanks for the info. Ok, after doing some digging, I was able to determine that my unit was mechanized infantry while under HHD of the Illinois Army National Guard back in 1970, so that would explain receiving the Guide on my Tracks DUI and the Flying Dinosaur. At some point, the unit was placed with the 34th Infantry Division under the 66 Brigade (which explains being issued the Red Bull unit patch when I joined the unit in 1993) and we weren't mechanized when I got there as an 11H. We were transitioning into an air assault formation while I was there  until 1995 and then I went active to serve in the 82nd and a number of other units. 

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And to add, I was able to link the 123rd Infantry Regiment to my old unit based on the fact that the 123rd Inf was placed with the 44th Inf Div in the Illinois Army National Guard after being relieved from 33rd Inf Div after WW2.

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Ok, after further research, I can now confirm that the Guide on our Tracks DUI was approved back in 1967 when the 123rd Infantry was mechanized. The lineage that my old unit followed was the 106th Cavalry Group and 121st Cavalry Squadron during WWI and WWII. Now, I was also handed the original Flying Dinosaur from the 123 Infantry Regiment that fought in the Pacific, so we basically follow both lineages given how we were both light infantry and mechanized. Here is the link to U.S. Army Heraldic Crests: A Complete Illustrated History of Authorized Distinctive Insignia (Right click and open in new tab, select page 171, and look under 123d Infantry for all the information about the crest).

 

 https://books.google.com/books?id=99fh34SJWr8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=123d infantry&f=false

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  • 8 months later...
2 hours ago, AHR said:

HERE'S A BETTER PIC

 

AHR

IMG_1613D.jpeg

 

Great find. I can confirm that the "Guide On Our Tracks" DUI is the correct DUI for my first unit and has lineage through the 106th Cavalry Regiment. The previous two DUI are specific to the WW2 123rd Inf unit that fought in the Pacific. When they activated my unit back in 1968 as a mech infantry unit, they did not link the lineage of the WW2 infantry unit. By the way, what book is that?

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This one I'll bet is one of those Unauthorized Occupation Made DIs one sees for units that had no DI of their own, one sees these both in Germany and Japan in those days. This one, note the devices, we see New Guinea, Luzon in the Philippines, then Japan, and what looks like Mount Fuji, can't see what the motto is, nor what the unpainted devices are, stars???  can you tell us.

123.PNG

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5 hours ago, patches said:

This one I'll bet is one of those Unauthorized Occupation Made DIs one sees for units that had no DI of their own, one sees these both in Germany and Japan in those days. This one, note the devices, we see New Guinea, Luzon in the Philippines, then Japan, and what looks like Mount Fuji, can't see what the motto is, nor what the unpainted devices are, stars???  can you tell us.

123.PNG


it says “1-2-3- Go” on the bottom scroll which was the motto of the 123rd Inf Regt. I did some more digging and was able to confirm that a number of units (129th, 130th, and others) were used to create the 123rd. The companies within the 123rd carried a number of different lineages and my former unit carried the lineage of the 106th Cavalry where the “Guide On Our Tracks” DUI was created in 1967 when we were mechanized infantry. The 106th Cav lineage isn’t part of the whole regiment, but only the Tank Company.

 

it is like a puzzle to piece together everything due to the activations and deactivations, but I used the Illinois National Guard lineage documents that laid out pretty much everything and it is finally great to know what exact lineage my first unit carried. Hell, I feel compelled to claim both the 123rd Inf and 106th Cav.

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  • 1 month later...

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