We’ve previously listed some awesome nicknames bestowed on the U.S. military by enemy forces, names like “The Bloody Bucket” that was bestowed on the 28th Infantry Regiment and their vicious tactics.
Here are 8 more unit nicknames from terrified enemies all proudly worn by U.S. military formations:
1. Walking Dead
The nickname “the Walking Dead,” was originally used by Ho Chi Minh to describe all Marines in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam, but the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, suffered and fought through more in that valley than nearly any other, losing 747 Marines and suffering thousands wounded in the war. Their normal unit strength was only 800.
While some have tried to change the unit’s name to “Walking Death,” Marines kept going back to “Walking Dead.”
2. Roosevelt’s SS
The 30th Infantry Division was pitted against Germany’s elite 1st SS Division over and over. First at St. Lo and then Mortain in France and finally in the Battle of the Bulge. The 30th defeated the 1st SS every time, leading to the German high command dubbing them “Roosevelt’s SS Troops.”
3. Rakkasans
A group of soldiers in occupied Japan were trying to talk to locals when the translator had to figure out how to describe paratroopers to the locals. He went with Rakkasans which meant, “falling down umbrella men.” The locals found the construction clumsy but funny and they made it a permanent nickname.
4. The Red Devils or Red Bulls
Originally known as “The Sandstorm Division,” the 34th Infantry Division’s iconic steer skull patch led to German soldiers in Italy referring to it as the “Red Devils” or “Red Bulls.” The 34th adopted “Red Bulls” as their official nickname.
5. Devils Brigade
One of the greatest fighting forces of World War II was the First Special Service Force, an American-Canadian joint commando unit. According to legend, a German diary was found at Anzio that referred to the legendary men as “The black devils.” The name was applied to the unit as both “The Devils Brigade” and “The Devil’s Brigade.”
6. Iron Men of Metz
The city of Metz in the northeast of France had repelled invaders without a single defeat since 451 A.D. when America decided to crack its teeth on it in 1944. The 95th Infantry Division’s success against the Germans got the nickname “The Bravest of the Brave.” The division preferred a nickname from the Germans, “The Iron Men of Metz.”
7. Roosevelt’s Butchers
The German command referred to the 4th Armored Division as elite, but their propagandists called them “Roosevelt’s Highest Paid Butchers.” The “Highest Paid” part was dropped and the 4th used “Roosevelt’s Butchers.”
8. The Little Seahorse
The 36th Engineer Regiment was tasked with conducting and supporting amphibious assaults in World War II and hit the beaches at Morocco, Sicily, Naples, Anzio, and Southern France. Their specialty was symbolized by a seahorse on their patch and, after the regiment held 7 miles of frontline at Anzio, the Germans nicknamed them “The Little Seahorse Division.”
“Division” was dropped since the unit was a regiment and later a brigade but has never grown to a full division.