US Army 69th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a stylized red and blue 69

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 69th Infantry Division, United States Army, nicknamed the Fighting Sixty-Ninth. The patch design has stylized 69 numerals, in the national colors of red, white, and blue. The 69th Division landed in Le Havre, France, on January 24, 1945, and advanced through France and Belgium into Germany. On April 19, 1945, the Division captured Leipzig. Unit troops discovered Leipzig-Thekla concentration camp, a subcamp of Buchenwald. The SS guards had set fire to the barracks with 300 people inside the day before and the 69th immediately began providing aid for the 90 to 100 survivors. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, and the Division remained on occupation duty until their return to the US on September 13, 1945. They were inactivated on September 16, 1945.