To recognize the 100th anniversary of the 1st Infantry
Division, the century-old “Big Red One” will conduct a division run and a
Victory with Honors ceremony June 8.
The division run will start at 6:30 a.m. on Fort Riley’s Custer Hill. Every
unit at Fort Riley will take part in the run, led by Brig. Gen. Patrick D.
Frank, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley acting senior commander, and other
division leaders. The four-mile path will take Soldiers around Custer Hill
and past displays of military equipment.
The Victory with Honors ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. This will be the
official recognition ceremony for the division’s 100th anniversary, complete
with the firing of the period cannon “Old Thunder,” Soldiers in uniforms
from throughout the division’s history and a look back at the major
conflicts that have defined the world and the division over the last
century.
The 1st Inf. Div. was initially constituted as the First Expeditionary
Division in May 1917 before being officially organized in New York City on
June 8, 1917, under the command of Brig. Gen. William L. Siebert. Though the
Army had used temporary divisions since the Civil War, the Big Red One was
the first divisional unit created to fight in World War I.