Corp. Harold Deal Corrects Record; 81st Division Is Wild Cat Division, 1919

From the Hickory Daily Record, March 10, 1919

Wild Cat Division Deserves Its Title

Corp. Harold G. Deal writes the Record form Saint Blin, France, under date of February 22 correcting any impression that may be in the popular mind as to the current title of the 81^st division, or “Wild Cat” division.

Corporal Deal had just read an article in the Record in which the 30^th, or “Old Hickory,” was given the appellation, and produces facts, now no longer in controversy, to show that the 81^st has a full-fledged claim to the title. “We are the only division that ever came over wearing our insigna which is the red Wild Cat for the artillery and the blue for the infantry,” Corporal Deal writes.

Corporal Deal says he does not know when the division will sail. The boys enjoy their mail and the Record is a feast, he writes. He is exactly right in wanting to keep history straight. Both the Old Hickory and the Wild Cat divisions have something to be proud of and there is no reason for confusing their titles, officials or otherwise.