FLORIDA'S ARMY





































Troops of the 31st Division, 1st Platoon. 124th Regiment, descend sixty feet down life line to make crossing to other side of road. after
Mutian Bridge on Sayre Highway was wrecked by retreating Japanese, Mundanoa, Philippines. 30 April 1945

fering with American activities on the coast and in the have resulted in incredibly bloody battles, with attend-
major cities. ant casualties, as the Japanese defended their sacred na-
 The terrain was jungle, interspersed with cleared tional soil. Fortunately for all concerned, including
agricultural areas. The roads were few and narrow and Florida's Guardsmen in the 31st Division, it was a battle
crossed many defensible rivers. The Division's advance rendered unnecessary by the two bombs.
was contested by the Japanese every step of the way in- Although brief, the record of the Division was a
land. During the Battle of the Colgan Woods and the good one. In addition to the Battle Honors or Distin-
Defense of the Pulangi River, the 2nd Battalion of the guished Unit Citations awarded the 2nd and 3rd Bat-
124th earned a Distinguished Unit Citation, the second talions of the 124th Regiment, the 106th Combat
for the Regiment. Engineers and the Medical Detachment of the 124th In-
 And then. suddenly, it was all over. In August of fantry each received citations. Several other former
1945 two atomic bombs brought the collapsing Japanese Florida Guard formations received Meritorious Service
Empire to its knees. Japan surrendered and the World Awards. The Division had lost 400 men killed in action
War II combat career of the 31st Division was over. The or died of wounds, another 1400 had been wounded, but
Division spent the next few weeks accepting the surren- survived. The men of the Division had earned a
der of all Japanese troops in central Mindanao. The Di- basketful of medals. With combat duty at an end. the
vision's combat career had been relatively brief. It Division packed up and sailed for San Francisco. By
hadn't been planned that way. Everyone had known the Christmas, 1945, it had been deactivated and its men
anticipated invasion of the Japanese home islands would were on their way home.


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