Four WWI turning points in one simple patch

by Staff Sgt. Robert M. Trujillo
9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs

8/20/2013 - BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- U.S. Air Force unit patches, like the 9th Reconnaisance Wing at Beale Air Force Base's four pattee cross, symbolize the tie between yesterday and today. Those four horizontally aligned crosses represent specific World War I engagements, starting in 1918.

Beale, Calif.'s 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 12th RS and 99th RS were directly involved in the WWI offensives by providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to ground commanders. Aircraft relayed troop movements, railroad activity, storage dumps, and enemy airfields locations.

"The importance of these events cannot be downplayed," said Rick Rodriguez, Beale's historian. "They shaped the very outcome of the World War I and America's future."

The first cross depicts the Champagne-Marne Campaign, which occurred July 15-18, 1918. During this campaign German soldiers attacked the U.S. 3rd Division with artillery and gas shelling. The Germans believed the offensive would win the war. On July 17th, it became evident that the Germans had been stopped and suffered heavy losses, and the next day began a series of allied counter-offensives.

The second cross represents the Aisne-Marne Campaign, which occurred July 18 to August 6, 1918. The operation was a combined French and American counter-offensive to the Champagne-Marne Campaign, which the Germans launched three days prior. The Aisne-Marne offensive marked a key turning point in the war; it ended the series of German victories that had begun in March 1918.

The third cross represents the St. Mihiel Campaign, which occurred from September 12-16, 1918. The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) under the command of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing launched its first major offensive operation as an independent army during WWI. The objective was to seize the German occupied town of St. Mihiel. U.S. combatant commanders included George S. Patton, who would win fame as an armored division and corps commander during World War II and Douglas MacArthur, whose efforts in the Pacific helped set the stage for allied victory.

The fourth cross represents the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, which occurred Sept. 26 to the surrender of the German Army on Nov. 11, 1918. Commanded by Pershing and logistically supported by then Col. George C. Marshall, the objective was the capture of the railroad/train station hub at Sedan, to break the rail net supporting the German Army in France. Marshall would go on to create an American financed recovery plan for Europe following World War II. He would win the Nobel Peace Proze for it in 1953.

Then Lt. Col. William "Billy" Mitchell and hundreds of aircraft from the United States Air Service also supported the battle. This offensive cost the U.S. more than 26,000 soldiers with more than 95,000 wounded.

The four cross patee serves as a reminder of the WWI sacrifices and triumphs Beale's squadrons endured.