Units
4-32 Armor
4th Battalion, 32d Armor
"REDLIONS"
Brief History- Lineage
Constituted 13 January 1941 in the Regular Army as Company D, 2d Armored Regiment, an element of the 3d Armored Division. Activated 15 April 1941 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. Redesignated 8 May 1941 as Company D, 32d Armored Regiment. Transferred 26 June 1944 from the 2d Battalion, 32d Armored Regiment, to 1st Battalion, 32d Armored Regiment. Inactivated 10 November 1945 in Germany.
Redesignated 7 July 1947 as Company A, 32d Tank Battalion. Activated 15 July 1947 at Ft Knox, Kentucky, as an element of the 3d Armored Division. Redesignated 30 July 1948 as Company A, 32d Medium Tank Battalion. Redesignated 15 March 1955 as Company A, 32d Tank Battalion. Inactivated 1 October 1957 in Germany (32d Tank Battalion concurrently relieved from assignment to 3d Armored Division).
Redesignated 1 December 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor. Withdrawn form Regular Army 24 April 1959, concurrently allotted to the Army Reserve and assigned to Fifth United States Army (organic elements concurrently constituted).
Activated 1 May, 1959 as the 4th Battalion, 32d Armored Regiment with Headquarters at Jeffersonville, Indiana. Reorganized and redesignated 13 March 1964 as 4th Battalion, 32d Armor.
Inactivated 28 February, 1968 at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Assigned 16 December, 1986 to the 3d Armored Division and activated in Germany using personal and equipment from the 2d Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.
Deployed to Southwest Asia and served in Desert Storm combat operations.
Inactivated in Germany in 1991.
Campaign Participation Credit
World War II *Central Europe
*Normandy *Rhineland
*Northern France *Ardennes-Alsace
Desert Storm
*Southwest Asia
Decorations
Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered SIEGFRIED LINE
*Belgian Fourrage're 1940 (32d Armored Regiment cited; DA GO 43, !950)
*Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM
*Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in ARDENNES
Sources: Army Lineage Series, Armor Cavalry: By Mary Lee Stubbs and Stanley Russell Connor.
In memory of the 4-32 Armor Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
DESERT STORM
PFC Adrian Leonard Stokes, SSG Roy Junior Summerall, SSG Christopher Stephens
"Why Do Good Guys Have To Die"
WHILE WELLS OF OIL BURN IN FLAME, THE DISTANT GLOW JUST ISN'T THE SAME
IT ONCE WAS FUN TO STARE AFAR, AND WISH UPON OUR FAVORITE STAR
BUT NOW THAT STAR COULD BE AN EYE, A FRIEND, A MAN, A SPECIAL GUY
WE KNEW THIS MAN FROM MOMENTS PAST, BUT THEN WE THOUGHT THE TIMES WOULD LAST
WE CAME SO FAR ON DREAMS ALONE, AND PRAYED OUR PRAYERS OF GOING HOME
WE FOUGHT EACH MILE GAINING GROUND, AND NEVER ONCE BACKING DOWN
THROUGH WIND, RAIN, AND ENEMY FIRE. THE COALITION REFUSED TO TIRE
WE GAVE UP SLEEP AND MEALS TOO, FOR MOST OF US WE MADE IT THROUGH
WE LEARNED THAT WAR IS NOT A GAME, AND NEVER SEEMS TO FIGHT THE SAME
WE ALSO LEARNED YOU HUNKER DOWN, AND WHEN IT'S OVER WATCH YOUR GROUND
WE THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO WONDER STRAY, BUT NOW OUR FRIEND HAS PASSED AWAY
WHY DO GOOD GUYS HAVE TO DIE? I HAVE NO ANSWER, JUST GOODBYE!
Written by Jon Rowland
Jon Rowland was a crewmember in SSG Summerall's M1A1 tank during Desert Storm.
