United States Army 4th Armored Division (Name Enough)

U. S. ARMY 4TH ARMORED DIVISION (NAME ENOUGH) -  The 4th Armored Division of the United States Army was an Armored Division that earned distinction while spearheading General Patton's Third Army in the European theater of World War II.  The 4th Armored Division, unlike most other U.S. armored divisions during World War II, didn't officially adopt a nickname for the division during the war.  However, their unofficial nickname "Name Enough" came into use postwar; the division commander having said, "Fourth Armored Division was name enough"; "They shall be known by their deeds alone".  The 4th was named the "Breakthrough" division in 1954, but that name was eventually discontinued.

The 4th Armored Division landed at Utah Beach on July 13, 1944, a month after the D-Day invasion (June 6, 1944) of the French Normandy coast. Within weeks, the "Breakthrough" division was sweeping across France.  During the Battle of the Bulge, the unit provided badly needed support to the encircled US forces in Bastogne, Belgium.  In late March 1945, the 4th crossed the Rhine River into central Germany and, by war's end, had reached the Czech border.

The 4th Armored Division's discovery of the Ohrdruf camp opened the eyes of many US soldiers to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust.  The 4th Armored Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985.

Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 6,212
• Killed in action: 1,143
• Wounded in action: 4,551
• Missing in action: 65
• Prisoner of war: 453

Awards

• The 4th Armored Division was the first U.S. Armored Division to be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, for its actions December 22, 1944 through March 27, 1945