One hundred years ago on August 12th the 42nd ‘Rainbow’ Division was formed at Camp Mills, near Garden City, NY. You can read more about the Rainbow Division and its Kansas connection here.

Heavily involved in WW2, the 42nd saw no combat service between 1947 and 2001. Today it is made up of National Guardsmen from New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges. An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.