‘Give ‘em hell!’ — Why a Navy aircraft carrier sports an Army-inspired battle flag
David Roza - Yesterday 1:33 PM
When the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman returned to its home port of Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia on Monday after a nine-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, it unfurled a scarlet battle flag that bears much in common with an Army artillery unit.
Considering the Navy’s long-standing rivalry with the Army, it may be surprising to hear that a Navy ship would fly an Army-inspired banner, but there is an interesting reason why: the aircraft carrier’s namesake, President Harry S. Truman.
Before he became the country’s 33rd head of state, Truman commanded Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, 35th Division, which served in Europe during World War I. In early September, 1918, the 129th Field Artillery marched with heavy equipment over 100 miles “of crowded, muddy back roads” to get from the Vosges Mountains to the Argonne forest, which were followed by five days of intense combat that together made up “the ultimate test for Battery D,” according to the National Park Service.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/give-em-hell-why-a-navy-aircraft-carrier-sports-an-army-inspired-battle-flag/ar-AA11MTeJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=89b91410e72b4526bc7c03ffb93ec4ad
