What was the best us World War 2 infantry division?

Answer 1

The 3rd Infantry Division. 531 days in combat. Made the Operation Torch landings in North Africa November 8, 1942, thus among the first US Army troops into the fight. Sicily as part of Patton's 7th Army. Southern Italy, Anzio. Part of the army that captured Rome, the first time Rome had been captured from the south in 2000 years. Made the "second D-Day" landings in southern France. Fought through the Vosges Mountains to the Rhine, the first time any army in recorded history had crossed the Vosges in winter, and the first time any army had crossed the Vosges at any time of the year when faced with resistance. Captured Munich and Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden in Austria, despite what you may have seen in "Band of Brothers" (the 101st Airborne arrived in Berchtesgaden after the 3rd ID had been ordered to move on). Audie Murphy and 36 other Medal of Honor men were 3rd ID soldiers (one of the Marine divisions was second on the list with 21). Well over 100 Distinguished Service Crosses, over 4800 Silver Stars, over 8100 Bronze Stars, numerous Presidential Unit Citations. The only American awarded the Italian Military Cross. The entire division is authorized to wear the fourragere of the French Croix de Guerre. Far more men killed and wounded than any other US division, Army or Marine, a function of the length of time spent in combat and the severity of the action. The division's second wartime commander, Lucian Truscott, ended the war commanding the 5th Army.

There were some other excellent US infantry divisions, such as the 1st, 4th, 9th 30th, and 45th, and others. The US had only about 65 infantry divisions for the entire war, and most saw no action before the Normandy landings. Some barely arrived in Europe before the war was over, and so had little chance to show what they might have evolved into as they became veteran formations. About 15 US infantry divisions fought in the Pacific, along with all six Marine divisions.