Col. Victor F. Bleasdale, USMC
(Activated 1May44)
7Sept44 to 14Apr45.
Col. William J. Whaling, USMC
15Apr45 to 31Mar46.
APPENDIX “C”
Sixth Marine Division Insignia
The basic design for the shoulder patch of the Sixth Marine Division was submitted by Colonel Victor Bleasdale of the Twenty Ninth Marines. The design as finally adopted, incorporated ideas of Corporal Michael W. Pawl and Major General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. The artist who actually drew and colored the design was Lieutenant George Thompson.
The outside diameter of the patch is three inches and the diameter of the inner circle is two and one fourth inches. Embroidered on the red outer border are the words Melanesia—Micronesia—Orient. Superimposed upon a crusader sword in the center of the patch is a one and a quarter inch block numeral “6”, two inches long. The shading of the “6” is in the same color as the outer border. The “6” and the lettering of the words on the border is golden yellow. Cobalt blue is the color of the center background and the crusader sword is silver white.
To commemorate the fighting in the Solomons of the Raider Battalions, from which the Fourth Regiment was formed, the word Melanesia was chosen. Similarly, the word Micronesia commemorates the fighting of the Twenty Second Marines at Eniwetok, the First Provisional Brigade on Guam, and the First Battalion, Twenty Ninth Marines, at Saipan.