The 34th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the United States Army, part of the National Guard, that participated in World War I, World War II and multiple current conflicts. It was the first American division deployed to Europe in World War II, where it fought with great distinction in the Italian Campaign. The division was deactivated in 1945, and the 47th "Viking" Infantry Division was later created in the division's former area. In 1991 the 47th Division was redesignated the 34th. Since 2001, division soldiers have served on homeland security duties in the continental United States, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. The 34th has also been deployed to support peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere. The division continues to serve today, with most of the division part of the Minnesota and Iowa National Guard. In 2011, it was staffed by roughly 6,500 soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard, 2,900 from the Iowa National Guard, about 300 from the Nebraska National Guard, and about 100 from other states. World War I The division was established as the 34th Division of the National Guard in August 1917, consisting of units from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. On 25 August 1917, it was placed under the command of Maj. Gen. Augustus P. Blocksom, who was succeeded by Brig. Gen. Frank G. Mauldin briefly on 18 September 1917, but was back in command by 10 December 1917. The division initially included the 67th Infantry Brigade, formed in August 1917 in the Iowa and Nebraska National Guards and the 68th Infantry Brigade. The 67th Brigade comprised the 133rd Infantry Regiment and the 134th Infantry Regiment. The 68th Brigade comprised the 135th Infantry Regiment and the 136th Infantry Regiment. A controversy arose when Brigadier General Frederick Emil Resche, a native of Germany who had long resided in Duluth, was accused of anti-American sentiments. No evidence was forthcoming, but Resche was still relieved of command, supposedly for inefficiency. The division takes its name from the shoulder sleeve insignia designed for a 1917 training camp contest by American regionalist artist Marvin Cone, who was then a soldier enlisted in the unit. Cone's design evoked the desert training grounds of Camp Cody, New Mexico, by superimposing a red steer skull over a black Mexican water jug called an "olla." In World War I, the unit was called the "Sandstorm Division." German troops