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I remember a story of WWI. At that time the British Army would let guys from the same town all serve together. I think it probably had something to do with morale.

The problem was that some towns had their entire population of young men wiped out in some battles.

"I remember a story of WWI. At that time the British Army would let guys from the same town all serve together. I think it probably had something to do with morale."

In WWI when the US Army was going to a formalized combined arms division structure a many of the new divisions were formed from troops from the same state and a lot of national guard unit patches still reflect this regionalism (i.e. 28th Infantry Division being a Pennsylvania Keystone).

A bunch of "leftovers" from all 48 states were combined into another division which was the 82nd Infantry Division which of course, became the 82nd Airborne Division in the early days of WWII. Because of its early constitution of soldiers from all over the country, the unit became known as the "All American" Division which is still reflected in the "AA" on the unit patch...

I remember a story of WWI. At that time the British Army would let guys from the same town all serve together. I think it probably had something to do with morale.

The problem was that some towns had their entire population of young men wiped out in some battles.

Read the “Bedford Boys”..19 young men from one small town in Virginia died together in the first wave at Omaha.