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The first Rainbow Division was composed of National Guard units from 27 states and it was this collection of men which inspired General Douglas MacArthur, its most famous member, to declare. "The 42nd Infantry Division stretches like a Rainbow from one end of America to the other."
Major General Harry J. Collins, then Brigadier General, recalled the words of General MacArthur on that activation day when he told the veterans of the old Rainbow and the cadremen of the new: "The Rainbow stretches across the land and represents the people of our country. This Division cannot fail because America cannot fail."
United States Army, World War 1939-1945, Regimental histories, 42nd Infantry Division
Daly, Hugh C. and United States Army, "42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division: a combat history of World War II" (1946). World War Regimental Histories. Book 64.