[Homer]

4-31 polar bears has a great tradition at drum. In the 25th ID, the ‘old regiments” are the 27th (wolfhounds- James Jones’s regiment) and 35th (cacti); the others are Post Korea. The 21st (gimlets) was a Hawaiian division regiment, but belonged to the 24th ID in WW2 and Korea (task force smith) or other units until joining the 25th ID in the post Vietnam era.

There’s a lot of “tradition” to the polar bears, gimlets, and wolfhounds. The polar bears travel with a four foot high carved wooden polar bear statue, “George”; they also maintain their silver from pre WW2 service in China, which was buried on Corregidor in 1942 to prevent its capture by the Japanese. The wolfhounds have a white male Borzoi named “Kolchak” as their mascot in a tradition dating from the original gift from Admiral Kolchak during their service in Russia. The gimlets wear a “gimlet stick” as part of their uniform once earned, signifying membership in the Royal Gimlet Clan; the practice dates back to their reputation for physical toughness earned during Hawaiian division athletic events in the 1920s.