1st Battalion 8th Artillery Association
Tropic Lightning
25th Infantry Division
President :                                                               Webmaster: Carl Johnson

     The 8th Field Artillery Regiment was constituted and organized in July 1916 at Fort Bliss Texas as a 155 MM howitzer regiment.
Assigned to the 7th Division in 1917 it arrived in France in August 1918 but saw no combat.
On 1 March 1921 the regiment was assigned to the 11th Field Artillery Brigade of the Hawaiian Division. The regiment was equipped with 75 MM field guns.
On 1 October 1941 the 8th Field Artillery Regiment was reorganized and re-designated as the 8th Field Artillery Battalion concurrently assigned to the 25th Division and re-equipped with 105 MM howitzers.
On 7 December 1941 the 8th FA came under fire during the Japanese attack on Hawaii. In preparation for the Guadalcanal campaign the 8th FA was designated as the direct support battalion for the 27th Infantry, a relationship that was to endure for the next 30 years through twenty-six campaigns of WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
Landing on Guadalcanal on 30 December 1942 the 8th entered combat on 9 January 1943. The 8th FA's accurate fire substantially aided the 27th Infantry as they quickly seized their objectives. During the Luzon campaign the 8th fired over 1,100 rounds in ninety minutes, completely destroying a Japanese force attacking the 27th Infantry.
Pulled out of Japan to help repel the invasion of South Korea, the 27th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) arrived in Korea on 11 July 1950 and saw their first action near Yongdong. The 8th FA's fires were so intense that POWs wanted to see the automatic artillery the 8th was using.
On 21-24 August 1950 the 8th FA killed over 3000 of the enemy as the 27th RCT halted a major North Korean attack near Teagu. The 8th FA saw intense fighting in all ten Korean campaigns, receiving three Presidential Unit Citations.
On 1 February 1957 Battery A, 8th FA was reorganized and re-designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 8th Artillery.
In Vietnam the 1st Battalion, 8th Artillery was the direct support battalion for the 2nd Brigade which included the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 27th Infantry. The 1/8 Arty participated in all twelve campaigns of the 25th Division, receiving a Valorous Unit Award.
In 1971 the 8th Artillery was re-designated the 8th Field Artillery. On 16 June 1986 the 1st Battalion (equipped with 155mm howitzers) was reassigned to the US Army Western Command but remained attached to the 25th Div Arty at Schofield Barracks. On 15 September 1997 the 1st Battalion was inactivated.
The 7th Battalion served with the 25th Div Arty from 1 October 1983-1986.
The 2nd Battalion served with the 7th Division from 1957-1996 then was reassigned to the 25th Division with station at Fort Lewis.
The 8th Field Artillery is the only field artillery unit to have served continuously with the 25th Division Artillery since its activation on 1 October 1941