WW-2 officially began for us on December 7, 1941 (although the US navy had been in combat guarding the Atlantic convoys for a year before, hunting German U-boats and attacking them) the surprise attack (which was hardly a surprise) by the Japanese on our naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day young men lined up at recruiting stations all over the country. Something that has never happened before or after.
The German army was the first to have parachute infantry used on a large scale. The army 82nd airborne started in 1917 as a regular infantry division. It was re-designated from the "All American" infantry to the "82nd Airborne" division and made their first parachute assault into Sicily in July 1943. In 1942 the 101st infantry was re-designated from a light infantry division to an airborne division.
The 101st became an all volunteer parachute division and was designed to be the toughest outfit in the army. The training was brutal and more than 30% did not make it through training. The 506th regiment (part of the 101st division) (if this seems complicated to you, don't worry, it is to me too) had many companies, the one I am focused on is Easy company. Those guys were dropped into France in the early morning hours of the "D" day invasion. It was their first day in combat and they did very well. They were well trained and courageous. They later were dropped into Holland and then sent to stop the German advance during the Battle of the Bulge and they did their part there too.
There are a lot of documentaries about the men of Easy company on UTUBE, many have the surviving members of Easy company. They are well worth watching. Here is a pretty good one There are many more, just search if you are interested. As I said before the HBO series "Band of Brothers is a great one and easily available.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
The German army was the first to have parachute infantry used on a large scale. The army 82nd airborne started in 1917 as a regular infantry division. It was re-designated from the "All American" infantry to the "82nd Airborne" division and made their first parachute assault into Sicily in July 1943. In 1942 the 101st infantry was re-designated from a light infantry division to an airborne division.
The 101st became an all volunteer parachute division and was designed to be the toughest outfit in the army. The training was brutal and more than 30% did not make it through training. The 506th regiment (part of the 101st division) (if this seems complicated to you, don't worry, it is to me too) had many companies, the one I am focused on is Easy company. Those guys were dropped into France in the early morning hours of the "D" day invasion. It was their first day in combat and they did very well. They were well trained and courageous. They later were dropped into Holland and then sent to stop the German advance during the Battle of the Bulge and they did their part there too.
There are a lot of documentaries about the men of Easy company on UTUBE, many have the surviving members of Easy company. They are well worth watching. Here is a pretty good one There are many more, just search if you are interested. As I said before the HBO series "Band of Brothers is a great one and easily available.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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