82nd Airborne Division

The 82nd Airborne Division became the first airborne division on 15 August 1942. It had been reactivated on 25 March 1942 under the command of Major General Omar N. Bradley as the 82nd Division. They began their training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.

World War II

In April 1943 the first paratroopers deployed to North Africa for the invasion of Italy. Under the command of Major General Matthew B. Ridgway, the 82nd Airborne's first assault jumps were into Sicily on 9 July and Salerno on 13 September 1943. The Sicily jump, made by the 505th PIR, was the first regiment sized combat paratroop jump ever performed by the US military.

The 504th PIR was detached from the 82d Airborne in January 1944 to fight at Anzio, Italy. The rest of the Division had been transferred to England in November to prepare for the Normandy Invasion.

The 82d Division parachuted into Normandy the night of June 5 and morning of 6 June 1944, beginning the D-Day Invasion. Many units were scattered across Normandy, missing their drop zones. It took days but units started coming together as the Allies secured the beachhead and began the Liberation of Europe.

In September, the 82nd also participated in Operation Market Garden, an ambitious drop in Holland calculated to ending the war quickly. The Division met their objectives at Nijmegen and Son, but the Bridge at Arnhem was not taken by other Allied Forces and the initiative lost. On 16, December 1944 the Germans launched their surprise offensive in the Ardennes Forest. This became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Within two days the 82d was in the fight on the northern side of the Bulge. Following the closing of the Bulge and the Allies returning to the offensive, the Division helped secure the Ruhr and had crossed the Elbe River. The 82nd Airborne Division had completed their World War II combat.