| 101st Airborne Division (united States) |
Article Index for 101st |
Shopping Airborne |
Website Links For Airborne |
Information About101st Airborne Division (united States) |
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)—nicknamed the “'''Screaming Eagles'''”—is an Airborne Division of the United States Army primarily trained for Air Assault Operations . During the Vietnam War , the 101st was redesignated an airmobile division, and later as an Air Assault division. For historical reasons, it keeps the identifier “airborne”, but does not conduct parachute operations at a division level. Many modern members of the 101st are graduates of the U.S. Army Air Assault School , and wear the Air Assault Badge , but it is not a prerequisite to be assigned to the division. The division is headquartered at Fort Campbell , Kentucky and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan . It is the only division in the U.S. Army that has two aviation brigades. HISTORY World War II speaks with paratroops of the 502d Parachute Infantry Regiment , on the evening of June 5 , 1944 .]] Flag , 2 days after landing at Normandy]] The division was activated on August 15 , 1942 at Camp Claiborne , Louisiana . On August 19 , 1942 , its first commander, Major General William C. Lee , promised his new recruits that the 101st had a "rendezvous with destiny." General Order Number Five, which gave birth to the division, reads: ''The 101st Airborne Division, activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions in order to establish our claim to the future.'' ''Due to the nature of our armament, and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme.'' ''Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies.'' ''The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer and each enlisted man, must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.'' During World War II , the Pathfinders of the 101st Airborne Division led the way on D-Day in the night drop prior to the invasion. They left from RAF North Witham having trained there with the 82nd Airborne Division On August 25 1944 the division became part of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the First Allied Airborne Army . As part of this formation, the division took part in Operation Market Garden . During the Battle Of The Bulge the 101st, as one of the few forces available to contain the German advance was rushed forward by truck to defend the vital road junction of Bastogne . Famously, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe answered the German demand for surrender with the reply "To the German Commander: NUTS! -The American Commander" and the division fought on until the siege was lifted and the German advance halted. On 1 August 1945, the 101st Airborne Division left Germany for Auxerre, France, to begin training for the invasion of Japan. When Japan surrendered two weeks later, the operation became unnecessary. The 101st deactivated on 30 November at Auxerre. For their efforts during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division was awarded four campaign streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations. The division suffered 1,766 Killed In Action; 6,388 Wounded In Action; and 324 Died of Wounds during World War II. Units .]]
Source: ''Order of Battle: U.S. Army World War II'' by Shelby Stanton, Presidio Press, 1984. Helmet insignia The 101st is distinctive partly by their helmet decorations. The soldiers used Card Suits (diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs) to indicate the Regiment to which they belonged.
Reactivation in Arkansas]] The 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky , in 1948 and again in 1950 . It was reactivated again in 1954 at Fort Jackson , South Carolina , and in March 1956 , the 101st was transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky , to be reorganized as a combat division. In place of its World War II structure that featured regiments, the 101st was reactivated as a "pentomic" division with five battle groups in place of regiments and battalions. The reorganization was in place by late April 1957 and the division's battle groups were:
Division artillery consisted of the following units:
Other supporting units were also assigned. Civil rights From September through November of 1957 elements of the division's 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry (bearing the lineage of the old Company A, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment) were deployed to Little Rock , Arkansas , by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enforce Federal court orders during the Little Rock Crisis . Vietnam War es.]] In the mid-1960s, the 1st Brigade and support troops were deployed to the Republic Of Vietnam , followed by the rest of the division in late 1967 . In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in 15 campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle Of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970. The 101st was deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the NVA infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley . Elements of the division supported the ARVN Operation Lam Son 719 , the invasion of southern Laos, in 1971, but only aviation units actually entered Laos. In the seven years that all or part of the division served in Vietnam it suffered 4,011 Killed In Action and 18,259 Wounded In Action. |
|
|