82nd Airborne Division
Shot Down Behind Enemy Lines: An 82nd Airborne Stick’s Survival at Market-Garden
By Jan BosIt was a beautiful September day over Holland. Gradually, a faint rumble began to grow, and the sunny sky was darkened. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
Battle of Nijmegen Bridge: Taking the Crossings Over the Waal
By Jan BosThe city of Nijmegen, in the southeastern part of Holland and about six miles from the Dutch-German border, is believed to be Holland’s oldest city, going back some 2,000 years. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
Airborne at La Fière: Slugfest in Normandy
By Flint WhitlockThe night of June 5, 1944, and the morning of June 6 were without a doubt some of the most pivotal hours in the history of the 20th century. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
Sainte-Mere-Eglise: The 82nd Airborne Drops into France
By Flint WhitlockThe night of June 5, 1944, was pretty much like every other night in Sainte-Mère-Église since the Germans had occupied Normandy and the Cotentin Peninsula in the summer of 1940: dark, quiet, chilly, and mostly boring. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
Melee for the Manhay-Grandmenil Sector in the Bulge
By Kirk A. FreemanThe young men of Companies H and I of 3rd Battalion, 517th Parachute Regiment (PIR) were about to move out for their assault on the crossroad town of Manhay, Belgium. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
D-Day +12: Assault on Cherbourg
By Arnold BlumbergWhen plans were drawn up for the Allied invasion of France in 1944, one important consideration was securing a deep-water port to allow reinforcements and supplies to be brought in directly from Great Britain and the United States. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
Bitter Fight at Gela
By Christopher MiskimonThe smoke had barely cleared from the battlefields of North Africa when the victorious Allies turned their attention northward to Europe. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
The Airborne Infantry “Cricket”: Dime Store Toy Becomes D-Day Legend
By Richard A. BerantyMade popular by the Band of Brothers portrayal of Easy Company, the U.S. paratrooper “cricket” was in fact used to identify each other in the predawn hours of the D-Day invasion. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
WWII Battles: Airborne Drop into Sicily
by Michael E. HaskewWhen American and British airborne troops lifted off from bases in North Africa and headed toward drop zones in Sicily during the early morning hours of July 9, 1943, the plan began to unravel almost immediately. Read more
82nd Airborne Division
A Dangerous Mission for General Maxwell Taylor of 82nd Airborne
By Eric NiderostAt 8:30 on the evening of September 7, 1943, an Italian military ambulance entered Rome carrying two American prisoners of war. Read more
