The 82 Airborne Division
THE DIVISION WAS ACTIVATED DURING WORLD War I and nicknamed the “All American” because it had members from all 48 states. It spent more days on the front than any other American division and was the home of such heroes as Alvin York and Jonathan Wainwright. After World War I, the division was inactivated.
1942:
The 82d Infantry Division is reactivated under the command of Maj. Gen. Omar Bradley. The division was reorganized and redesignated as the army’s first airborne division. It was moved to Fort Bragg under the command of Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway to train for parachute and glider operations.
1943:
April: the 82d began deployment to North Africa for airborne assaults into Sicily on July 10 and 11.
July: the 505 and 504 Regimental Combat Teams (RCTs) made parachute assaults against German and Italian forces in Sicily. These were the first major combat jumps of an American division.
September: the 504 and 505 RCTs jumped into the Allied beachheads at Salerno, Italy.
The 82d glidermen came in by boat and were also in combat. This airborne reinforcement saved the US 5th Army’s foothold in Italy.
November: the division (less the 504) embarked for Ireland to begin training for the invasion of Normandy.
1944:
January: the 504 RCT participated in assault landings at Anzio in Italy. The 504 would rejoin the division in April. The 82d left Ireland for the Midland, England.
6 June: On D-Day, the 82d, using parachutes and gliders, made a combat assault against German forces in Normandy. Thirty-three days of unrelenting combat followed, bringing great battle honors to the division, as well as a 49 percent casualty rate.
17 September: the 82d landed in Holland, some 50 miles behind enemy lines, by parachute and glider. Now fighting under the command of Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin, the 82d captured key river and canal bridges in the vicinity of Nijmegen. This was the division’s fourth and last airborne assault of the war.
17 December: The division was directed to move from base camp in France to the Ardennes region in Belgium, where the Germans had broken through the American lines. This began the Battle of the Bulge, a titanic struggle that saw the 82d successfully oppose elite German armor divisions in the fight to restore the American battle lines. Christmas and New Year were marked with freezing cold and snow.
1945:
The new year began with the 82d’s defeat of the German 62d Volksgrenadier and 9th Panzer Divisions and the capture of some 2,500 prisoners. By the end of January, All American troopers had penetrated the Siegfried defense line and attacked into Germany, fighting fierce battles with the enemy until late February.
Late March: the 82d began the final campaign of the war, which culminated on May 2 with the surrender of the German 21st Army—145,000 enemy troops and all their equipment—to (then) Major General Gavin.
July to December: the 82d occupied Berlin, earning the nickname “America’s Guard of Honor” from Gen. George Patton.
1946:
12 January: the 82d marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City in a colossal World War II victory celebration. The division then returned to Fort Bragg, where it is still stationed. All units have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.