101^st Airborne Division

The 101st Airborne Division entered combat in Normandy on June 6, 1944, dropping ahead of the seaborne landings in a scattered pattern that nevertheless produced results. Its units assembled under fire, secured the causeways behind Utah Beach, and cleared the approaches that enabled VII Corps to move off the beach. The 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment fought in the causeway fighting near the coast while the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment seized Carentan on June 12, linking the Utah and Omaha lodgments and then repelling German counterattacks in the days that followed. The division held through six weeks of Normandy fighting before returning to England for rehabilitation.

Campaign map image

World War II Campaign Map of the 101st Airborne Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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In September 1944, the division took part in Operation MARKET GARDEN, dropping near Eindhoven and Veghel, seizing the Wilhelmina Canal bridge at Zon — the span was demolished as paratroopers approached, and a crossing was improvised — and clearing Eindhoven with British armor the following day. For the next ten weeks its regiments held the corridor against persistent German attacks before withdrawing to France in late November.

In December 1944, the division rushed to Bastogne as German armor encircled the city. For eight days it held the perimeter while surrounded, refusing German surrender demands on December 22, and the 4th Armored Division broke through on December 26. Through January 1945, the 506th Parachute Infantry cleared Recogne, Foy, and Rachamps as the Ardennes salient was compressed. The division then held the Moder River line in Alsace through February, assembled at Mourmelon for rehabilitation, and moved south in April through Bavaria to Berchtesgaden — reached when the German surrender on May 7 ended the war.