505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (A Legacy of Lessons)

The following account is drawn from interviews with four distinguished veterans of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment PIR. Their composite World War II service comprises fifteen combat jumps and over 1140 days of combat from Sicily to Berlin. All four veterans joined the 505 PIR in the States and participated in the units pre-deployment training. This article is an incisive analysis of how one of the youngest regiments in the U.S. Army was molded into a battle-hardened and respected fighting unit. Despite the passing of forty-five years, the conditions under which they fought might well be replicated on tomorrows battlefield described in Airland Battle Doctrine.