502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. "Strike". Activated on 1 July 1941, the 502nd Parachute Infantry Battalion became a three battalion parachute infantry regiment (PIR) on 2 March 1942 at Fort Benning, Georgia, with Colonel George Van Horn Moseley Jr. commanding. Col. Moseley led the Regiment through parachute training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, before the "Five-Oh-Deuce" joined the new 101st Airborne Division on 15 August 1942. , , The 502nd PIR arrived in the United Kingdom on 18 October 1943 and soon began training for D-Day. At 0130 hours on 6 June 1944, the Regiment departed for France with orders (1) to seize two key causeways leading inland from Utah Beach and (2) to destroy a German artillery battery in the vicinity of Ste. Martin-de-Varreville. After parachuting in, the 502nd PIR found itself both scattered and diminished by jump injuries. With his leg badly broken, Col. Moseley transferred command to his executive officer, Lt. Col. J. H. Michaelis, who led the 502nd PIR in the accomplishment of its assigned missions. , , The 502nd fought in Normandy from D-Day into early July, and many of its troopers earned decorations for valor. Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole, commander of the 3rd Battalion, received the Medal of Honor for leading a bayonet assault across the causeway near Carentan. His citation records: "Catching up a fallen man's rifle and bayonet, he charged on and led the remnants of his battalion across the bullet swept open ground and into the enemy position. His heroic and valiant action in so inspiring his men resulted in the complete establishment of our bridgehead across the Douve River." On 29 June 1944, the Regiment helped secure the critical port of Cherbourg. A Presidential Unit Citation and the French Crois de Guerre with Palm are among the honors awarded to the 502nd PIR for its distinguished combat service in Normandy. , , In early July, the unit stood down and returned to England, where it refitted, absorbed replacements, and prepared for future airborne operations in Europe. It did not "Strike" again until jumping into Holland on 17 September 1944 in Operation Market Garden. After an extended period of operations in the Netherlands, the 502nd PIR moved to France to refit and resume training. On 18 December 1944, the unit was alerted for a rapid movement to combat in Belgium, where it fought to defend the critical road junction at Bastogne. For its heroism there, the Regiment earned a second Presidential Unit Citation and the Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm. It went on to play a major role in the final stages of the war in Europe, which included the capture of Berchtesgaden in the German Alps. The 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment was inactivated on 30 November 1945. , Anonymously given in memory of all our family members who served in World War II.