One Hundred and First Airborne Division

One Hundred and First Airborne Division. “Screaming Eagles”. Activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, on 15 August 1942 to become the U.S. Army's second division of airborne infantry, the "Screaming Eagles" came into being under the command of Brig. Gen. William C. Lee, who told his troops, "the 101st has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny." He and the assistant division commander, Brig. Gen. Don E Pratt, organized and populated the 101st for combat service in the European Theater. Comprising the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 327th and 401st Glider Infantry Regiments (GIR), and a full complement of combat and combat-service support units, the 101st Airborne Division qualified and trained for a year before sailing for England in September 1943. There the training continued. While in England, the 501st and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments were attached to the Division, nearly doubling the Division's strength. Taken ill in March 1944 before he could keep that promised rendezvous, General Lee was succeeded in command by Brig. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor. Promoted to major general in May, the new commander kept the division busy rehearsing and refining preparations for the invasion of Normandy. , , Because the Screaming Eagles were in the vanguard on D-Day, their pathfinders got airborne and underway by 2200 hours on 5 June to mark out drop zones in the Cotentin Peninsula's interior. The division's mission was to secure the exits from Utah Beach, destroy the coastal artillery battery barracked at the so-called WXYZ complex located along the road to Exit 4, capture or destroy several bridges over the Douve River, and seize the locks over the Douve at La Barquette, By 2330, about 6,600 paratroopers led by Maj. Gen. Taylor were airborne aboard some 500 C-47 Dakotas. , , An hour later, from an altitude of 700 feet, the Screaming Eagles began jumping into the darkness. About two thirds came down widely dispersed within the division's intended area of operations. The balance mislanded. If the broad dispersion of troops at first hampered the invaders, it also vexed defenders unable to contain their attackers or fix their strength - a situation made worse by the inflexibility of the German high command. Displaying epic skill, courage, and tenacity, the division's paratroopers achieved all their essential D-Day objectives by early morning. Their rapid link-up with the seaborne 4th Infantry Division minimized the Ivy Division's casualties as troops moved inland. , , On 6 June, two glider serials, 52 CG-4 WACO gliders and 32 British Horsa gliders, landed respectively at 0400 and 2100 in a landing zone secured by elements of the 501st PIR. Those serials included elements of the division' engineer, medical, and signal companies to support the division headquarters as well as a bulldozer and some artillery, anti-tank weapons, and jeeps. In the lead glider, one of those jeeps broke its restraints, killing General Pratt. Despite numerous crash landings, much of the equipment aboard the gliders remained intact, and it was used as intended. The 327th GIR and 1st Battalion of the 401st GIR came in by sea at Utah Beach on D+1. , , Given by the Garland and Agnes Taylor Gray Foundation and by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Tullidge Sr. in tribute to the 101st Airborne Division and all paratroopers of the Allied Expeditionary Force. Dedicated on Memorial Day 2006.