The 101st Airborne Division history and operations

101st Airborne Division, headquartered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, is comprised of four brigade combat teams, in addition to the Division Artillery, Division Support Command, the 101st Aviation Brigade, the 159th Aviation Brigade, the 101st Corps Support Group, and several separate commands (101st 1). Nicknamed the Screaming Eagles, the 101st Airborne Division was redesignated an airmobile division during the Vietnam War, and later as an air assault division, and while it keeps the identifier 'airborne,' it does not conduct parachute operations at a division level (101st).

Many of today's members are graduates of the United States Army's Air Assault School and wear the Air Assault Badge, however this is not a prerequisite in order to be assigned to this division (101st).

The 101st was activated on August 15, 1942 under the command of Major General William C. Lee (101st). General Order Number Six reads:

The 101st Airborne Division, activated at Camp Claiborne,

Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny.

Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions in order to establish our claim to the future. Due to the nature of our armament, and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme. Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies. The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer and each enlisted man, must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation.

Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st

Airborne Division.

The men of the 101st took these words to heart and have indeed keep that rendezvous with destiny time and again. At Normandy, they initiated the Allied assault on Hitler's Fortress on June 6, 1944, and proved the division's strength in coordinated ground action by capturing Carentan (Lone). In Holland, they liberated the first Dutch city, Eindhoven, and led a path twenty miles northward in a campaign which they fought for seventy-three days without relief (Lone). At Bastogne, the Screaming Eagles faced overwhelming odds, but succeeded in destroying von Rundstedt's December counter-offensive (Lone). The success of this division is contributed to a combination of brave men commanded by bold and able leaders, and this confidence can be exemplified by one soldier's remark at Bastogne: "They've got us surrounded - the poor bastards" (Lone). Major General Anthony C. McAuliffe said of the men at Bastogne, "With the type of soldier I had under my command, possessing such fighting spirit, all that I had to do was to make a few basic decision - my men did the rest" (Lone). During the Holland campaign, one British Corps Commander told them: "I have commanded four Corps during my army career, but the 101st Airborne Division is the fightingest outfit I have ever had under my command" (Lone).

At Bastogne, two German officers entered Allied lines and offered a "Surrender or be annihilated in two hours" ultimatum, to which General McAuliffe replied "Nuts" (this famous answer is known to every soldier), and when the German officer asked what that meant, he was told "It means to go to hell" (Lone). Although it was a gamble, McAuliffe said, "They can't have much more than they have already thrown at us. Let it come" (Lone).

The Screaming Eagles held Bastogne for twenty-two days as Third Army troops made their way abreast of the 'doughnut,' and the Germans made their last effort to break through in an "all-out" attack against the 502nd and 327th sectors, under the command of Brig. General G.J. Higgins (Lone). The division, which beat off the assault, passed to the offensive on January 9th, and captured Noville and Bourcy as "its contribution to the advance on Houffalize and the final liquidation of the German salient" (Lone).

On January 18th, at the town square in Bastogne, five member of the division were awarded Silver Stars, and General Taylor was present the flag of Bastogne by the mayor (Lone).

After the ceremony, General Middleton, General Taylor, along with staff officers stood beneath a sign, posted at the junction of the four main roads that lead to Bastogne, which read:

This is Bastogne, Bastion of the Battered

Bastards of the 101st Airborne Division

Lone).

On March 15, 1945, Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded the Presidential Citation to the heroes of Bastogne, the 101st Airborne Division, saying: "Never before has a full division been cited by the War Department, in the name of the President, for gallantry in action. This day marks the beginning of a new tradition in the American Army" (Lone). The citation read:

The 101st Airborne Division and attached units distinguished themselves in combat against powerful and aggressive enemy forces composed of elements of eight German divisions during the period from Dec. 18 to Dec. 27, 1944, by extraordinary heroism and gallantry in defense of the key communications center of Bastogne, Belgium...This masterful and grimly determined defense denied the enemy even momentary success in an operation for which he paid dearly in men, material and eventually morale. The outstanding courage and resourcefulness and undaunted determination of this gallant force are in keeping with the highest traditions of the service (Lone).

To commend their efforts during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division was awarded four streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations (101st). The Screaming Eagles lost 1,766 in action, while 6,388 were wounded in action, and another 324 died of wounds (101st).

Units include: 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 1-401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm), 907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (105mm), 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (75mm), 81st Airborne AAA/AT Battalion, and 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion (101st).

The Screaming Eagles used card suits, diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs, on their helmets to indicate the regiment to which they belonged, and these insignias are still used today by the 101st: 502nd - Hearts, 327th - Clubs, 506th - Spades, and 501st - Diamonds (101st).

In 1948 and 1950, the 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, and again in 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina (101st). In March 1956, the Screaming Eagles were transferred to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and reorganized as a combat division (101st).

During the Civil Rights Era, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent elements of the division to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce Federal court orders during the Little Rock Crisis in 1957 (101st).

During the mid-1960's, the 1st Brigade and support troops were sent to the Republic of Vietnam, while the remainder of the division came in late 1967 (101st). For roughly seven years, elements of the 101st participated in fifteen campaigns, most notably, the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970 (101st). The Screaming Eagles were deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the NVA infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley, and elements of the division supported the ARVN Operation Lam Son 719, the invasion of southern Laos in 1971 (101st). Throughout the seven years, all or part of the division served in Vietnam, with casualties totaling 4,011 - killed, and 18,259 - wounded (101st).

In 1968, the 101st Airborne Division took on the structure and equipment of an airmobile division, and in 1974, its training was recognized with the creation of the Air Assault Badge, which is now a service wide decoration of the United States Army (101st). Today, the 101st Airborne Division is regarded as the Army's and the world's only "air assault division with unequaled strategic and tactical mobility" (101st).

On December 12, 1985, a civilian aircraft, Arrow Air Flight 1285, which had been chartered to transport some of the 101st division from peacekeeping duty with the Multinational Force Observers on the Sinai Peninsula back to Kentucky, crashed near Gander, Newfoundland, killing all eight air crew members, and 248 United States servicemen, most of whom were from the 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry (101st).

In January 1991, the Screaming Eagles rendezvoused with destiny again during the combat air assault into enemy territory in Iraq, in which no soldiers were killed during the 100-hour war, and thousands of enemy prisoners were captured (101st). The 101st Division has also supported humanitarian relief efforts in Rwanda and Somalia, and have been deployed as peacekeepers to Haiti and Bosnia (101st).