Birth of a Regiment

Activated in May 1942, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment earned high praise for its very first mission when it effected the first U.S. mass regimental combat jump of World War II in the invasion of Sicily...Led by Col. Reuben Tucker, the 504th subsequently dropped into the endangered Fifth U.S. Army beachhead at Salerno, bitter fighting led to hard-won success. “Birth of a Regiment” is the first book-length account of the birth of U.S. airborne forces, and the first to fully capture the details, danger, and crucial stakes of the initial 504th missions in the unforgettable voices of the newly minted paratroopers who fought the first Allied battles in the ETO up through the victorious entry into Naples. It is not to be forgotten that Sicily was a testing ground for the Allied coalition: the first time an American army and a British army would undertake a major campaign. Nearly 200 veterans of the 504th recount their remembrance of combat, permitting readers of Birth of a Regiment to relive epic battles of the ETO through the words of the very men who made history. These dramatic, unforgettable memories of the war provide new information from the foxhole view on up, giving historians and lay readers alike fresh perspective on the initial U.S. engagements in WWII and the difficult birth of Allied airborne operations. The volume is enriched by new maps and historic archival photos, including many previously unpublished photos and provided by 504th veterans.