Members of the 740th Tank Battalion and Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, advance in a snowstorm behind a tank to attack Herresbach, Belgium. 28 January 1945, with the help of a local.
U.S. Army Photo.
A tank and infantrymen of the U.S. Army’s Company G, 740th Tank Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, push through the snow toward their objective near Herresbach, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, Jan. 28, 1945. 111-SC-199509
For those who haven’t read of the fight between the three refurbished M4 Shermans of the 740th against the lead element of Battle Group Peiper and the 1st SS Panzer Division during the “Bulge,” you have some research to do.
Invasion stripes on C-47 SN 43-30652, circa September 1944, of the 36th Troop Carrier Squadron during Operation Market Garden
First off: Happy 76th Birthday, USAF.
Now, the news.
A half-dozen advanced C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the “Blue Tail Flies” of the historic 37th Airlift Squadron, based at Germany’s Ramstein Air Base recently received a special paint job and decals that the unit plans to show off over the beaches of Normandy, France, on the 80th anniversary of the Operation Overlord D-Day landings next June.
Maintainers of the 86th Maintenance Squadron painted black-and-white “Invasion stripes” on the C-130s as a throwback to those sported by Allied aircraft during the landings.
Importantly, the first Allied aircraft to cross the line on D-Day, carrying personnel of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion to a drop zone near Sainte-Mère-Église in occupied France, was Douglas C-47 Skytrain 43-30652, dubbed “Whiskey Seven” (W7), of the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron, now the 37th Airlift, so the historical tie is solid.
U.S. Air Force Airman Quinten Cooper, 86th Maintenance Squadron Aircraft Structural Maintenance apprentice, paints a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 1, 2023. The 86th MXS ASM flight painted stripes on six of the 37th Airlift Squadrons C-130s as a way to pay homage to the C-47 Skytrain aircraft that flew over Normandy during the Invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Thomas Karol)
Original Caption, June 6,1944: “French civilians give directions to American paratroopers who made successful landings, on Utah Beach, at St. Marcouf, France.”
Note the ready M1911A1 in the paratrooper’s shoulder holster along with a Mk. 2 pineapple grenade. Original Field Number: ETO-HQ-44-4810. Photographer: Werner. Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-189927-S, National Archives Identifier: 176887768
I’m not sure which unit the above Camel-smoking junior officer is from, but the same photo is identified in other records as “Capt. Kenneth L. Johnson and paratroopers of HHC S-2 Intelligence Section, 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division ‘All Americans,’ talking with two Francs-tireurs partisans in the village of Saint Marcouf, Normandy, France. D-Day, 6 June 1944.” The Frenchman certainly looks to have a slung rifle or shotgun over his shoulder, something the Captain would surely be interested in.
The interaction was captured on film as well.
Saint-Marcouf saw scattered sticks of both the 101st Airborne’s 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) as well as the 508th PIR landed in the area.
They were one of the first to make contact with the Germans as, at 0220, Naval Commander Normandy (Konteradmiral Walther Hennecke) reported paratroopers near Batterie Marcouf.
The fight for the city and its nearby battery was an all-paratrooper affair until the afternoon of 7 June when the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment (4th Infantry Division) arrived inland from Utah Beach.
Via 508thPIR.com: These men are from Hq & Hq Co. S- 2 Intelligence Section, 508th PIR of the 82nd US Airborne in Ravenoville. The group consists of: Capt. Kenneth L. Johnson, Capt. Robert Abraham (Company CO), SSgt Worster M. Morgan, Pfc Luther M. Tillery, Pfc Joel R. Lander, Pvt John G. McCall, Pfc James R. Kumler, and T / 5 Donald J. MacLeod. The photo was taken by T/4 Reuben Wiener, a combat photographer attached to the 508th
It certainly looks like later pictures of Johnson.
His jacket:
Brigadier General (later Major General) K. L. Johnson enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard in 1940 and was called to active duty with the 135th Infantry, 34th Division in February 1941. After serving at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Barrancas, Florida; and Fort Dix, New Jersey, he entered OCS and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Infantry on 3 July 1942.
General Johnson joined the 363rd Infantry, 91st Infantry Division at Camp White, Oregon, in November of 1942, volunteered for parachute training and was reassigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. Subsequently, the organization was moved to Camp McCall, North Carolina, for advanced training.
In October of 1943, General Johnson proceeded to North Ireland as a member of the Advance Detachment of the 2nd Parachute Brigade. After a brief period of training, his regiment joined the 82nd Airborne Division and was moved to Nottingham, England, where it prepared for the invasion of France. General Johnson made combat parachute jumps in Normandy and Holland, and fought with the 82nd Airborne Division throughout the European Campaign, including the Battle of the Bulge.
Following World War II, he returned to the U.S. briefly and was reassigned to Europe to join the U.S. Constabulary in July of 1946. After serving in the 68th Constabulary Squadron and the 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment, he returned to the U.S. in 1949 to attend the Advanced Course at The Infantry School. Subsequently, he served as an instructor and group chief in the Airborne Department of The Infantry School.
Following graduation from the Regular Course at the Command and General Staff College in 1953, he joined the 40th Infantry Division in Korea where he served as G-3. Later, he was assigned as Plans Officer, I Corps (Group) until he returned to the U.S. in November 1954 for assignment to the Officers Assignment Division, Department of the Army.
After four years on the Department of the Army Staff, General Johnson was selected to attend the Army War College, graduating with the class of 1959. His next assignment was to the Staff of the Commander in Chief Pacific where he served as a Joint Plans Officer and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Foreign Affairs and Logistics. In 1961, he joined the 25th Infantry Division where he commanded the 2nd Battle Group, 21st Infantry and 1st Battle Group, 5th Infantry, successively until the fall of 1963.
Returning to The Pentagon, he served briefly as Chief of Plans and Policy, Enlisted Personnel Directorate, Office of Personnel Operations and then for the next two years on the General Staff as Chief of the Special Review Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. He was selected for promotion to Brigadier General in November 1965 and assigned to the 2d Infantry Division. He joined the Division as Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver) in April 1966.
General Johnson has been awarded the Senior Parachutist Badge with two combat-stars; the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star w/ V for Valor and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal w/3 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Johnson died on August 21, 1990 at the age of 71 and is now buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA.
In response to unrest at the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on 27 December following a series of CENTCOM strikes on Kata’ib Hizbollah (KH) bases, a group of 100 Marines from 2/7 attached to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (catchily abbreviated to just “SPMAFTF-CR-CC”) 19.2, rushed from Kuwait to beef up the MSG and State Department DS contingents on New Year’s Eve. They arrived via MV-22 Osprey, as shown in the below USMC videos by Sgt. Robert Gavaldon & Sgt. David Bickel.
Of interest, 2/7 recently filmed this short where they talk about training to do more expeditionary stuff of a ship-to-shore nature.
They were quickly backfilled in the region by a reinforced battalion of the 82nd Airborne (All Americans), which were airmailed over the New Year’s holiday from Fort Bragg to Kuwait. The unit on IRF rotation was the famed 2nd Battalion, 504th PIR. The 504th since 1944 has carried the nickname “The Devils in Baggy Pants,” taken from a comment by a Wehrmacht officer at Anzio.
U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, deploy from Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, Jan. 1, 2020. Elements of the Immediate Response Force mobilized for deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of operations in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities. The IRF and the All American Division remain postured and ready to deploy in support of the National Command Authority. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robyn J. Haake)
At the direction of the Commander in Chief, I have authorized the deployment of an infantry battalion from the Immediate Response Force (IRF) of the 82nd Airborne Division to the U.S. Central Command area of operations in response to recent events in Iraq.
Approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately, and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days.
This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today. The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world.
Meanwhile, the “haze gray stabilizers” of Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG-8), built around USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), are now reporting to the 5th Fleet.
Further, the U.S. upped the ante on Friday by dusting Gen. Qassem Suleimani, who had almost cult hero status within IRGC and Quds Force Shia militias in the region, with many referring to him as the real man behind the curtain. The pressure for Tehran to retaliate will be immense.
From DOD this morning:
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, “the Golden Brigade,” arriving for their time in Vietnam in early 1968. Note everybody taking advantage of “smoke em if you got em,” as well as the camo M1 covers, M16A1s, several 173rd ABN Brigade combat patches, and heavy distribution of M79 bloop guns.
U.S Army photo. Typically held back as part of the U.S. Army’s very slim strategic reserve during the war, the 3,650 paratroopers of the Golden Brigade was rushed was to Vietnam in February 1968 as an emergency measure in response to the Tet Offensive.
Reminds me of this passage from a book that I was pleased to see on my son’s reading list, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried,
In addition to the three standard weapons–the M-60, M-16, and M-79–they carried whatever presented itself, or whatever seemed appropriate as a means of killing or staying alive. They carried catch-as-catch-can. At various times, in various situations, they carried M-14s and CAR-15s and Swedish Ks and grease guns and captured AK-47s and Chi-Coms and RPGs and Simonov carbines and black market Uzis and .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handguns and 66 mm LAWs and shotguns and silencers and blackjacks and bayonets and C4 plastic explosives.
Lee Strunk carried a slingshot; a weapon of last resort, he called it. Mitchell Sanders carried brass knuckles. Kiowa carried his grandfather’s feathered hatchet. Every third or fourth man carried a Claymore antipersonnel mine–3.5 pounds with its firing device. They all carried fragmentation grenades–14 ounces each. They all carried at least one M-18 colored smoke grenade–24 ounces. Some carried CS or tear gas grenades. Some carried white phosphorus grenades. They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”
U.S. Army Soldiers with 1st Brigade, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division conducting defensive operations during Swift Response 16 training exercise at the Hohenfels Training Area, a part of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, in Hohenfels, Germany, Jun. 20, 2016.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Nathaniel Nichols/Released)
Note there seems to be a good old fashioned CBRN drill going on, hence the paratrooper with his tripod mounted M2HB-QCB Browning heavy machine gun in 12.7mm (.50BMG) and his new-fangled M50 joint service general purpose mask, which replaced the older M40 a few years back.
The beercan-sized cage on the muzzle of ma deuce, held by a three-legged bracket is the blank firing adaptor. The adaptor reduces the muzzle size, slowing the escaping gasses and thus causing a recoil “kick” large enough to cycle the weapon. So if you ever see a M2 so equipped, the picture was taken during an exercise.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Nathaniel Nichols/Released)
And, as this short-sleeved paratrooper above shows, Germany does get hot in June. Of course we can’t fault him for not being in a chem suit, but good luck getting a cheek-weld on that M4 (note yellow BFA) while wearing a mask. Still, it’s nice to see mono-pod grips being used more. They are hella useful.
The Joe in the picture is one Spc. Matthew Tattersall, who, as a paratrooper of the All Americans of 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, made his final jump earlier this month before leaving active duty.
Yes, if you look closely, he made a selfie of the occasion, complete with a C-17 behind him in a blue North Carolina sky.
And in the water bottle, his pet fish “Wily Makeit.”
Both survived the jump (relax it was a stateside daylight ‘Hollywood’ jump made without the typical 100~ pounds of combat gear and weapons that a paratrooper normally drops with).
Although as reported by Army Times, Tattersall was instructed to write a 1,000-word essay on the importance of airborne safety and professionalism in the Army.
