D-Day: Down to Earth - Return of the 507 recounts the history of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment through the remarkable battles in World War II, long years of historical obscurity and the inspiring culmination of its story 60 years later. In the summer of 2002—60 years after its inception—surviving members of the 507th returned to Normandy in take part in a moving series of events that gave completion to their story.
The 82nd Airborne Division—dubbed the All-Americans during WWI, when Sgt. Alvin York was among its soldiers—parachuted into history on July, 9, 1943, as the opening salvo in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. This book, the first to tell the full story of the 82nd—America's first airborne division to see combat, and the only American parachute division still active today—follows these all-Americans from their first perilous drop to their victory parade up 5th Avenue in January 1946.
The success of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation has sparked a renewed interest in books about World War II and the people who fought in it. Patrick K. O'Donnell maintains, however, that behind those official histories and carefully crafted memoirs lies a "hidden war"--"a bottled up, buried version shielded even from family members because many of the memories are too painful to discuss." In Beyond Valor, O'Donnell brings this hidden war to the surface, allowing men from the elite forces to tell their own stories, thus creating a fascinating combat history of WWII.
"A fascinating tale of personal combat...portrays the courage, endurance, initiative and fighting qualities of an American soldier on a European battlefield of World War II." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
A minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of the elite 101st Airborne's daring parachute landing behind enemy lines at Normandy is accompanied by firsthand accounts from Airborne veterans and 40 incredible, previously unknown (let alone published) color photos of the "Screaming Eagles" at Normandy and in Great Britain prior to the invasion. Accompanying these remarkable D-Day color Kodachromes-which were unearthed in the attic of an Army doctor's daughter-are more than 200 black-and-white photographs from 101st survivors and the author's own private collection. An unprecedented look at an elite fighting force during one of the last century's most crucial moments.
In Sicily, Normandy, and in the frozen hills of the Ardennes, America's airborne warriors proved themselves some of the toughest and most determined soldiers of World War 2. What made these soldiers so special? How were they recruited, how did they learn to jump and fight? What special tactics and equipment did they use? This title looks at what it was like to be one of the United States' airborne elite, through the experiences of the soldiers themselves. It is the story of the men who invariably led the way; the soldiers who flew to battle and walked home.