502nd Infantry Regiment (United States)

The 502nd Infantry Regiment (502nd IR), previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (502nd PIR), is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, and was assigned as a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, "The Screaming Eagles", one of the most decorated formations of the U.S. Army. The regiment saw substantial action in the European Theater of World War II and was inactivated in 1945, shortly after the end of the war. Reactivating in a new form in 1956, the 502nd Infantry has served in the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Iraq War, War in Afghanistan, and Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. Since 1974, the regiment has been classified as an Air Assault unit. Currently, its 1st and 2nd battalions are active. Both battalions are assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

History

World War II

The original 48-man Parachute Test Platoon was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia. Four parachute infantry battalions were planned to follow.

On 1 July 1941, the 502d Parachute Infantry Battalion was activated at Fort Benning under the command of Major George P. Howell, under orders dated 15 April. He'd been the former executive officer of the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion (not to be confused with the later 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment). This new unit was initially composed of two skeleton companies sliced off from the 501st. The unit lacked everything from parachutes to small arms. This kept the 502d understrength until more men could be recruited at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Plans for the next two battalions (503d and 504th) had to be put on hold because there were no more men or equipment on hand at Benning.

The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the German declaration of war on the U.S. on 11 December 1941, prompted an acceleration of every kind of military planning. On 30 January 1942, realizing a battalion was too small to conduct offensive operations and survive to fight again, the War Department hurriedly authorized the activation of four Army parachute regiments. A month later, on 2 March 1942, the 502d Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) was activated from the assets of the 502nd Battalion. Each company (A, B and C) provided the nucleus of the three battalions. The 502nd became the only one of the four parachute infantry battalions to have an unbroken tie to the later regiment of the same number. Staying in command, Howell was promoted to Colonel but left that same month to command Benning's parachute school. He passed command to his executive officer, Lieutenant colonel George Van Horn Moseley, Jr. who would command for the next two years.

In August 1942, following the activation of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, the 502nd PIR moved from Fort Benning to join the rest of the division at Fort Bragg. The integration of a selected parachute unit into a partly draftee division that for the most part was not jump qualified led to problems, some of which could only be solved through training. Throughout the rest of 1942 and into 1943 the 502nd took part in the 101st's grueling training program, which consisted of individual, unit, and combined division training. During March 1943 the 502nd took part in a series of wargames across the Carolinas and then across Tennessee later that year.

On 4 September 1943 men of the 502nd boarded the SS ''Strathnaver'' bound for their new home in England. After breakdowns and saltwater contamination of the ship's drinking water, the regiment was stuck in St. John's, Newfoundland. On 4 October the SS ''John Ericsson'' picked them up, and they arrived in Liverpool on 18 October. They settled into quarters in the small villages of Chilton Foliat and Denford in Berkshire, England which would be their home for the next seven months. The Regiment's troopers continued their rigorous training which included hikes and daily close combat exercises. Instructions were given on a wide variety of items ranging from first aid, map reading, chemical warfare and demolitions. Other training was held on the use of German weapons, since enemy dead were considered a source of emergency resupply. Company and battalion size parachute drops were rehearsed heavily. The largest of these rehearsals was a division combat drop in May, Exercise Eagle. It didn't go well with H Company dropped short of the objective. High winds and rough landings injured over 400 paratroopers across the division, many of whom were then not available for the Normandy jump three weeks later.

Normandy

Flying out of RAF Membury and RAF Greenham Common in the first wave to depart, the 502nd PIR headed for Drop Zone (DZ) A. The unit's mission was to secure two northern causeways leading inland from Utah Beach and destroy a German battery of 122 mm howitzers near Saint-Martin-de-Varreville. Captain Frank Lillyman, officer in charge of the regiment's pathfinder platoon, was the first American jumper of the night - celebrated as the first American paratrooper to drop behind German lines in the Allied invasion of Normandy. He hit the ground at 00:15 on the 6th, his habitual jump cigar clenched in his teeth. The pathfinders soon learned they'd been misdropped, so they made no effort to get the rest of the regiment lost with them and left their radios and beacons turned off. Coming in unguided, the formations of C-47s broke up in a combination of low clouds and heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire. Some planeloads, including two sticks of A Company, were dropped over the English Channel and drowned. Consequently, most of Colonel Moseley's troops landed way off their designated DZs, up to away. Colonel Moseley badly broke his leg and had to relinquish command to his executive officer, LTC John H. "Iron Mike" Michaelis.

1st Battalion, under LTC Patrick F. Cassidy, was the only battalion of the entire 101st to come down on target, and that through blind luck. 1st Battalion secured Saint Martin-de-Varreville by 06:30, sent a patrol under SSG Harrison C. Summers to seize a German barracks at Mésières, "WXYZ" objective and set up a thin line of defense from Foucarville to Beuzeville. 2nd Battalion, under LTC Steve Chappuis, moved inland from its drop zones. Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion led by LTC Robert G. Cole was responsible for securing the two causeways coming inland from Utah Beach. Undaunted by the confusion, LTC Cole gradually collected whatever men he could find both from his unit and anyone else's (at one point including 1LT Dick Winters of E/506th). Cole eventually achieved his objective in time to secure the beach landing of the 4th Infantry Division.

LTC Cole was in the lead five days later as the 502nd was part of the division's effort to capture the town of Carentan. Moving the 3rd Battalion down the causeway toward the Ingouf farm under heavy German fire, LTC Cole ordered a bayonet charge. Capturing the objective, LTC Cole was nominated for the Medal of Honor. His executive officer, Major John Stopka, was nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross. On 29 June the 101st was relieved from VIII Corps and sent to Cherbourg Naval Base to relieve the 4th Infantry Division elements who had the German garrison pinned down in that seaport city. The 502nd returned to England shortly thereafter for refitting, earning a Presidential Unit Citation for the campaign.

The summer of refitting was punctuated by several planned combat jumps to capture objectives in front of the advancing Allied ground forces, yet every jump was cancelled as the tanks got there first.

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden was a British plan that would be the first major daylight jump attempted since the German invasion of Crete four years before. Set for 17 September 1944, the airborne troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication cities of Eindhoven and Arnhem, thus cutting the Netherlands in half and clearing a corridor for British armoured and motorized columns all the way to the German border.

The 101st mission was to secure the of highway stretching from Eindhoven north to Veghel. Under the command of Colonel Michaelis, the unit was to land in the Netherlands on DZ C, seize the small highway bridge over the Dommel river north of St. Oedenrode and the railroad and road bridges over the Wilhelmina Canal at Best. The 502nd was also given the mission of guarding DZs B & C for the subsequent glider landings. Shortly after 13:15 on the afternoon of 17 September 1944, after an uneventful daylight drop, the men of the 502nd gathered up and headed for their objectives. 1st Battalion went north to capture the little town of Sint-Oedenrode. 2nd Battalion secured the glider LZ. 3rd Battalion sent patrols through the Zonsche forest, trying to move toward the town of Best and the bridge. German resistance was tough in the vicinity of Best, but the 3rd Battalion spearheaded by Captain Robert Jones' H Company fought their way to within of the bridge before the Germans blew it up. In fierce fighting around the bridge, Private first class Joe E. Mann, already hit twice, was killed when he threw himself on a German grenade to save the other soldiers in his foxhole. That same day, LTC Cole was shot and killed elsewhere in the Zonsche Forest. Cole died before formally receiving his Medal of Honor for the Carentan charge, while Private Mann would receive it posthumously. They were the only two members of the 101st to earn the nation's highest honor during World War II.

On 26 September, a German artillery shell hit a tree by the 502nd's Regimental CP. LTC Michaelis, 1st Battalion's LTC Cassidy, the regimental S2 and S3, the division G2 and G3, and the commander of the supporting 377th Artillery Battalion were all hit. Without a regimental XO, and with Cassidy and Cole both down, 2nd Battalion commander Steve Chappuis took command of the regiment. After securing their hard-won objectives, the men of the 502nd moved north with the rest of the 101st to take hold of defensive positions on 'The Island', southwest of Arnhem. It was here that the 101st would fight some of its toughest battles during its time in the Netherlands. Eventually they were withdrawn to Camp Mourmelon, France for rest and refit.

Battle of the Bulge

Just after dawn on 16 December 1944, the Germans launched a major offensive west through the Ardennes Forest. Their goal was the port city of Antwerp where they hoped to choke off the Allied supply lines. Almost the only American theater reserve were the two refitting airborne divisions. The 101st was ordered to the vitally important town of Bastogne, Belgium, the central road junction in the Ardennes. The 101st was jammed into trucks for an overnight rush to Bastogne on 18 December. They were soon surrounded along with elements of several armored and artillery outfits. The 502nd held positions on the north and northwest portion of the surrounded city. In an attack that took place on Christmas morning in the village of Hemroulle, numerous German tanks penetrated the line. Simultaneously farther north strong German infantry elements infiltrated the town of Champs. Two of the German tanks which drove north from Hemroulle attempted to bypass the regimental CP at the Rolle Chateau, only to be tracked down by bazooka and grenade-toting paratroops. Finally, on 26 December, the 4th Armored Division of Patton's Third Army broke through the encirclement to reinforce the defense.

On 14 January 1945, the 3rd Battalion lost another commander. LTC John Stopka and some of his troopers were advancing through the forest near Michamps, Belgium, along an elevated rail line when enemy tanks began advancing along the other side. Someone called in for air support and the planes strafed too close to the friendly positions, killing Stopka and 30 other paratroopers. Command of the 3rd Battalion was given to Major Cecil L. Simmons.

The 101st Airborne held a line along the Moder River for over a month as part of the Seventh Army. On 23 February, the 101st were relieved and returned to Mourmelon, France. They began a refit period while the leadership began planning for potential combat jumps in and around Berlin to end the war. There was also a ceremony in which General Eisenhower awarded the entire division the Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry in action during the fighting for Bastogne. This was the first time an entire division had been so honored. This was added to the one awarded to the 502nd for Normandy.

As the war in Europe was nearing its end, the 502nd moved to the Ruhr Pocket on 2 April to help in mop-up operations. Here the 502nd went on the line facing the Rhine River south of Düsseldorf. On 4 and 5 May, the 502nd followed the 506th into the securing of Hitler's private residence in the town of Berchtesgaden, home to many high-ranking Nazi Party officials and German military officers.

The 502nd spent the summer of 1945 on occupation duty near Mittersill, Austria. Returning to France in September, the soldiers continued waiting for transport to the U.S. for the promised victory parade down New York's Fifth Avenue. However the reduced peacetime Army only had room for one of the European Theater's four airborne divisions, and the 82nd was senior in terms of combat experience. The 101st Airborne Division was inactivated 30 November 1945 at Auxerre, France. Much of the unit property and records were burned, only nine boxes of the 502d's records making it to the States for eventual inclusion in the National Archives. For comparison, the 506th sent sixteen boxes.

Post-World War II

While on inactive status, the regiment was redesignated on 18 June 1948 as the 502d Airborne Infantry Regiment and allotted to the Regular Army on 25 June that same year. It was activated on 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, as a training unit that was airborne in name only. It was inactivated on 1 April 1949. Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War, it was again activated on 25 August 1950, again as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, and then inactivated on 1 December 1953 at Camp Breckinridge following the truce declared in July. It was activated yet again as a training unit on 15 May 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

On 21 September 1956, the Army established the 101st again as a training unit by transferring its colors, then at a training command at Fort Jackson, SC, to Fort Campbell, KY. The departure of the 11th Airborne Division for NATO duty in West Germany meant that the Army needed another rapidly deployable unit to face Cold War contingencies. The reactivated 101st was formed using the assets of the 187th and 508th Airborne RCTs, plus volunteers from the inactivating 6th Infantry Division run through parachute school either at Fort Campbell or Fort Benning.

The division of 1956 was much different from the wartime pattern. There were tight military budgets for conventional forces in the Nuclear Age since the predominant belief was that battlefield nuclear weapons would be used early and often. This in turn made riflemen obsolete. This, combined with the fact the new 101st would be built from scratch, made the division a test of what was called a Pentomic, for "pentagonal atomic" division. The division was made up of five "battle groups", each one consisting of five companies (1 headquarters company, four rifle companies) plus a heavy mortar section. There was even a nuclear-armed rocket battery in Division Artillery. But there was only room for one "battle group" of each of the 101st's old regiments (327th, 501st, 502nd, and 506th, with the 187th coming in from the 11th). The lineage of the 502d was revived with the activation on 25 April 1957 of HHC, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 502d Infantry (bearing a lineage going back to Company A of the original 502nd PIB) as a unit within the 101st. As the rest of the Army converted to the Pentomic structure, the 2d Airborne Battle Group, 502nd Infantry was activated on 1 March 1957 in West Germany by reflagging existing elements of the 11th Airborne Division. Perpetuating the lineage of Company B, 502d PIB and thus the World War II 2d Battalion, it was inactivated on 1 July 1958 when the 11th itself was inactivated. Its personnel and equipment were reflagged to other unit designations under the 24th Infantry Division, which retained a partial Airborne capability with two battle groups (1-187th and 1-503d) before they rotated back to the United States to become part of the 82d Airborne Division. Their departure from the 24th was concurrent with the arrival of two non-airborne battle groups arriving from the United States.

By 1964, the Army had reached the conclusion that the Pentomic arrangement didn't work, and the 101st returned to a more recognizable structure. The Department of the Army announced that brigades would be the building blocks of the new style divisions. Consisting of three battalions with wartime attachments, they were similar to what used to be called a regiment or regimental combat team; however, the 502d found itself split. The HHC 2d Battalion (with the lineage of Co B/502PIR) was in 1st Brigade with two battalions of the 327th, and HHC 1st Battalion (with the lineage of Co A/502PIR) was in 2d Brigade with two battalions of the 501st.

Vietnam War

In April 1965 the 1st Brigade was deployed to South Vietnam to relieve the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Instead as the war expanded, both units stayed. The 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry quickly made a name for itself under the command of LTC Henry E. Emerson

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