Download or read book Airborne written by E. M. Flanagan and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States Army’s experiment with airborne forces started at Fort Benning, Georgia, in early 1940 with a single platoon of paratroopers. From this tiny seed grew the mighty American airborne legion that spearheaded America’s attack against Nazi Germany in Sicily and Normandy. Ultimately this branch included an airborne corps headquarters, five full airborne divisions, and several independent battalions and regiments. On the nights of June 5 and 6, 1944, the parachutes and gliders of six regiments of American airborne infantry filled the dark sky over Normandy. Paratroopers and glidermen of the 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles were literally dropping into battle for the first time, harbingers of the vast Allied D-day armada. Moments later, they were joined by the veteran All Americans of the 82d Airborne Division, who had first jumped into combat almost a year earlier in Sicily. For the American airborne troopers, the road to victory in Europe led through the ill-conceived Arnhem campaign and on to the Bulge, where the American paratroopers saved the day for the Allies. The 17th Airborne Division “bounced the Rhine” in the last airborne operation in Europe and fought across Germany until VE Day with their band of brothers. In the Pacific, the Angels of the 11th Airborne Division saw hard combat in the Philippines. The independent 503d Regimental Combat Team fulfilled General MacArthur’s promise to return when it daringly parachuted onto the small area known as Topside on the rocky fortress island of Corregidor. Following World War II, the airborne fought with distinction in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. Along the way American paratroopers have also given yeoman service on smaller battlefields such as the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama. Written by a former paratrooper, Airborne is the definitive combat history of these elite forces.
Download or read book Airborne written by Tom Clancy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1997-11-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They are America's front lines--serving proudly in forward areas around the world. Representing the very best from the Army and Air Force, the Airborne Task Force is an unstoppable combination of manpower and firepower. Now, Tom Clancy examines this elite branch of our nation's armed forces. With pinpoint accuracy and a style more compelling than any fiction, the acclaimed author of Executive Orders delivers an fascinating account of the Airborne juggernaut--the people, the technology, and Airborne's mission in an ever-changing world...*Two Tom Clancy "mini-novels"--real world scenarios involving the airborne task force*Airborne's weapons of the 21st century, including the Javelin anti-tank missile, the fiber-optically guided N-LOS fire support system, and the Joint Strike Fighter*18 weeks: Life in an Airborne Alert Brigade*Exclusive photographs, illustrations, and diagramsPLUS: An in-depth interview with the incoming commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, General John Keen
Download or read book The Making of a Paratrooper written by Kurt Gabel and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2015-08-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The memoir of paratrooper Kurt Gabel—a German Jew who emigrated to the US in 1938, joined the 513th Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division, and fought against his former countrymen in the Battle of the Bulge. Gabel conveys with rare immediacy an in-depth look at the training of a paratrooper, the dangers of combat, and his transformation from romantic idealist to warrior. He vividly recounts the fire fights and such episodes as narrow escapes, separation from his battalion and his rescue by another, and the interrogation of prisoners. He tells the full story of his desperate hours on “Dead Man’s Ridge” near Bastogne.
Download or read book Beyond Valor written by Patrick K. O'Donnell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-08-30 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thrilling story of the Airborne and Ranger troops that saw the worst of WWII action—told for the first time in the voices of the soldiers themselves. From the first parachute drops in North Africa to the final battles in Germany, U.S. Ranger and Airborne troops saw the worst action of World War II. In Beyond Valor, Patrick O'Donnell, a pioneer of internet-based “oral history” who has collected the first-person stories of hundreds of veterans on his online oral history project, re-creates the frontline experience in stunning detail, weaving together more than 650 “e-histories” and interviews into a seamless narrative. In recollections filled with pain, poignancy, and pride, veterans chronicle the destruction of entire battalions, speak of their own personal scars, and pay tribute to their fallen colleagues. Beyond Valor brings to light the hidden horrors and uncelebrated heroics of a war fought by a now-vanishing generation and preserves them for all future generations.
Download or read book All American All the Way written by Phil Nordyke and published by Zenith Press. This book was released on 2010-11-10 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 82nd Airborne Division parachuted into history on 9 July 1943 when they led Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Less than a year from their formation in August 1942, the All Americans (the name of the division in World War I when Sgt. Alvin York was one its soldiers) found themselves in the thick of the action, something that would become familiar to them for the rest of the war. Heavy combat followed on the Italian mainland. Then came the main event of the war: D-Day!
Download or read book Airborne Landing to Air Assault written by Nikolaos Theotokis and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many books have been written about military parachuting, in particular about famous parachute operations like Crete and Arnhem in the Second World War and notable parachute units like the British Parachute Regiment and the US 101st Airborne Division, but no previous book has covered the entire history of the use of the parachute in warfare. That is why Nikolaos Theotokiss study is so valuable. He traces in vivid detail the development of parachuting over the last hundred years and describes how it became a standard tactic in twentieth-century conflicts. As well as depicting a series of historic parachute operations all over the world, he recognizes the role of airmen in the story, for they were the first to use the parachute in warfare when they jumped from crippled aeroplanes in combat conditions Adapting the parachute for military purposes occurred with extraordinary speed during the First World War and, by the time of the Second World War, it had become an established technique for special operations and offensive actions on a large scale. The range of parachute drops and parachute-led attacks was remarkable, and all the most dramatic examples from the world wars and lesser conflicts are recounted in this graphic and detailed study. The role played by parachute troops as elite infantry is also a vital part of the narrative, as is the way in which techniques of air assault have evolved since the 1970s.
Download or read book Out of the Blue written by James A. Huston and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a case study of the greatest airborne operation of the war, the 1944 invasion of Holland, Huston examines the inception, organization, training, equipment, strategies, Allied cooperation, and overall effectiveness of the airborne in the total war effort. Operations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern France, the Pacific, and the Far East are discussed. No other book brings together as much information and documentation on the airborne. Of special interest to the veterans who took part in the great paratroop and glider movements, this book will become invaluable to students of aerial warfare and of World War II.
Download or read book The Soviet Airborne Experience written by David M. Glantz and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1984 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.
Download or read book US Airborne Units in the Mediterranean Theater 1942 44 written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-07-20 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first of three to examine the genesis, organization and operational deployment of the US airborne divisions in World War II. It discusses early airborne units, detailing how and why they were formed. Task organization for combat, details of attached units, tactics, and weapons and equipment are examined, together with command relationships. The units discussed in this book include the 82d Airborne Division, 1st Special Service Force, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team and 1st Airborne Task Force, and the operations in North Africa, Sicily, the Italian mainland, and in southern France are covered.
Download or read book US Airborne Units in the Pacific Theater 1942 45 written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-02-20 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the wide variety of airborne units that served in the Pacific Theater. Among the units covered are the 12,000-strong 11th Airborne Division; the elite 1st Special Service Force; the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Separate); and the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. The nature of the enemy and the terrain in the PTO, and long distances that had to be covered, provided significant and diverse challenges to both Army and Marine Corps parachute units. Internal organization, weapons and equipment, command and control, training, combat missions, and combat operations including the 11th Division's fighting in the Philippines, and the 503rd PIR's legendary jump onto Corregidor and recapture of the island are all covered.
Download or read book Airborne Combat written by James E. Mrazek and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Long pursued by civilian thrill seekers and dare devils, airborne gliding came of age during World War II as one of that conflict's most dangerous combat operations. The armed forces of Axis and Allied nations developed gliders ... and flew them into battle at Eben Emael, Crete, Normandy, Arnhem, and Bastogne. [The author's] account brings to life both the men who carried out these perilous missions and the gliders that proved vital to the success of airborne attacks"--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book The Airborne in World War II written by Michael E. Haskew and published by Thomas Dunne Books. This book was released on 2017-08 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: D-Day, Operation Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge--the US Airborne divisions were integral at all these major points in World War II. But they also played a significant role in North Africa, where they first saw action, and in Italy in 1943. Right on the tail of these planes, this expert history follows the airborne divisions from the redesignation and initial training of the 82nd in 1942 through to their final, momentous missions in the Pacific. Featuring the equipment, division structure, and uniforms, as well as first-hand accounts, this book is the true history popularized by such titles as Band of Brothers, A Bridge Too Far, and The Dirty Dozen. With one hundred and sixty photographs, maps, and illustrations, The Airborne in World War II is an accessible account of remarkable men and the battles that they fought.
Download or read book US Army Airborne 1940 90 written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first 50 years of the US Army airborne arm is a story of continuing battles with the nation's enemies, of battles within the Army's hierarchy, of change, and of adaptation. If there is any single attribute the airborne soldier can claim as his most sterling, it is his uncanny ability to adapt – his flexibility. The very nature of a paratrooper demands this ability to adapt. The motivation and ésprit de corps it develops within these units is something not to be taken lightly. The first class pairing of Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad bring to life the history of these remarkable troops.
Download or read book Descending from the Clouds written by Spencer F. Wurst and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2016-02-16 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wearing the remnants of a WWI uniform and pulling a water-cooled 30-caliber machine-gun, Spencer Wurst marched through his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1940 as a member of the National Guard. He was 15 years old. Five years later he was a hardened platoon sergeant leading his troopers through the frozen killing fields of “Death Valley” in Germany’s Heurtgen Forest. A squad leader in Company F, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne, for most of the war, Wurst jumped into Italy in September 1943, and received his baptism of fire at Arnone. Jumping into Normandy on D-Day, he received his first Purple Heart in the liberation of Ste. Mère-Eglise, and a second Purple Heart in grueling combat through the hedgerows. On his third jump, Wurst’s bravery under fire earned him the coveted Silver Star when he and his fellow paratroopers were swept up in the ferocious battle with the SS for the Highway Bridge at Nijmegen, Holland, in Operation Market Garden. A few months later, the dawn of his twentieth birthday found him serving on point in the long, freezing march to the shoulder of the Bulge. A unique view of combat from pre-war training and mobilization to First Army maneuvers, parachute school at Fort Benning, and Europe’s killing fields, Wurst’s poignantly written and carefully researched memoir has been hailed as an outstanding addition to the literature of WWII.
Download or read book US Army Airborne 1940 90 written by Gordon L. Rottman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first 50 years of the US Army airborne arm is a story of continuing battles with the nation's enemies, of battles within the Army's hierarchy, of change, and of adaptation. If there is any single attribute the airborne soldier can claim as his most sterling, it is his uncanny ability to adapt – his flexibility. The very nature of a paratrooper demands this ability to adapt. The motivation and ésprit de corps it develops within these units is something not to be taken lightly. The first class pairing of Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad bring to life the history of these remarkable troops.
Download or read book 82nd Airborne written by Fred J. Pushies and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ridgway s Paratroopers written by Clay Blair and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This powerful study of Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway offers both a detailed account of the legendary general's illustrious World War II career and a comprehensive history of American airborne operations in Europe. Considered one of the Allies' brightest and most forceful commanders, the general fought in every major battle in the Mediterranean and Europe, and his 82nd and 101st airborne divisions came to be called the best in the U.S. Army. But the book makes clear that Ridgway had to justify his faith in airborne warfare because the first drop by the 82nd-during the invasion of Sicily when the pilots were still green and the equipment faulty-had been a fiasco.
Blair tells the story in gripping battlefield narrative to capture the experiences of the soldiers who served in these elite units at Salerno, Naples, Anzio, Normandy, and elsewhere. At the same time he provides a frank analysis of the development of the airborne techniques and of the attention given to the political-military-strategic issues that influenced their deployment. Densely packed with information, the book, first published in 1985, is widely acknowledged for its engagingly honest analysis of Ridgway and airborne operations in Europe.
