This is the odyssey of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II. It begins in Casablanca, North Africa and then in some of the most intense combat of WW II in Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Holland, the Ardennes, the crossing of the Elbe, and finally the Allied victory parades in Berlin and Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The men of the 504th, like the name of the Division it fought under (the All American 82nd), came from all over the United States. The backgrounds of each trooper were also very different. My dad was a schoolteacher with hopes of going to medical school. One of his pals from the recon platoon Ted Bachenheimer was a German Jew who had escaped Nazi Germany with his family before the war. He was attending acting school in Hollywood. Cpl. Fred Baldino (A Company) who was from Ashland Pennsylvania had done some bootleg mining during the depression and before going into the army had never even tasted a steak. Others were brick masons, laborers, cops, Senators' sons, cowboys, farm boys --they came from all walks of life. However, they were one in the aspiration that they wanted to be part of a highly motivated fighting unit. They volunteered to become Airborne an entirely new concept in the United States Army at that time. Most's first airplane ride would end with them jumping out the door of the plane.

These men from North, South, East and West joined together in training. They knew what they were fighting for and the Airborne taught them how to fight. What distinguished Airborne troops from other soldiers was the willingness to take chances and risks. As Ross Carter said in his book about the 504th (Those Devils in Baggy Pants), "Men joined the paratroopers because they couldn't resist the awful thrill of risking their life in a parachute. They were drawn into the outfit as by a magnet and, once in, wouldn't have left if they got the chance."

What the men of the 504th accomplished is simply one of the finest regimental combat records of the Second World War. This was accomplished in one of the finest divisions of the war. They were AIRBORNE! ALL THE WAY!! Follow them into combat on this website and stop, join and leave a message in our forums.