Product Description During World War II, perhaps no unit had a more outstanding combat record than the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry of the 82nd Airborne Division, under the command of the legendary Lieutenant Colonel Ben Vandervoort, famously portrayed in the movie, The Longest Day, by John Wayne. The battalion was at the forefront of many of the most fierce battles of World War II, making four combat jumps in just fourteen months: Sicily, Italy, Normandy, and Holland. It fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in Germany in the closing days of the war. Now, Phil Nordyke tells the...

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment was one of the elite parachute regiments of World War II. Attached to the famed 82nd Airborne Division, it parachuted into Normandy during the predawn hours of June 6, 1944, spearheading the invasion of Hitler's fortress Europe. There, it fought with distinction for thirty-four days before being relieved. Less than sixty days later, the regiment made a daring daylight jump fifty-three miles behind German lines to spearhead the invasion of Holland. It seized vital high ground and held it against repeated German counterattacks and was the first Allied...