502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment

The 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment originated in July 1941, as the 502nd Parachute Infantry Battalion, an experimental unit formed to test the doctrine and tactics of parachute assault. On 3 March 1942, the unit was re-designated as the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment was activated on 1 July 1941, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was attached to the 101st Airborne Division in August 1942.

The regiment would participate in three major battles during the war: Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. The 502nd was often referred to as the "Five-Oh-Deuce" or simply, "The Deuce". At the war's end in Europe, the 502nd was inactivated on 30 November 1945 with the rest of the 101st Airborne Division.

While on inactive status, the regiment was re-designated on 18 June 1948 as the 502nd Airborne Infantry Regiment and allotted to the Regular Army on 25 June that same year. It was activated again on 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, as a training that was Airborne in name only. Less than a year later, it was inactivated on 1 April 1949 at Camp Breckinridge. 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.

In 1956 the division's colors were transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as a Combat Airborne Division tested for the new Pentomic Division Concept, which eliminated the three infantry regiments and their subordinate battalions in favor of five battle groups. The reactivated 101st was formed using the assets of the 187th ARCT and the 508th ARCT.

The lineage of the 502nd was revived with the activation on 25 April 1957 of HHC, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 502nd Infantry (bearing the lineage of Co A, 502PIR) as a unit within the 101st. As the rest of the Army converted to the Pentomic structure, the 2nd ABG, 502nd Infantry (perpetuating the lineage of Co B, 502PIR and assigned to the 11th Airborne Division in Germany) was activated on 1 March 1957 by reflagging existing elements of the 11th Airborne Division. It was inactivated on 1 July 1958 when the 11th itself was inactivated and reflagged as the 24th Infantry Division.

The Pentomic configuration was soon found unworkable and a brigade configuration was adopted. Cynical observers believed it an attempt to allow more brigadier generals into the Army, but these commanders remained colonels as their predecessors had commanded regiments.

The reorganization from battle groups to brigades and battalions placed two battalions of the 502nd in different brigades of the 101st. The 2nd Battalion was in the 1st Brigade with 1-327th and 2-327th Inf. deployed to Vietnam in 1965, it was most notably commanded by LTC Hank "The Gunfighter" Emerson. 1-502nd Inf. was in 2nd Brigade with 1-501st and 2-501st Inf. and didn't arrive in Vietnam until late 1967 with the remainder of the division.

Thereafter the unit saw combat participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom, to where it was called in at 2003 along with the 101st 's Combat Air Assault in Iraq. The 3rd Battalion in particular received the Army's Valorous Unit Award and Meritorious Unit Citation for the battles in Karbala against Saddam Hussein's insurgents attacking the 3rd Infantry Division's supply lines.





Invasion of Normandy
The 502nd PIR was among the first units to jump into Normandy in what was called Mission Albany, an Airborne initial assault in the predawn hours of June 6th 1944, before the actual Operation Neptune (the invasion of Normandy) began. The regiment was supposed to land in DZ (Drop Zone) A, with the mission to secure two northern causeways leading inland from Utah Beach and destroy a German coast-artillery battery (122 mm Howitzer) near the town of Ste Martin-de-Varreville. But the mixture of low altitude clouds and heavy enemy anti-aircraft artillery caused the troops to break up and spread out widely (some even jumped while still over the English Channel and drowned). 3rd Battalion, under the command of soon-to-be Medal of Honor-recipient Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole was responsible for securing the two causeways. Undaunted by the confusion, Lt. Col. Cole gathered his men and set about to achieve the objectives.

The rest of June found the 502nd fighting as infantry, and after regrouping, the 101st received the objective to seize the strategically significant town of Carentan on the Cotentin Peninsula. It was during this operation Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole earned his Medal of Honor for leading his battalion in a fix bayonet charge on the Ingouf farm house, a German stronghold defending one of the bridges over the Carentan causeway. His Executive Officer, Maj. John P. Stopka, led the charge on Cole's left and received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Lt. Col. Cole never got the chance to wear it since he was killed by a German sniper 3 months later in the Zonsche Forest, Holland. Maj. Stopka was killed two weeks after receiving his medal at Bastogne.

Operation Market Garden
After the 101st being re-assigned to the newely created U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, under the command of Gen. Matthew Ridgway, the division was put to a test: the audacious plan called Operation Market Garden, the first major daylight air assault since Germany's attack Crete in 1941. The plan was to parachute deep into occupied Holland where the Airborne troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, cutting Holland in half and clearing a corridor for the British armored and motorized columns all the way to the German border.

The 101st's mission was to secure the fifteen miles of "Hell's Highway" stretching from Eindhoven north to Veghel. After less than three months of resting and preparing in England, the 502nd was about to make its second combat jump. The unit, still under the command of Col. John Michaelis, was to land in DZ C and seize the small highway bridge over the Dommel River north of Saint Oedenrode, and the railroad and road bridges at Best. The 502nd was also given the specific objective of guarding DZs B and C for the subsequent glider landings. Shortly after 1315 hours 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 St Oedenrode. 3rd Battalion sent patrols through the Zonsche Forest, trying to move towards the town of Best and the bridge. German resistance was tough in the vicinity of Best but the 502nd fought their way to within a hundred yards of the bridge before the Germans blew it up. It was here that the second and last Medal of Honor in the entire 101st was to be posthumously awared to a member of the 502nd PIR. Private First Class Joe E. Mann, 3rd Btn H/Co. was seriously wounded twice under intense fire fighting. After medical attention he ended up with both arms bandaged, partly disabled. While posted in the same foxhole with some of his fellow soldiers, a German grenade landed right next to him. Pfc. Mann, unable to use both his arms due to the heavy bandage, threw himself on top of the grenade to protect his friends and was killed instantly as it exploded. For his selfless and undoubtful act of heroism, and subsequently saving the lives of his fellow soldiers costing him his own, he received the finest military award in the U.S. Army.

The citation reads:
"Pfc. Joe E. Mann distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty. On 18 September 1944, in the vicinity of Best, Holland, his platoon, attempting to seize the bridge across the Wilhelmina Canal, was surrounded and isolated by an enemy force greatly superior in personnel and firepower. Acting as lead scout, Pfc. Mann boldly crept to within rocket-launcher range of an enemy artillery position and, in the face of heavy enemy fire, destroyed an 88mm. gun and an ammunition dump. Completely disregarding the great danger involved, he remained in his exposed position, and, with his M-1 rifle, killed the enemy one by one until he was wounded 4 times. Taken to a covered position, he insisted on returning to a forward position to stand guard during the night. On the following morning the enemy launched a concerted attack and advanced to within a few yards of the position, throwing hand grenades as they approached. One of these landed within a few feet of Pfc. Mann. Unable to raise his arms, which were bandaged to his body, he yelled "grenade" and threw his body over the grenade, and as it exploded, died. His outstanding gallantry above and beyond the call of duty and his magnificent conduct were an everlasting inspiration to his comrades for whom he gave his life."

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 Holland.

The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
At dawn on 16 December, 1944, the Germans had launched a major offensive west through the Ardennes Forest, in the lightly held sector of our VII Corps. Their goal was the port town of Antwerp where they hoped to choke off the allied supply lines. The 101st was ordered to the vitally important town of Bastogne, which was the key to the German counteroffensive. From Bastogne radiated several roads that were essential to the German operation. The division was jammed into trucks for an overnight rush to Bastogne, Belgium, on December 18th. The defense of the town by the 101st presented a formidable obstacle to the surging German 5th Panzer Army of Hasso von Manteuffel. In the ensuing days the encircled 101st engaged in vicious fighting. The 502nd held positions on the north and northwest portion of the envelopment. After the Germans had failed to break through the allied defense lines, they sent probes to the very areas defended by the 502nd.

In an attack that took place on Christmas morning in the Hemroulle area of Belgium, 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 502nd Regimental C.P. at the Rolle Chateau. In this attack, Sky Jackson of the 502nd was awarded the Silver Star for single handedly hitting the two tanks with Bazooka fire knocking out one. The other tank escaped only to be destroyed at Champs by another 502nd member, John Ballard of Able Company who was killed on January 3rd 1945 in another action. Finally, on December 26th Patton's 4th Armored Division broke through the encirclement and the lifting of the siege of Bastogne began. The 101st Airborne held a line along the Moder River for over a month as part of the US VII Army. On 23 February, the division was relieved and returned to Mourmelon, France. Here General Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke to the 101st when the division was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its stand at Bastogne. This was the first time in the history of the U.S. Army that an entire division had been so honored.

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 unit went on the line facing the Rhine River south of Düsseldorf, Germany. On the 4th and 5th of May, the 502nd received and carried out its final wartime mission - the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's famous Eagle's Nest. The summer of 1945 was spent on occupation duty near Mittersill, Austria. Returning to France in September, the soldiers continued waiting for transport stateside. The 101st Airborne Division was deactivated in the end of November 1945.



Campaign Participation Credit

Normandy (with Arrowhead)
Rhineland (with Arrowhead)
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe

Decorations

Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for NORMANDY
Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for BASTOGNE
French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for NORMANDY
Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm, for BASTOGNE. (Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at Bastogne)
Belgian Fourragere 1940 (Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in France and Belgium)
Netherlands Orange Lanyard

Medal of Honor

Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole (3rd Battalion HQ)
Pfc. Joe E. Mann (3rd Battalion, H/Co.)

*NOTE* The only two MoH's in the entire 101st AB during WWII was awarded to soldiers within the 502nd PIR.

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Edits © 2009 by J. Hall
Original Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/502nd_Infantry_Regiment
http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/502/502.html