(above picture)541st PIR Patch
(above picture)542nd PIRPatch
(above picture)555th PIB Patch
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Attached Units - The U.S. Airborne during World War II
Reserve Units
541st Parachute Infantry Regiment
 he 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated on August 12, 1943 at Fort Benning, Georgia under the command of Colonel Ducat M. McEntee. Because it was comprised of men whose scores on the Army's Intelligence tests were exceptionally high, the 541st PIR became one of the best-trained and disciplined regiments in the U.S. Army.
The regiment was kept in strategic reserve in the Untied States. Although the member of the regiment were highly motivated it was never involved in combat action. However, in July, 1945 the 541st was ordered to Manila but was immediately disbanded upon it's arrival. It's troopers were eventually absorbed into the 11th Airborne Division, which was preparing for the invasion of the
Japanese Islands.
542nd Parachute Infantry Regiment
 n September 1, 1943 the 542nd Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated at Fort Benning, Georgia under the command of Colonel William T. Ryder who was fresh from a tour of combat duty with the 82nd Airborne Division. Colonel Ryder also served as a lieutenant in command of the original Parachute Test Platoon. He later served as the airborne advisor to General MacArthur.
On March 17, 1944 the Regiment was deactivated. Two battalions of the original 542nd were used to provide replacements for units in the European Theater and the third battalion became the 542nd Parachute Battalion. The 542nd Parachute Infantry Battalion was formed on March 17, 1944 and remained at Fort Benning until 1 July 1944 when it was relocated to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. The unit was then attached to the Airborne Center Command Headquarters, remaining in this assignment for one year.
Since the 542nd PIR never fielded more than two battalions it was considered a regiment in name only. It main function was to provide replacement troops to the parachute infantry units overseas. It was finally deactivated on July 1, 1945 at Camp Mackall.
On 1 July 1945 the unit was re-designated The Airborne Center Training Detachment, and was reorganized by the removal of two line companies and most of the men were transferred to I Company. G Company & H Companies also underwent reorganization were replaced by a Glider Company and a battery from the 467th Airborne Field Artillery.
During the life span of the 542nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 542nd Parachute Infantry Battalion and the Airborne Center Training Detachment furnished several thousand badly needed, highly trained paratroopers and glidermen that served in units fighting overseas. The Battalion provided the Airborne Center with airborne equipment testing and development, Airborne Firepower and Operations Demonstration Teams, "War Bond" sales promotion teams and Army Air Corps Troop Carrier Schools.
( Source: "
Paratroopers" by Gerard M. Devlin" & "The DropZone 542nd PIR History
by James Godfrey")
555th Parachute Infantry Battalion
he  555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was activated as a result of
a recommendation made in December 1942 by the Advisory Committee on Negro
Troop Policies, chaired by the Assistant Secretary of War, John J. McCloy.
In approving the committee's recommendation for a black parachute battalion,
Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall decided to start with a company,
and on 25 February 1943 the 555th Parachute Infantry Company was constituted
(placed on the rolls of the Army).
On 19 December 1943, Headquarters, Army Ground Forces, authorized the
activation of the company as an all-black unit with black officers as well
as black enlisted men. All unit members were to be volunteers, with an
enlisted cadre to be selected from personnel of the 92d Infantry Division
at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The company was officially activated on 30 December
1943 at Fort Benning, Georgia. After several months of training, the unit
moved to Camp Mackall, North Carolina, where it was reorganized and redesignated
on 25 November 1944 as Company A of the newly-activated 555th Parachute
Infantry Battalion. (picture above right: Captain James Porter)
The battalion did not serve overseas during World War II. However, in
May 1945 it was sent to the west coast of the United States to combat forest
fires ignited by Japanese balloons carrying incendiary bombs. Although
this potentially serious threat did not materialize, the 555th fought numerous
other forest fires. Stationed at Pendleton Field, Oregon, with a detachment
in Chico, California, unit members courageously participated in dangerous
fire-fighting missions throughout the Pacific Northwest during the summer
and fall of 1945, earning the nickname "Smoke Jumpers" in addition
to "Triple Nickles."
Soon after returning to Camp Mackall in October 1945, the 555th Parachute
Infantry Battalion was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, its home
for the next two years. During this period the unit was attached to the
elite 82d Airborne Division. When the battalion was inactivated on 15 December
1947, most of its personnel were reassigned to the division's organic 3d
Battalion, 505th Airborne Infantry. On 22 August 1950 the 555th Parachute
Infantry Battalion was disbanded (removed from the rolls of the Army).
( Source: "
Center for Military History" (CMH))
books
R E L A T E D B O O K S
Ambrose, Stephen E D-DAY June 6,1944:
The Climatic Battle of WW II. 6/93, Simon & Shuster ISBN: 0671673343
Annussek, Greg Hitler's Raid to Save Mussolini: The Most Infamous Commando Operation of World War II. Sept 1, 2005, Da Capo Press, 353 pp. ISBN: 0306813963
Archer, Clark Paratroopers
Odyssey : A History of the 517th Parachute Combat Team. 266p., 1985, ISBN: 0961601507
Astor, Gerald 'Battling
Buzzards': The Odyssey of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 1943-1945. 338p.,
7/93, Donald I Fine Pub, ISBN: 0440236932
Badsey , Stephen & Chandler, David G (Editor)
Arnhem 1944:
Operation "Market Garden" (Campaign No.24) 1993
96p. ISBN: 1855323028
Breuer, William B Geronimo! American
Paratroopers in WWII. New York: St. Martin Press, 1989 621 p. ISBN: 0-312-03350-8
Breuer, William B Operation Dragoon:
The Allied Invasion of the South of France. Presidio Press, Sept 1987 261 p. ISBN: 0891413073
Breuer, William B Unexplained
Mysteries of World War II. John Wiley & Sons, Sept 1998 256 p. ISBN:0471291072
D'Este, Carlo
Patton: A Genius for War 1024 pp ISBN: 0060927623
De Trez, Michel
The Way We Were: "Doc" Daniel B. McIlvoy: Regimental Surgeon, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division (WW II American Paratroopers Portrait Series)
August 20, 2004, D-Day Pub, 167 p. ISBN: 2960017668
De Trez, Michel
Colonel Bob Piper: G Company 505 PIR (WW II American Paratroopers Portrait Series)
March, 2003, D-Day Pub, 48 p. ISBN: 2960017641
De Trez, Michel
At the Point of No Return : Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Normandy 7/98, D-Day Pub, 200 p. ISBN: 2960017617
De Trez, Michel
First Airborne Task Force: Pictorial History of the Allied Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Southern France 7/98, D-Day Pub, 500 p. ISBN: 2960017625
Devlin, Gerard S
Paratrooper! St Martin's Press, (P) c1976 ISBN: 0312596529
Gabel, Kurt The Making of a Paratrooper: Airborne Training and Combat in World War II Univ Press of Kansas (Jan 1990), 282 p. ISBN: 070060409X
Gassend, Jean-Loup Operation Dragoon: Autopsy of a Battle: The Allied Liberation of the French Riviera August-September 1944 Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (May 28, 2014), 560 p. ISBN: 076434580X
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Golden, Lewis Echoes From Arnhem Penguin
ISBN: 0718305213
Hicks, Anne The Last Fighting General: The Biography of Robert Tryon Frederick Schiffer Pub Ltd, 320pp, ISBN: 0764324306
Inglesby, Leo C A Corporal Once Xlibris
2/2/2001, 108 p. ISBN: 0738838209
Kershaw, Alex The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of WWII's Most Decorated Platoon
Da Capo Press, 288 pp November 30, 2004 ISBN: 0306813041
Kormann, John G Echoes of a Distant Clarion: Recollections of a Diplomat and Soldier Vellum
(P), 520 p. ISBN: 0979448832
MacDonald, Charles B A Time For
Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Wm Morrow & Co
(P), 720 p. ISBN: 068151574
McKenzie, John
On Time, On Target Novato, CA: Presidio, May 15,2000. 304 p. ISBN: 089 141 714 1
O'Donnell, Patrick K. Into the Rising Sun:
In Their Own Words, World War II's Pacific Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat
Free Press, 3/13/2002, 320 p. ISBN: 0743214803
Ryan, Cornelius
A Bridge Too Far 670p. ISBN: 0684803305
van Lunteren, Frank The Battle of Bridges: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden Casemate, June 1,2014. 336 p. ISBN: 1612002323
Wildman, John B All Americans 82nd
Airborne. Meadowlands Militaria, 6/83 ISBN:091 208 1007
The Center of Military History The War in the Mediterranean: A WWII Pictorial History Brasseys, Inc.,
465 p. ISBN:1574881302
Yardley, Doyle R
Home Was Never Like This. Yardley Enterprises, Aug, 2002, 312 p. ISBN:0971743908
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