As early as 1784, Benjamin Franklin foresaw the potential of parachutists in combat. Though the concept of soldiers descending upon the enemy from above would not become a reality for another one-hundred fifty years, the half century since the introduction of the paratrooper has seen soldiers of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, Japanese soldiers in the Pacific, communist infantry in Korea, Cuban "advisers" in Grenada, General Manuel Noriega in Panama and General Cedras in Haiti all fall prey to the "vertical envelopment" of the American paratrooper.

Today, no other military unit can respond more rapidly and effectively to conflict anywhere in the world than the 82nd Airborne Division. Known as "America’s Guard of Honor," the 82nd is widely recognized as one of the most powerful forces in America’s military arsenal. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) is one of the three infantry regiments of the 82nd and has served as such for more than fifty years.

The 504th PIR was activated on 1 May 1942 at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Later that same year, the United States War Department announced plans to form an Airborne Division. The 82nd Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Omar Bradley, was selected as the first American Division to wear the Airborne tab and include the term "Airborne" in its official unit designation. Subsequently, the 504th Parachute Infantry became the first Parachute Infantry Regiment in the newly designated 82nd Airborne Division. Relative to other units in the Army, however, the 504th is quite young. Nevertheless, few units are more highly decorated or have a prouder heritage than "The Devils in Baggy Pants" of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

North Africa, April 1943

On 29 April 1943, the 504th boarded the troop ship "George Washington" to steam to North Africa and its first overseas port of call, Casablanca. Upon arrival, the troopers marched eight miles south of the city where they established a cantonment area consisting of a few stone huts and a tent city. Soon, the Regiment was moved by "40 and 8’s" northward to Oujda, Algeria. The "40 and 8’s" were railroad cars dating from the First World War, so called because they were designed to carry 40 men or 8 horses.

Sicily, July 1943

Attached to the 505th PIR, the 3rd Battalion of the 504th PIR helped spearhead the airborne invasion of Sicily. The 504th paratroopers crossed over the Sicilian coast on schedule and jumped on their assigned drop zone on 9 July 1943 -- an event which British Prime Minister Winston Churchill termed, "not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning." For two days, 3rd Battalion’s troopers fought an enemy superior in numbers and equipment. By D+3, they had accomplished their initial mission and were relieved by the 1st Infantry Division to return to regimental control.

Also on 9 July, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th PIR, led by Colonel Reuben H. Tucker, loaded aircraft and took off for Sicily from the dusty airstrip near Kairouan, Tunisia. Near the Sicilian coast, however, a nervous Allied naval vessel suddenly fired upon the formation. Immediately, all other naval vessels and shore troops joined in, downing friendly aircraft and forcing planeloads of paratroopers to exit far from their intended drop zones in one of the greatest tragedies of World War II.

Colonel Tucker’s plane, after twice flying the length of the Sicilian coast and with well over 2,000 holes in its fuselage, finally reached the drop zone near Gela. By morning, only 400 of the Regiment’s 1600 soldiers had reached the objective area. The others had been dropped in isolated groups on all parts of the island and carried out demolitions, cut lines of communication, established island roadblocks, ambushed German and Italian motorized columns, and caused so much confusion over such an extensive area that initial German radio reports estimated the number of American parachutists dropped to be over ten times the actual number.

With the return of 3rd Battalion on 13 July, the 504th moved out in the attack, spearheading the 82nd Airborne Division’s drive northwest 150 miles along the southern coast of Sicily. With captured Italian light tanks, trucks, motorcycles, horses, mules, bicycles, and even wheelbarrows pressed into service, the 82nd encountered only light resistance and took 22,000 prisoners in their first contact with Nazi and Fascist forces. Overall, the Sicilian operation proved costly both in lives and equipment, but the unit gained valuable fighting experience and managed to hurt the enemy in the process. It was with this experience and pride that the 504th returned to its base in Kairouan, Tunisia, to prepare for the invasion of mainland Italy.

The Devils in Italy

Back in North Africa, replacements arrived, training resumed, and 3rd Battalion was again detached, this time to Bizerte for special beach assault training with the 325th Glider Infantry and the Rangers. The 1st and 2nd Battalions moved back to Sicily and trained for a drop at Capua -- in vain, however, because the enemy had been tipped off and was waiting on the drop zone. Another disappointment followed with the cancellation of the drop on Rome. Last minute intelligence disclosed that "negotiations" between General Taylor and Marshal Badoglio were a trap. Finally, in early September, the 3rd Battalion rejoined the 325th and the Rangers, boarded landing craft, and set out to sea. The men knew they were going to Italy, but little else. Troopers from H Company, with a group of Rangers, made the initial landing on 9 September on the Italian coast at Maiori. They quickly advanced inland to seize the Chiunzi Pass and a vital railroad tunnel.

On 11 September, the 3rd Battalion Headquarters and G and I Companies, along with the remainder of the 325th Combat Team, swerved south and landed on bloody Salerno beach. The military situation deteriorated with each passing hour as German tanks and infantry forces tried to push the unit back into the sea. The 3rd Battalion troopers dug in and held on.

On standby at airfields in Sicily, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th were alerted, issued chutes, and loaded on aircraft without knowledge of their destination. Receiving their briefing aboard the plane, the men were told that the 5th Army beachhead was in danger and they were needed to jump in behind friendly lines. Flying in columns of battalions, they exited over the barrels of gasoline-soaked sand that formed a flaming "T" in the center of the drop zone. The regiment assembled quickly and moved to the sounds of cannon and small arms fire within the hour. By dawn, the unit was firmly set in defensive positions.

The days that followed were, in the words of General Mark Clark, Commander of the 5th Army, "responsible for saving the Salerno beachhead." As the 504th (minus 3rd Battalion) took the high ground at Altavilla, the enemy counterattacked and the Commander of 6th Corps, General Dawley, suggested the unit withdraw. Epitomizing the determined spirit of the Regiment, Colonel Tucker vehemently replied, "Retreat, Hell! -- Send me my other battalion!" The 3rd Battalion then rejoined the 504th, the enemy was repulsed, and the Salerno beachhead was saved.

The operation secured the flanks of the 5th Army, allowing it to break out of the coastal plain and drive on to Naples. On 1 October 1943, the 504th became the first infantry unit to enter Naples, which it subsequently garrisoned. The operation was not only a success, but it also stands as one of history’s greatest examples of the mobility of the airborne unit: within only eight hours of notification, the 504th developed and disseminated its tactical plan, prepared for combat, loaded aircraft and jumped onto its assigned drop zone to engage the enemy and turn the tide of battle.

During the next several months in Central Italy, the 504th fought in difficult terrain against a determined enemy. On steep, barren slopes, the Regiment assaulted one hill after another. Mule trains aided in the evacuation of wounded to some extent, but casualties were often carried for hours down the steep hillsides just to reach the road.

Finally, the Regiment was pulled back to Naples on 4 January 1944 as rumors of another parachute mission spread. The operation was to be called "Shingle," and it involved an airborne assault into a sector behind the coastal town of Anzio, 28 miles south of Rome. It seemed, however, that even the locals in Naples knew of the operation, so the 504th was glad that the beach would be assaulted from troop-carrying landing craft.

The landing on Red Beach went smoothly -- at least until enemy planes started their strafing runs on the landing craft. The unit disembarked under fire and was sent shortly thereafter to patrol in force along the Mussolini Canal. After several days of intense German artillery fire, the enemy launched his main drive to push the Allies back into the sea. The 3rd Battalion was committed with the British First (Guards) Division in the heaviest fighting, with the paratrooper companies reduced in strength to between 20 and 30 men. H Company drove forward to rescue a captured British General and was cut off. I Company broke through to them with their remaining 16 men. For its outstanding performance from 8 to 12 February 1944, the battalion was presented one of the first Presidential Unit Citations awarded in the European Theater of Operations.

For the remainder of their eight week stay on the Anzio beachhead, the men of the 504th found themselves fighting defensive battles instead of the offensive operations for which they were better suited. For the first time the men were engaged in trench warfare like that of the First World War, with barbed wire entanglements and minefields in front and between alternate positions. It was during this battle that the 504th acquired the nickname "The Devils in Baggy Pants," taken from the following entry found in the diary of a German officer killed at Anzio:

"American parachutists...devils in baggy pants...are less than 100 meters from my outpost line. I can't sleep at night; they pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems like the black-hearted devils are everywhere..."

On 23 March 1944, the 504th was pulled out of the beachhead by landing craft and returned to Naples. The campaign had been costly, but enemy losses exceeded those of the Regiment by over tenfold, and the Allies maintained control of the beachhead. Shortly thereafter, the 504th boarded the "Capetown Castle" and steamed to England.

From England to Holland

Although Nazi broadcasters warned the unit by radio that German submarines would never let the "Capetown Castle" past the Straits of Gibraltar, the only danger the ship encountered came when all the troops rushed to the same side of the vessel as it pulled into Liverpool on 22 April 1944. The 82nd Airborne Division band greeted them with "We’re All American and proud to be...," and it was assumed that the 504th would rejoin the 82nd for the upcoming invasion at Normandy. As D-day approached, however, it became apparent that the 504th would be held back. A lack of replacements prevented the Regiment from participating in the invasion, so only a few dozen 504th troopers were taken as pathfinders.

The 504th thus remained in England as "Dry Runs" came one after another. Missions were scheduled for France, Belgium, and Holland and then cancelled at the last moment. For three days the troopers waited for the fog to lift to allow them to drop into Belgium, but the wait proved long enough for General Patton’s Army to overrun the drop zones, thereby returning the 504th to its English garrison.

So, when the word came on 15 September for the 82nd to jump in ahead of the Second British Army, 57 miles behind enemy lines in the vicinity of Grave, Holland, few believed the mission would actually be conducted. The operation would require seizing the longest bridge in Europe over the Maas River and several other bridges over the Maas-Waal Canal. The men of the 504th became even more doubtful the mission would go when told that the planned flight was through the Scheldt Estuary (nicknamed "Flak Alley" by Allied bomber pilots) and that they were reportedly outnumbered by 4,000 of Hitler’s Schutzstaffel (SS) troops and an unknown number of German tanks.

No cancellation was received, however, and on 17 September at 1231 hours, the pathfinders of the 504th landed on the drop zone, followed thirty minutes later by the rest of the Regiment and C Company, 307th Engineers, to become the first Allied troops to land in Holland as part of Operation Market Garden -- the largest airborne operation in history. By 1800 hours, the 504th had accomplished its assigned mission (although the enemy had managed to destroy one of the bridges). In just four hours, the Regiment had jumped, assembled, engaged the enemy, and seized its objectives.

For the next two days, the Regiment held its ground and conducted aggressive combat and reconnaissance patrols until the Irish guards made the ground link-up, spearheading the advance of the 30th Corps of the Second British Army. However, the Nijmegen road and rail bridges, which were the last remaining link to British Airborne forces in Arnhem, remained in enemy hands, and the far bank was heavily defended by the Germans. An assault crossing of the river was necessary, but it was a seemingly impossible task because it required moving in boats across the 400-yard wide river against German 88’s, flak wagons, 20mm cannons, machine guns and riflemen. Nonetheless, the crossing was launched. However, only 11 of the 26 boats that comprised the initial wave were in condition to return across the river to deliver succeeding waves. 3rd Battalion crossed first, followed by 1st Battalion, and they established a firm bridgehead from which the units carried the battle to the enemy and captured the bridge from the far side. A British General, after witnessing the crossing, characterized the attack with a single word as he shook his head and said, "Unbelievable."

The Regimental motto, "Strike Hold," had never before been more forcefully demonstrated on the battlefield. The 504th, tired yet determined, had gallantly kept its commitment to accomplish every mission without ever relinquishing any ground it had once occupied.

France and Belgium, November 1944

On 16 November 1944, the 504th arrived at Camp Sissone near Rheims in Northern France on British lorries, greeted again by the traditional "We’re All American..." of the 82nd band. Soon after, the Division moved to Camp Laon and began training with the new C-46 Commando aircraft, the first aircraft with two troop doors for parachute exits.

At 2100 hours on the night of 17 December 1944, Colonel Tucker was summoned to the 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters. There he learned that the Germans had broken through into Belgium and Luxembourg with a powerful armored thrust launched south of Aachen. The next morning the 504th paratroopers started for Bastogne, not in airplanes, but in large trucks. Along the way, their destination was changed to Werbomont, Belgium -- a point more seriously threatened. The Devils then conducted a night movement on foot for eight miles to take up defensive positions while the 1st Battalion prepared to attack enemy forces two miles north in Cheneux the next day.

At 1400 on 20 December, 1st Battalion (minus A Company) moved out toward Cheneux, where it was immediately engaged by a battalion of the 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the 1st SS Division. Crossing an open 400-yard field laced every fifteen yards with barbed wire, the 1st Battalion faced the heaviest enemy fire the 504th had ever encountered. The Devils pressed forward, and by nightfall had given the Germans their first defeat of the "Battle of the Bulge."

Throughout the initial days of battle with experienced German troops, the Regiment wore down the enemy and discovered the Germans had only poorly organized and inadequately equipped follow-on forces. Soon thereafter, the paratroopers received the orders they had been expecting -- to attack the Siegfried Line. The Regiment was positioned on the right flank of the 1st Army, and on 28 January the 504th advanced through the Belgian forest of Bullingen in columns of two along a deep snowy trail, meeting only spotty resistance along the way.

While approaching Herresbach, the Regiment encountered an enemy battalion in a head-on engagement that surprised both elements. The battle-wise paratroopers, without hesitation, accelerated their pace and moved on the enemy. The machine guns of the lead tank opened up on the Germans, while the men of the 504th fired their weapons from the hip at shooting-gallery speed. Within ten minutes, the enemy was overrun with more than 100 killed and 180 captured. Not a single 504th paratrooper was killed or wounded.

Finally, on 1 February 1945, the order came to conduct the assault on the Siegfried Line through the Belgian Fort Gerolstein. The following day the 1st and 2nd Battalions jumped off on the attack. Moving cautiously from bunker to bunker, the troopers encountered heavy machine gun and small arms fire at all points. Ironically, the German Army’s own Panzerfaust (a light anti-tank weapon with which the 504th was well-equipped) was the Regiment’s most effective weapon against the German pillboxes. Despite the presence of thousands of mines and booby traps, only a small number of those disturbed actually detonated. Freezing temperatures, snow, ice and years of exposure had corroded the detonators. Viscious enemy counterattacks on 3 and 4 February were repulsed, and the unit was relieved. The Regiment moved back to Grand Halleux where it spent several days before being trucked across the Belgian-German border. From Aachen, it moved by train back to Laon, France to await orders.

On to Berlin

Colonel Tucker and the advance detail left Laon on 1 April 1945 and traveled by jeep 270 miles to Cologne (Koln), Germany. Three days later the Regiment arrived, mostly in "40 and 8s," and immediately took up positions along the West Bank of the Rhine River. 504th patrols crossed nightly in small boats, engaging in brisk fire-fights almost every patrol. The enemy made a few attempts to cross to the Regiment’s side of the river, but all efforts were turned back.

On 6 April, A Company crossed the Rhine at 0230 hours and immediately made contact with the enemy. Under heavy fire and in a minefield, the first wave of 504th troopers was split into two elements, each of which fought its way independently to the predesignated objective. There they rejoined forces, knocked out several machine gun nests, and established a roadblock. Using similar tactics, succeeding waves infiltrated the enemy and set up a defense in the village of Hitsdorf. For a short time, all was calm.

Then came the enemy counterattacks. The first was broken less than fifty yards from the perimeter, and the second was preceded by heavy artillery preparation. As enemy tanks and infantry closed in, the outnumbered and outgunned A Company fought its way back to the beach. The Regiment sent I Company across to support the withdrawal. The 504th had lost only nine men to the enemy’s 150, but whether the two companies achieved the higher aim of diverting enemy forces from a more important sector upstream is unknown. For the men involved, it was a small-scale "Dunkirk" with a hollow satisfaction achieved.

The 504th was then relieved of its active defense of the Rhine and was directed to patrol the area north of Cologne until 1 May. With little resistance to slow it down, the Regiment established its command post in the town of Breetze, Germany on the west bank of the Elbe River. Although tanks had been attached to the unit, the 504th was outnumbered 100 to 1 by German troops clogging every road. Nevertheless, throughout the next several days, the Americans stood at 100-yard intervals collecting souvenirs by the jeep-load as almost never-ending columns of enemy forces poured through the Regiment’s lines to surrender.

At 1000 hours on 3 May 1945, a jeep full of I Company men grew tired of waiting for a Russian element to link up with them, so they drove down the south side of the Neue Elde Canal and then twelve more miles to the town of Eldenburg. There they were entertained by a company of Cossacks, whose specific unit designation none of the men could recall after partaking of the various toasts offered in honor of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.

The war officially ended in Europe on 5 May 1945. The 504th returned briefly to Nancy, France until the 82nd Airborne Division, the British Eleventh Armored Division and the Russian 5th Cossack Division were called upon to serve as the occupation forces in Berlin. Here the 82nd Airborne Division earned the name, "America’s Guard of Honor," as a fitting end to hostilities in which the 504th had chased the German Army some 14,000 miles across the European Theater.

Post World War II

Following their occupation duty with the 82nd Airborne Division in Berlin, the Devils reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Regiment remained at Fort Bragg until 1957, when it reorganized into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Airborne Battle Groups, 504th Infantry. The 1st and 2nd Airborne Battle Groups were reassigned to duty in Germany with the 8th Infantry Division and the 11th Infantry Division respectively, while the 3rd Airborne Battle Group was inactivated. Although its battalions were not always co-located, the 504th remained as a strategic reserve for the United States during Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam.

The Dominican Republic, April 1965

On 26 April 1965, the 82nd Airborne Division received orders to prepare to deploy forces to the Dominican Republic. Two days earlier, a revolution had erupted in the Caribbean nation which put the safety of almost 3,000 American citizens in jeopardy. The initial deployment of 82nd Airborne soldiers came on 30 April, and the 504th followed on 3 May, landing at San Isidro Air Base to perform both military and humanitarian missions in support of Operation Power Pack. The Regiment conducted military operations to help establish and maintain control of Santo Domingo and to provide security along the All American Expressway that ran through the city.

During these operations, the 504th was often subject to sniper fire and in repeated contact with enemy factions, as it contributed greatly to the establishment of security and to the distribution of food and medical supplies to those in need. Only five days after the arrival of the first U.S. forces, approximately 2,700 American citizens and 1,400 civilians from other nations were evacuated without injury. However, it became apparent that to restore stability to the Dominican Republic would require a continued U.S. presence, so the 504th remained as part of the Inter-American Peace Force for over a year, not returning to Fort Bragg until the summer of 1966.

Operation Golden Pheasant, Honduras 1988

In March 1988, 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th were joined by soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California in a deployment to Honduras as part of Operation Golden Pheasant -- a deployment ordered by President Reagan in response to actions by the Cuban and Soviet-supported Nicaraguan Sandinistas that threatened the stability of Honduras’ democratic government. On 17 March, 1st Battalion landed at Palmerola Airfield, a Honduran Air Force Base that was the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in Honduras. 2nd Battalion jumped onto the airfield a day later, and the troopers of the 504th began rigorous training exercises with orders to avoid the fighting on the border. Had those orders changed, the Devils were prepared to fight, but the invading Sandinista troops had already begun to withdraw. In only a few days, the Sandinistan government negotiated a truce with Contra leaders, and by the end of March the paratroopers of the 504th had returned to Fort Bragg.

Parachutes in Panama, 1989

On 20 December 1989, the 504th was again sent into battle as part of Operation Just Cause. The intent of this operation was to protect U.S. civilians in Panama, secure key facilities, neutralize both the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) and the "Dignity Battalions," and restore the elected government of Panama by ousting General Manuel Noriega. The 3rd Battalion had been prepositioned at Fort Sherman two weeks prior to the operation and was under the control of the 7th Infantry Division. The battalion conducted air and sea assaults in northern and central Panama to seize the dam that controlled the water in the Panama canal, a prison, several police stations, several key bridges, a PDF supply point, the PDF demolitions school and an intelligence training facility. The operations were designed to neutralize the PDF while protecting U.S. nationals and the canal itself during the first few hours of the battle.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th, along with 4th Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, conducted a parachute assault on the Omar Torrijos International Airport. Following the airborne assault, the paratroopers soon found themselves engaged in fierce combat in urban and rural areas. As a testament to the discipline of the soldiers, however, the unit achieved all key objectives while causing only minimal collateral damage.

Devils in the Desert, 1990

On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army (the world’s fourth largest) attacked Kuwait with a visciousness that angered the world. Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were quickly committed to the defense of Saudi Arabia and were positioned against an enemy that greatly outnumbered them. As diplomatic efforts failed, it became clear that the Iraqi Army would not withdraw. Plans were thus developed for the liberation of Kuwait.

President Bush’s warning to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1990 went unheeded, and on 17 January the air war began. Allied sorties pounded the enemy for more than a month as the XVIII Airborne Corps made a rapid movement westward to position its units to roll up the flank of the multi-echeloned Iraqi defense. In a powerful offensive lasting only 100 hours, the Allied forces -- with the 82nd on the far western flank -- crossed into Iraqi territory, devastated the Iraqi Army and captured thousands of enemy soldiers. The dangerous task of clearing countless enemy bunkers was quickly completed by the 82nd troopers, and the 504th returned to Fort Bragg in April 1991.

Hurricane Andrew, 1992

In August 1992, 2nd Battalion, 504th PIR was alerted to deploy with a task force to the hurricane-ravaged area of South Florida to provide humanitarian assistance following Hurricane Andrew. For more than thirty days, the troopers provided the citizens with food, shelter and medical attention, instilling a sense of hope and confidence in a grateful Florida population.

Operation Uphold Democracy, Haiti 1994

Demonstrating its readiness again in September 1994, the Regiment was called upon to take part in Operation Uphold Democracy -- an operation intended to be the largest airborne invasion in history. As the main effort of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 504th, along with 2nd Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, was tasked to conduct an airborne assault to seize Port Au Prince International Airport and to secure key objectives in Port Au Prince and the surrounding area to oust Haiti’s military dictator. Several months of rigorous training had been conducted prior to the invasion to ensure that the mission would be a success. Less than three hours from drop time, however, the mission was terminated, and the aircraft returned with the 82nd units to Pope Air Force Base. Last minute negotiations and the knowledge that paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne were enroute proved to be the decisive factors in the Haitian dictator’s decision to submit to United Nation’s directives and U.S. resolve to restore the duly-elected government to power.

Today, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment stands more ready than ever to deploy anywhere in the world within eighteen hours, fully prepared to fight and win. The Regiment remains a vital element of America’s Guard of Honor and continues to uphold the standards and traditions that have made "The Devil’s in Baggy Pants" one of the most prestigious and deadly fighting forces in American military history.
 

Post 9/11

The Devil Brigade and its subordinate units have served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, most recently as the Army's first fully-developed advise-and-assist brigade assigned the mission of security-force assistance in Iraq's Al Anbar province.