2nd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment
The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated in 1942 at Mount Currahee, Camp Toccoa, Georgia as part of the newly created 101st Airborne Division. The men of the 506 left camp on foot, marching 137 miles to arrive for training in Fort Benning. They would become the first Parachute Infantry Regiment to complete Airborne training as a unit.
In June 1944, it was the 506th that jumped into the skies over France, seizing the high ground directly behind Normandy beach to lead the D-Day invasion. The Regiment secured its objectives and was crucial in establishing the Allied base at the beach. The 506th would later invade and seize Hitler's famed "Eagle's Nest" in southeastern Germany, forcing the surrender of the German 82nd Corps.
For seventeen years, the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry was stationed two miles from the perilous DMZ in South Korea until it was called to duty in Iraq in late August 2004. Moving from an Air Assault unit in Korea to a Motorized Infantry unit, the 1/506th is now stationed in Ramadi.
U.S. troops from the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment drive atop of an armored personal carrier outside OP Hotel in Ramadi, Iraq, April 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Todd Pitman)
M113A3 Birdcage in Iraq (ICONS)
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