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Photograph. US paratroopers march down the roadway. Official caption on photo front: "7/MM-44-2111." Official caption on reverse: "15 Aug 1944 7/MM-44-2111 / Seventh Army, Le Muy, France / Paratroopers move along dusty country road toward their objective on D Day in southern France. Photo by Leibowitz / 163rd Signal Photo Company." Le Muy, France. 15 August 1944
Happy as hell to be alive after the night jump...
Well, the helmets alone top $1000USD when you see one...imagine the whole rig, top to bottom with provenance. Rifle, helmet to boots...Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve762
These are members of the 509th (Gingerbread man) PIR. They are wearing standard M2 helmets and jump uniforms. The 517th had rigger modified chinstraps and camouflaged painted helmets and uniforms. The 517th had been pulled from combat in Italy just before Operation Dragoon and did not have a fresh resupply of M2 helmets and jump liners so the parachute riggers modified M1 helmets with special chinstraps.
Similar to these:Attachment 127686
Attachment 127687Attachment 127688Attachment 127689
Part of their insignia.
On 22 January 1944, the 509th PIR took part in the seaborne landings at Anzio, just south of Rome. Corporal Paul B. Huff, a member of the 509th, became the first US paratrooper to be awarded the Medal of Honor, on 29 February 1944, after an action at Anzio.
A second combat jump, on 15 August 1944, occurred around Le Muy and St Tropez in southern France.
France - Operation Dragoon - Southern France
Belgium - Battle of the Bulge
On 10 December 1943 the battalion was redesignated as the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.
During the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944, the 509th fought in Belgium to blunt the German attack. An account of this battle is described in the book "Bloody Clash at Sadzot." The 509th Infantry Regiment's service during World War II concluded at the end of January 1945 near St. Vith, Belgium. Of the original 700 paratroopers who entered the battle, approximately ninety-three percent were injured. Effective 1 March 1945, the 509th PIB was disbanded, and the soldiers who remained were reassigned as replacements in the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division.