A Pictorial Review of the 82d Airborne Division; The All American 1917-1973 [From front cover]
Norfolk, VA: Lloyd's of Norfolk, 1973. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 248 pages. Illustrations (a few in color). Format is approximately 9 inches by 12.25 inches. Decorative front cover. Illustrated end papers. Some top of pages soiled. Several interior pages have creases/wrinkles. Notation on fep that this was once the property of SFC Carol Miller, HQ 2d Bde, 82d Airborne. There is a 1.5 by 2.5 inch rectangle cut from the bottom right corners of pages 1-15, revealing the photo of a sergeant Miller taped to the bottom right corner of page 17. Carol Miller is identified to the left of the photograph where there is written in on a provided space, Name, rank, date, and unit. This was signed in 1973. It is unfortunate that the previous owner, SFC Miller, chose to disfigure the early pages by removing a portion of several pages so that his color photograph could be immediately seen. Nevertheless, this is an increasingly scarce item associated not only with a remarkably effective Army unit but also with the final period of the Vietnam War. This yearbook is a small glimpse of the 82d Airborne Division in 1972-1973. It records some of the activities, some of the equipment, some of the facilities, some of the geography visited, and some of the personalities who made up the division during this time. It "cannot describe or depict adequately the Spirit of the airborne, and undefinable thread of comradeship and respect that binds together men who are willing to jump from a plane in flight, to entrust their lives to a parachute,....men who are prepared at any time to fulfill the sacred trust placed in them by the people of the United States. The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas with a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to "respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours". Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division. The division was constituted, originally as the 82nd Division, in the National Army on 5 August 1917, shortly after the American entry into World War I. It was organized on 25 August 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia and later served with distinction on the Western Front in the final months of World War I. Since its initial members came from all 48 states, the division acquired the nickname All-American, which is the basis for its famed "AA" on the shoulder patch. The division later served in World War II where, in August 1942, it was reconstituted as the first airborne division of the U.S. Army and fought in numerous campaigns during the war. Following Germany's surrender, the 82nd Airborne Division entered Berlin for occupation duty, replacing the 2nd Armored Division in August 1945. The division was relieved by the 78th Infantry Division early in November 1945. In Berlin General George S. Patton was so impressed with the 82nd's honor guard he said, "In all my years in the Army and all the honor guards I have ever seen, the 82nd's honor guard is undoubtedly the best." Hence the "All-American" became also known as "America's Guard of Honor". The war ended before their scheduled participation in the Allied invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall. During the invasion of Italy, Ridgway considered Will Lang Jr. of TIME magazine an honorary member of the division. From 1969 into the 1970s, the 82nd deployed paratroopers to South Korea and Vietnam on more than 180DBT (Days Bad Time) for exercises in potential future battlegrounds. The division received three alerts. One was for Black September 1970. Paratroopers were on their way to Amman, Jordan when the mission was aborted. In May 1971 they were used to help national guard and Washington DC police to round up and arrest protesters. Nine years later in August 1980, the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry was alerted and deployed to conduct civil disturbance duty at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, during the Cuban refugee internment. War in the Middle East in the fall of 1973 brought the 82nd to full alert. President Gerald Ford put the unit on high alert in case the administration decided to intervene in the Boston desegregation busing crisis. In May 1978, the division was alerted to a possible drop into Zaire. In November 1979, the division was alerted for a possible operation to rescue the American hostages in Iran. The division formed the nucleus of the newly created Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF), a mobile force at a permanently high state of readiness. Condition: Fair.
Keywords: 82d Airborne, 82nd Division, Fort Bragg, SFC Carol Miller, Pictorial Works, Unit History, Pictorial Record, United States Army, All American, Operation Deep Furrow, NATO, Operation Exotic Dancer, Yearbook
[Book #84185]
Price: $100.00