Overview
In 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, split into two new divisions. One of them, the 101st Airborne Division, immediately began intense preparations and training for a surprise landing somewhere on Nazi-occupied Europe. Ultimately the chosen location became Normandy and the date: June 6, 1944, D-Day. The division went on to become legendary as the “band of brothers,” the famed Screaming Eagles of World War II.
The plan had been for the airborne soldiers to be pulled out of the line after the first few days to prepare for follow on missions. The paratroopers and glidermen proved so effective as shock troops, however, that they remained at the forefront of the vicious hedgerow-to-hedgerow combat that typified the fighting in Normandy for more than a month. Particularly noteworthy was the division’s capture and defense of Carentan. Ultimately the Screaming Eagles returned to England for rehabilitation in mid-July.
Next up for the 101st was Operation Market-Garden, the famed “bridge too far” campaign. The division jumped into Holland in a daring daylight aerial assault on September 17, 1944, north of Eindhoven. Following its initial success, Market-Garden bogged down with the Screaming Eagles remaining in the frontlines until the end of November, when the division was withdrawn to rest areas in France.
When the German surprise attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge roared out of the Ardennes in mid-December, the 101st was one of only two divisions in strategic reserve for the allied forces. Sent to the key crossroads town of Bastogne in Belgium, the 101st was surrounded by the attacking Germans and cut off from friendly forces. If the American soldiers failed to hold the crossroads, the Wehrmacht would be able to rapidly advance their forces through Belgium and Holland to the key port of Antwerp, perhaps extending the war by years.
Historic images and dramatic text from acclaimed military historian Mark Bando fill 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in World War II. It is a fitting tribute to the fallen men of the 101st. Never-before-published photographs and firsthand accounts capture their bold accomplishments during the war, including a brilliant stand at Bastogne where their ardent refusal to yield was famously summed up in their commander’s reply to a German call for surrender: “NUTS.”
Editorials
From the Publisher
Military Heritage, February 2008
“This is author Mark Bando’s fourth contribution to memorializing the service of the 101st Airborne Division and its tremendous combat record in World War II. The coffee table-size book is full of photographs that depict the division’s distinguished service from D-Day until war’s end the following May.
“[Bando] does a nice job of illuminating the official history of the unit with vignettes from the soldiers themselves. These personal stories add a touch of realism and bring the action to life for the reader, who comes away with a much better understanding of what the men endured. The author has paid a lasting tribute to the ‘epic warriors’ of the 101st Airborne who, like so many others, were the ‘vanguard of freedom’ for the United States during World War II.”
The
“Military historian Mark Bando wrote the text to this coffee-table-style book that is filled with photographs. The most moving were taken aboard an airplane en route to Normandy and on the ground during the Normandy invasion. More than anything, the black and white photos – of men chest-deep in snow, of men in battle on Christmas Day, of men deep in trenches – starkly show the tremendous hardships of war.”
Tampa Tribune, November 2007
Airborne Quarterly Magazine, Winter 2007
“There have been many books about the 101st, but this one is truly unique. Cocktail table-sized, it is equally big in content. All the more so since many of the numerous photos are, at least for this reviewer, first time viewings and collectively, tell a pictorial story well accompanied by text … It is rare for this reviewer to come across a book that truly tells it like it was and the photographic support to give life to the text. But that’s what this book does … I recommend it for those who share my interest in our airborne history. In reviewing this book my horizons were expanded! So too will be yours!”