The US Army’s elite 82nd Airborne was formed in World War I.  The paratroopers usually flew in under cover of night, behind enemy lines, on gliders.  Because the all-volunteer unit was one of the first to draw troops from all across the US, it was called “The All-American Division.”  Its first of many heroes was Sergeant Alvin York, who, along with 5 other paratroopers, destroyed a phalanx of German machine guns and captured 132 of the Kaiser’s soldiers.

The 82nd would also distinguish itself in World War II , most especially at The Battle of the Bulge, where the German High Command called paratroopers like Vernon Haught (pictured in the poster to the right) “devils in baggy pants.”

Thirty of Tiger 923’s 68 passengers were privates in the 82nd Airborne. They’d just graduated Jump School and received their Airborne wings on September 18th, five days before boarding. The failure rate for Airborne volunteers could approach 90%.  As one of the 30 said: “It was a rough course, for seven months. It was hot, and miserable.”

Twenty-one-year-old Fred Caruso signed up for a 3-year tour as a combat trooper after deciding to postpone college. His father’s work at Widman’s Bakery in Spring Hill, New Jersey now only had to pay for room and board for his parents and two younger sisters.