Phil Pierce's Blog

This art piece is to celebrate one of the greatest Divisions in the History of the U.S. Army. “Taking the Objective” is meant to be a proud and continuing look at today’s Air Assault Soldiers who are building the future of the Division. The 101st Soldiers have fought harder and longer than many units in current service. They have suffered loses and victories in the War on Terror. It is our pleasure to present “Taking the Objective” to the public.

The 101st Airborne Division (AIr Assault) is renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the liberation of Holland and action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles including the fight for Hamburger Hill in May 1969.

Upon its arrival in Vietnam in 1965 (1st Brigade, followed by the 2nd and 3rd Brigades in 1968), the division was an airborne unit. In mid-1968 it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division, then in 1974 as an air assault division. Both of these titles reflect the fact that the division went from airplanes as the primary method of delivering troops into combat, to the use of helicopters as the way the division entered battle. Many current members of the 101st are graduates of the U.S. Army Air Assault School and wear the Air Assault Badge. Division headquarters is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The division is one of the most highly decorated units in the U.S. Army and has been featured prominently in military fiction since its first deployment.

The 82nd Division was redesignated on 13 February 1942 as Division Headquarters, 82nd Division. It was recalled to active service on 25 March 1942, and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.

On 15 August 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division became the Army’s first airborne division, and was redesignated the 82nd Airborne Division. In April 1943, its paratroopers deployed to North Africa to participate in the campaign to invade Italy. The Division’s first two combat operations were parachute assaults into Sicily on 9 July and Salerno on 13 September. The initial assault on Sicily, by the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was the first regimental-sized combat parachute assault conducted by the United States Army.

Throughout the years since World War II the 82nd Airborne Division has taken part in every conflict America has had. The men and women of today’s 82nd Airborne Division are arguably the best trained, the most well equipped and the most motivated and intelligent paratroopers in history. This print highlights today’s Paratrooper and the commitment they have shown over the Nations most recent conflicts.

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