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The '''504th Infantry Regiment''', originally the '''504th Parachute Infantry Regiment''' (504th PIR), is an [[airborne forces]] [[regiment]] of the [[United States Army]], part of the [[82nd Airborne Division]], with a long and distinguished history. The regiment was first formed in mid-1942 during [[World War II]] as part of the 82nd Airborne Division and saw service in [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily]], [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italy]], [[Battle of Anzio|Anzio]], the [[Operation Market Garden|Netherlands]], [[Battle of the Bulge|Belgium]] and [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|Germany]].
A parent regiment under the [[U.S. Army Regimental System|United States Army Regimental System]], two battalions from the regiment, 1st Battalion (1-504 PIR) and 2nd Battalion (2-504 PIR), are currently active, both assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
==World War II==
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The regiment was initially constituted on 24 February 1942, over two months after the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the subsequent American entry into World War II, in the [[Army of the United States]] as the '''504th Parachute Infantry Regiment''' (504th PIR). The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions were constituted the same date as Companies A, B, and C, respectively, of the 504th PIR, and were activated on 1 May 1942 at [[Fort Benning]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and was assigned to the U.S. Army Airborne Command. When complete with its regimental training, the 504th, then under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] Theodore L. Dunn, was assigned to the [[82nd Airborne Division]], commanded by [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[Matthew Ridgway]], on 15 August 1942. Serving alongside the regiment in the 82nd were the [[325th Infantry Regiment (United States)|325th]] and [[326th Infantry Regiment (United States)|326th Glider Infantry Regiment]]s, together with supporting units.
The 504th PIR, now under the command of 31-year-old [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Reuben Henry Tucker III|Reuben Henry "Rube" Tucker]], who had formerly been the 504th's [[executive officer]] (XO), soon moved from Fort Benning to [[Fort
===North Africa===
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On standby at airfields in Sicily, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th were alerted, issued parachutes, and loaded on aircraft without knowledge of their destination. Receiving their briefing aboard the plane, the men were told that the [[United States Army North|U.S. Fifth Army]]'s [[beachhead]] was in danger and they were needed to jump in behind friendly lines. Flying in columns of battalions, they exited over the barrels of gasoline-soaked sand that formed a flaming "T" in the center of the drop zone. The regiment assembled quickly and moved to the sounds of cannon and small arms fire within the hour. By dawn, the unit was firmly set in defensive positions.<ref name="bragg"/>
[[File:504th parachute infantry regiment WWII italy.jpg|thumb|left|Men of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment prepare to fire an [[M1 Mortar|
The days that followed were, in the words of [[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]] [[Mark W. Clark]], commander of the Fifth Army, "responsible for saving the Salerno beachhead." As the 504th (minus the 3rd Battalion) took the high ground at [[Altavilla Silentina|Altavilla]], the enemy counterattacked, inflicting heavy casualties on the regiment, and the divisional commander, Major General Ridgway, along with Major General [[Fred L. Walker]], commander of the [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Division]], suggested the unit withdraw. Epitomizing the determined spirit of the regiment, Colonel Tucker vehemently replied, "Hell no! We've got this hill and we are going to keep it. Just send me my other battalion." The 3rd Battalion, then being held in reserve, rejoined the rest of the 504th and, supported by a huge 350-round barrage from the Navy, repulsed the enemy, forcing the Germans to retreat from Salerno. Colonel Tucker and two of his men were awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for their actions at Altavilla.<ref name="bragg"/>
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For the next two days, the regiment held its ground and conducted aggressive combat and reconnaissance patrols until the 2nd Battalion of the [[Irish Guards]], part of the [[5th Guards Armoured Brigade]] of the [[Guards Armoured Division]], made the ground link-up, spearheading the advance of the [[XXX Corps (United Kingdom)|British 30th Corps]], commanded by Lieutenant General [[Brian Horrocks|Sir Brian G. Horrocks]], of the British Second Army. However, the [[Nijmegen]] road and rail bridges, which were the last remaining link to the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 1st Airborne Division]] [[Battle of Arnhem|fighting in Arnhem]], remained in enemy hands, and the far bank was heavily defended by the Germans. An assault crossing of the river was necessary, but it was a seemingly impossible task. Gavin intended to make a pre-dawn crossing<ref name="Nordyke2010">{{cite book|last=Nordyke|first=Phil|title=All American, All the Way: A Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II: From Market Garden to Berlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6PfWPBcEVgC|year=2010|publisher=Zenith Imprint|isbn=978-0-7603-3823-0}}</ref>{{rp|103}} after consulting with British Lieutenant General Horrocks and Lieutenant General [[Frederick Browning|Sir Frederick A. M. Browning]], commander of the [[I Airborne Corps (United Kingdom)|British 1st Airborne Corps]] (of which the 82nd formed a part), in the presence of senior officers of the Guards Armoured and 82nd Airborne Divisions, and Colonel Reuben Tucker of the 504th,<ref name="Nordyke2006">{{cite book|author=Nordyke, Phil|title=The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcv5coasGb4C&pg=PA193|year=2006|publisher=Zenith Imprint|isbn=978-1-61060-102-3|page=122}}</ref> and during the night he drew up a plan, and alerted the troops at 06:00 in the expectation of the boats to be provided by the British XXX Corps.
However, the crossing did not commence until 15:00 after the guns of the [[376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion]] and [[153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery]], and two troops of the Grenadier Guards Sherman tanks opened fire on the northern (Lent) bank. The British provided 26 canvas boats, each {{convert|19|ft}} long, that the 504th used to cross the {{convert|400|yd}}-wide river. The 3rd Battalion's H and I companies, and some engineers from the 307th Airborne Engineers crossed in the first wave, 15 men to a boat, and they were immediately on leaving the far shore the target of German [[88 mm gun|
The 1st Battalion formed the second wave, and they established a firm bridgehead from which the units carried the battle to the enemy defending the old Fort Belvedere<ref name="ReferenceA">''Time Magazine'', World Battlefronts: The Battle of Desperation, 2 October 1944 (US Edition)</ref> and captured the bridge from the north side. Lieutenant General Dempsey, commander of the British Second Army, after witnessing the crossing, characterized the attack with a single word as he shook his head and said, simply, "Unbelievable."<ref name="bragg"/> Six crossings were made by 1900. It was there that Dempsey, upon meeting Brigadier General Gavin, shook him by the hand and said "I am proud to meet the commander of the greatest division in the world today."<ref>p.199, Stewart, Vance, ''Three against one: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin vs Adolph Hitler'', Sunstone Press, 2002</ref> Because only 11 boats returned from the first crossing, eight from the second and five from the third,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> A Company that followed used locally sourced wooden fishing boats.<ref>Jim Broadhead interview of his father, PFC Daren Broadhead, in early 2004. Daren served in the 2nd Platoon, A Company</ref>
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[[File:504th parachute infantry regiment WWII germany.jpg|thumb|right|Men of the 504th PIR move through Aachen, Germany, the first large German city to be taken by the Allies.]]
The next morning the 504th paratroopers started for Bastogne, not in airplanes, but in large trucks. Along the way, their destination was changed to [[Werbomont]]—a point more seriously threatened. The Devils conducted a night movement on foot for eight miles to take up defensive positions. On 19 December Colonel Tucker was ordered to Rahier and Cheneux to link up with the 505th PIR at Trois Ponts. The 1st Battalion was ordered to take the towns Brume, Rhier, and Cheneux. At 14:00 on 20 December 1944, 1st Battalion (less A Company) moved out toward Cheneux, where it was immediately engaged by a battalion of the SS-[[Obersturmbannführer]] [[Joachim Peiper]]'s [[Kampfgruppe]] Peiper of the [[I SS Panzer Corps]]. Crossing an open 400-yard field laced every fifteen yards with barbed wire, the 1st Battalion faced the heaviest enemy fire the 504th had ever encountered, including heavy machine-guns, a
[[File:SS trooper captured.jpg|thumb|left|While digging in near Bra, soldiers of Company H of the 3rd Battalion, 504th, met [[Waffen-SS|SS troopers]] on reconnaissance. Several Germans were killed and one captured. 25 December 1944.]]
The 504th deployed a captured German halftrack armed with a
Throughout the initial days of battle with experienced German troops, the regiment wore down the enemy and discovered the Germans had only poorly organized and inadequately equipped follow-on forces. Soon thereafter, the paratroopers received the orders they had been expecting—to attack the [[Siegfried Line]]. The regiment was positioned on the right flank of the [[First United States Army|U.S. First Army]], and on 28 January 1945 the 504th advanced through the Belgian forest of [[Büllingen]] in columns of two along a deep snowy trail, meeting only spotty resistance along the way.<ref name="cheneux"/>
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The 1st ABG, 504th Infantry remained assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until 11 December 1958 when it rotated to Germany (along with 1-505th) to become part of the Airborne component of the newly reactivated [[8th Infantry Division (United States)|8th Infantry Division (Mechanized)]]. Both 1-504th and 1-505th were replaced in the 82nd by 1-187th and 1-503rd, which rotated from the 24th Infantry Division in Germany to the 82nd. The colors of both remained with the 8th until the end of the Pentomic era, at which time (1 April 1963) they were reorganized and reflagged as 1st and 2nd battalions (Airborne), [[509th Infantry Regiment (United States)|509th Infantry]], elements of the division's 1st Brigade (Airborne). The colors of 1-504th returned to the 82nd, and on 25 May 1963 they were reorganized and redesignated as 1st Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry, an element of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.
The 2nd ABG, 504th Infantry remained with the 11th Airborne Division in Germany only until 1 July 1958, when its colors were inactivated, and the unit was reflagged as a non-Airborne battle group and the division was reflagged as the [[24th Infantry Division (United States)|24th Infantry Division]]. The colors were relieved on 9 May 1960 from assignment to the inactive 11th Airborne Division and assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and reactivated on 1 July 1960, and then reorganized and redesignated on 25 May 1964 as the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry, joined 1-504th as an element of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.
===Dominican Republic, April 1965===
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===Parachutes in Panama, 1989===
On 20 December 1989, the 504th was again sent into battle as part of [[Operation Just Cause]]. The intent of this operation was to protect U.S. civilians in [[Panama]], secure key facilities, neutralize both the [[Panamanian Defense Forces]] (PDF) and the "Dignity Battalions," and restore the elected government of Panama by ousting General [[Manuel Noriega]]. The 3-504 PIR had been prepositioned at [[Fort Sherman]] two weeks prior to the operation and was under the control of the [[7th Infantry Division (United States)|7th Infantry Division]]. The battalion conducted air and sea assaults in northern and central Panama to seize the dam that controlled the water in the [[Panama
The 1-504 PIR and 2-504 PIR, along with the 4th Battalion, [[325th Infantry Regiment (United States)|325th Airborne Infantry Regiment]] (4-325 PIR) and the [[1st Ranger Battalion (United States)|1st Battalion]], [[United States Army Rangers|75th Ranger Regiment]] (1/75 RGR), conducted a parachute assault on the [[Omar Torrijos International Airport]]. Following the airborne assault, the paratroopers soon found themselves engaged in fierce combat in urban and rural areas. As a testament to the discipline of the soldiers, however, the unit achieved all key objectives while causing only minimal collateral damage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/panama.html|title=Panama Deception }}</ref>
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In July 2002, 1-504 PIR deployed to Afghanistan with the Task Force (TF) Panther (3rd Brigade, [[82nd Airborne Division]]) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Areas of operation included [[Kandahar]], [[Bagram Air Base]], FOB Shkin, FOB Salerno, FOB Asadabad, and others. In December 2002 to January 2003, TF Devil (1st Brigade, [[82nd Airborne Division]]), including both 2-504 PIR and 3-504 PIR replaced TF Panther. In January 2003, 2-504 PIR was operating from FOB Panther, [[Dora, Baghdad]], while the 3-504 PIR was operating from [[Kandahar Air Base]], Afghanistan in support of [[Operation Enduring Freedom]].
The 1-504 PIR deployed again with TF Panther in September 2003 to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Areas of Operation included FOB
In July 2005, 2-504 PIR was operating in Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/2-504pir.htm|title=2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment "White Devils"|access-date=12 September 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090904211849/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/2-504pir.htm| archive-date= 4 September 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> In October 2005, 1st Battalion, 504 Parachute Infantry Regiment "Red Devils" deployed to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq in order to establish and run a maximum
In September 2005, 3-504 deployed to Iraq to assist in providing security for the upcoming elections. The Blue Devils operated throughout the Al Anbar Province along the Euphrates River, in or near the cities of Haqlaniyah, Ramadi and Al Qaim. After the elections were complete the battalion was attached to USASOC in what was the first ever pairing of a battalion sized infantry unit to a USASOC task force and the beginning of the "Torch Mission." The battalion conducted combat operations in and around Ramadi in support of task force objectives. The Blue Devils redeployed to Ft Bragg in late January 2006. Five paratroopers were killed in action during this deployment. In June 2006 the battalion was reflagged as the 1st of the [[508th Infantry Regiment (United States)|508th Parachute Infantry Regiment]] in the newly formed Fourth Brigade of the division.
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Roughly 2,500 of the 3,500-strong 1st Brigade Combat Team deployed to Afghanistan from March to September 2012 to spearhead the last major clearing operation of the war, fighting insurgent forces in southern Ghazni Province. The brigade conducted nearly 3,500 patrols, killed or captured 400 enemy combatants, found nearly 200 roadside bombs and weapons caches, and engaged the enemy over 170 times. Seven paratroopers were killed in action, including two with 1-504 PIR and two with 2-504 PIR.
In February 2014 1-504 and 2-504 again deployed to Afghanistan. Most of 1-504 were stationed in Bagram Air Base as the Theatre Reserve Force for all of RC East. While A-1-504 & C-1-504
During the summer of 2017, 2-504 deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. In September 2017, they were joined by 1-504 as part of an increase in U.S. troop levels.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://taskandpurpose.com/news/afghanistan-war-paratroopers-deployment | title=More Than 2,000 Paratroopers Deployed to Afghanistan on Short Notice | date=22 September 2017 }}</ref> Both battalions redeployed to Fort Liberty in March 2018.
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*Reorganized and redesignated 15 December 1947 as Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
*Allotted 15 November 1948 to the Regular Army.
*Inactivated 1 September 1957 at Fort
*Redesignated 3 July 1968 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 504th Infantry (organic elements concurrently constituted).
*Assigned 15 July 1968 to the 82d Airborne Division and activated at Fort
(The battalion was part of the 4th Brigade, temporarily activated when the 3rd Brigade was sent to Viet Nam. Units of the division's 4th Brigade remained in skeletal status, never being fully manned, and were inactivated upon the return of the 3rd Brigade from Viet Nam.)
*Inactivated 15 December 1969 at Fort
*Assigned 1 May 1986 to the 82d Airborne Division and activated at Fort
*The Blue Devils deployed as a contingency force to OIF from Sep 2005 to Jan 2006 under the command of LTC Larry Swift. Acknowledged by only a handful in the 82d Airborne Division, during this deployment 3-504 started the famed "Torch Mission": the enduring attachment of an infantry battalion to USASOC for missions.
*Inactivated June 2006 at Fort
*Known as the "Blue Devils."
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*COL Trevor Bredenkamp, 2012 - 2015
*COL Andrew Saslav, -2019-2021
*COL Theodore W. Kleisner II,
*COL Jason P. Schuerger, 2023-Present
==Notable former members==
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*[[Jack Reed (Rhode Island politician)|Jack Reed]], U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
*[[James Megellas]], World War II
* Kevin Engler, 1-504 1SG, CSM of 2-506 IN BN White Currahee
==References==
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