[Homer_J_Simpson]

My grandfather 509th PIB was captured in that jump scattered wildly around Avellino.

I hope he eventually got home from captivity as my uncle did.

I did a search to find out of the 509th was part of the 82nd Airborne Div. As near as I could tell it was never connected to a whole division but just operated as an independent unit. I didn't know that ever happened.

[Theophilus]

Thank God he did get home. 40 of us would not exist otherwise.

My Grandfather called the 509th a "bas+@rd battalion". They made the first/longest ever combat jump into North Africa. They pioneered the Pathfinders and the first Airborne Medal of Honor was earned by one of his fellow troopers (after Avellino). Today the 509th is the OPFOR at the JRTC, Ft Polk, LA.