517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team

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The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (517th PRCT), one of the U.S. Army's first elite combat units, began its existence in March of 1943, training at Camp Toccoa in the backwoods of Georgia. Although it began as the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment (517th PIR), an element of the 17th Airborne Division, the 517th PRCT was formed when the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment was combined with the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (460th PFAB) and the 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company (596th PCEC). The 517th saw most of its combat (in Italy, Southern France, and the Battle of the Bulge) as an independent unit. At the end of World War II, the unit was eventually incorporated into the 13th Airborne Division.

Before its dissolution after only thirty-three months, the outfit of 2,500 men endured some of the heaviest fighting of the European campaigns - from Italy through the invasion of Southern France (Operation Dragoon), then the bitter winter in the Ardennes (in the Battle of the Bulge) and the final thrust into Germany.

During its relatively brief lifetime, the 517th Regimental Parachute Combat Team collected one Medal of Honor, six Distinguished Service Crosses, five Legions of Merit, 131 Silver Stars, 631 Bronze Stars, 2 Air Medals, 4 Soldiers Medals, 17 French Croix De Guerre, and 1,576 Purple Hearts -- at the cost of 253 killed.

The 517th was formally deactivated in 1946.

[edit] Famous soldiers of the 517th

• Louis A. Walsh, Jr., the first Commanding Officer of the 517th
• Rupert D. Graves, succeeded Lou Walsh as the 517th's CO and led the outfit throughout its combat career
• Willaim J. "Bill" Boyle, led the 1st Battalion
• Richard J. "Dick" Seitz, led the 2nd Battalion. He later went on to become a Lt. General, commanding Fort Bragg, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the XVIII Airborne Corps.
• Melvin Zais, commanded the 3rd Battalion and then became executive officer for the Regimental Combat Team. He went on to become Commanding General of the US Third Army.
• Raymond L. Cato, 460th PFAB Commander
• Robert Dalrymple, 596th PCEC Commander
• Lt. John A. "Boom Boom" Alicki, a veteran of Pearl Harbor, handled the indoctrination of the 517th recruits at Camp Toccoa.
• Melvin E. Biddle, B Company, Medal of Honor recipient.
• Joe David Brown, member of the 460th PFAB, journalist and author of Paper Moon and Kings Go Forth
• George W. Dunaway became the 2nd Sergeant Major of the Army from 1968 to 1970, the highest ranking enlisted man in the Army.
• Richard J. Eaton, a Corporal with A Company, went on to become a Brigadier General and inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame
• Terry Sanford, an FBI agent, joined the 517th. He later became state legislator, lawyer, author of several books, Governor of North Carolina, U.S. senator, Duke University president, and two-time presidential candidate.
• Dick Spencer III, reporter and artist, and creator of the Battling Buzzards logo

[edit] External links

• 517th PRCT Web Site
• Paratrooper's Odyssey - The Official History of the 517th
• WW2 Airborne listing for the 517th PIR

[edit] References

• Gerald Astor (1993). Battling Buzzards - The Odyssey of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 1943-1945. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-23693-2.
• Clark Archer (1985). Paratrooper's Odyssey - A History of the 517th Parachute Combat Team. 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team Association. ISBN 0-9616015-0-7.
• Merle McMorrow (2004). From Breckenridge to Bastogne - The Accounts of a World War II Paratrooper. Richtman's Press Club. ISBN 0-9747913-0-8.