MUSEUM MONDAY - ARTIFACT HIGHLIGHT - 82nd ABN MUSEUM
The All-Black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was Fighting Balloons before the Air Force.
#ArmyHistory #USArmy #TRADOC #AATW #82ndairbornedivision #Armymuseums #BlackHistoryMonth #OperationFirefly @USArmy @TRADOC
The All-Black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was Fighting Balloons before the Air Force.
#ArmyHistory #USArmy #TRADOC #AATW #82ndairbornedivision #Armymuseums #BlackHistoryMonth #OperationFirefly @USArmy @TRADOC
The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion company headquarters infantry guidon is currently on exhibit at the 82d Museum. The 555th was an African American parachute unit during World War II and was based primarily at Pendleton, Oregon and Chico, California.
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In April 1945, the 555th was sent to US West Coast as smoke jumpers to combat forest fires that Japanese balloons ignited. During “Operation Firefly” from April to October 1945, the 555th made 1,200 jumps and helped suppress thirty-six forest fires. One paratrooper was killed.
Returning to Camp Mackall, NC in Oct 1945, the 555th Parachute Infantry BN called it home for the next two years. During this period, the unit stayed a separate unit under Airborne Command until the 82d arrived from Europe and then it was attached to the 82d Airborne Division.
When the battalion was inactivated on 15 December 1947, most of its Soldiers were reassigned to the division's organic 3-505th Airborne Infantry.
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