Edited for brevity.
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - The 101st Airborne Division on Thursday reactivated a historic unit whose actions during World War II were the subject of the book "Band of Brothers." The 506th Regimental Combat Team - also known as the "Currahees," a Cherokee Indian word meaning "stands alone" - returned to the division just as its soldiers were completing final preparations to return to Iraq. The reactivation is part of the 101st Airborne Division's recent expansion from three to four brigade combat teams under a Pentagon plan to reorganize the Army into smaller, easily deployable units.
The unit - then called the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment - was among the first to land in Normandy during World War II. The Army deactivated and reactivated the unit several times, sending its soldiers to Korea and Vietnam, where the unit was critical to winning the battles on Hamburger Hill. |