The Few and the Brave Convinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world. Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second D-day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps. Gerald Astor, acclaimed author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide, draws on the words of the men of the 517th to create this gripping, action-packed account of a unit that existed for only two years but fought heroically to defeat the vaunted German forces. From its campaign in Italy to its assault in the French Alps, the Battling Buzzards helped push the Germans out of southern Europe one fierce, close-quarter battle at a time. Then, after six months of nonstop action, the exhausted, battle-hardened 517th was called into the ultimate battle — at a place called The Bulge....

The author of Before the Flames and the son of a member of the ill-fated infantry battalion discusses America's 551st Battalion and their heroic, little-known role during World War II's Battle of the Bulge.

A new assessment of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest battle fought by U.S. forces in World War II, offers a balanced perspective that considers both the German and American viewpoints and discusses the failings of intelligence; Hitler's strategic grasp; effects of weather and influence of terrain; and differences in weaponry, understanding of aerial warfare, and doctrine.

"H.L. "Bud" Curtis, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) 1943-1945"--Cover.

A companion to World War II in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, this volume reevaluates the most enduring literature on basic aspects of the war in Asia and the Pacific. It also covers themes pertaining to societies at war, culture, the arts, and science and technology as well as international relations and the postwar world. Included are not only grand strategy, military and naval campaigns, and matters of diplomacy, but also resistance, collaboration, prisoners of war, and broad topics of the home front, including chapters on gender issues, film, literature, popular culture, and propaganda. This volume and its companion provide the first comprehensive historiographic reference work on the war. Each chapter describes the state of knowledge on the topic, relating each bibliographic reference to the chapter's themes and issues, and concludes with a bibliography. Recent original scholarship is included when it aids new understanding, and older works of enduring value also find a place. The essays in this volume will interest scholars and college teachers as well as advanced students and serious amateurs seeking insight into the history of the war and its literature.