Birth of a Regiment

Book I in the campaign history of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Birth of a Regiment is an authoritative, action-packed account of the 504th’s seminal role in Sicily and Italy, the first two U.S. airborne drops in the European Theater of Operations. Drawing on hundreds of eye-witness testimonies, Frank van Lunteren puts readers at the scene of historic battles as described in the words of the men who fought them. New archival sources in English, German, and Italian further enrich the narrative, along with fresh maps and previously unpublished photographs from archival sources and the veterans’ private collections.