Four Stars of Valor: The Combat History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II

by Phil Nordyke

Overview

Hailing from the big cities and small towns of America, these young men came together to serve their country and the greater good. They were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division (the All Americans). Phil Nordyke, their official historian, draws on interviews with surviving veterans and oral history recordings as well as official archives and unpublished written accounts from more than three hundred veterans of the 505th PIR and their supporting units. This is history as it was lived by the men of the 505th, from their prewar coming of age in the regiment, through the end of World War II, when they marched in the Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, to the postwar legacy of having been part of an elite parachute regiment with a record unsurpassed in the annals of combat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610600729
Publisher:	Quarto Publishing Group USA
Publication date:	12/20/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	739,245
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Phil Nordyke was elected official historian of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) at the association’s annual reunion, held in Colorado Springs in 2003. He is the author of All American, All the Way: The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II and The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War. He lives in McKinney, Texas, with his wife Nancy.

Phil Nordyke was elected official historian of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) at the association’s annual reunion, held in Colorado Springs in 2003. He is the author of All American, All the Way: The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II and The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War. He lives in McKinney, Texas, with his wife Nancy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 6

Introduction 8

Chapter 1 "As Tough And Intelligent A Group Of Fighting Men As Ever Pulled On Jump Boots" 10

Chapter 2 "If You Fell Out, You Were Dismissed from The Regiment" 25

Chapter 3 "Africa Was A Living Hell" 41

Chapter 4 "The Eyes of the World Are Upon You. The Hopes And Prayers Of Every American Go With You." 57

Chapter 5 "A Blazing Hell Of Mortar, Artillery, And Small Arms Fire" 79

Chapter 6 "The Italians Were Something Less Than Enthused About Fighting" 95

Chapter 7 "A Scene I Would Carry With Me Always" 116

Chapter 8 "An Irresistible Force That Nothing Could Stop" 134

Chapter 9 "A Small Unit Performance That Has Seldom Been Equaled" 155

Chapter 10 "The 82nd Airborne Division's Undiscovered World War II Equivalent Of Sergeant Alvin C. York" 178

Chapter 11 "I Would Rather Have A Platoon Of Those Men Than A Battalion Of Regular Infantry" 196

Chapter 12 "The Sky Is Full Of Silk" 222

Chapter 13 "All Of The Men Worshipped Him" 243

Chapter 14 "You Fired Fast And Straight Or You Were Dead" 258

Chapter 15 "We Were Not Going To Pull Back...If they Take Us Back, They're Going To have To Carry Us Back" 284

Chapter 16 "Boy, I Feel Sorry For The First Germans Those Guys Get Ahold Of" 307

Chapter 17 "The Krauts Are All Around Us" 327

Chapter 18 "The Company I Came to Know and Love No Longer Existed" 349

Chapter 19 "Is This Armageddon"" 378

Chapter 20 "Fugitives From The Laws Of Averages" 395

Epilogue: "Invisible Pathfinders" 414

Notes 418

Bibliography 453

Index To Maps 465

Index 466

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

WWII History Magazine, May 2007
"Few authors love the 82nd Airborne Division more than Phil Nordyke. His earlier books, All American, All the Way and The All Americans in World War II, chronicle the division's exploits in the Mediterranean and European theaters; Four Stars of Valor is his way of honoring one of the division's stellar regiments—the 505th...Basing his book on extensive archival research as well as the memoirs and interviews of over 300 veterans, Nordyke takes the reader from the 505th's prewar days, through basic and airborne training, and into the unfriendly skies above enemy-held territory, conveying with remarkable immediacy and power what it was like to be an American airborne trooper engaged in heavy combat during World War II...Four Stars of Valor is essential reading for anyone moved by the American fighting man's courage, discipline, and devotion to duty."

Military Book Club
"Author Phil Nordyke, voted official historian of the 505th Regimental Combat Team in 2003, provides an unparalleled view of one of WW II's premier units guaranteed to quench anyone’s thirst for true-combat reading."

Editorial Reviews

WWII History Magazine, May 2007
"Few authors love the 82nd Airborne Division more than Phil Nordyke. His earlier books, All American, All the Way and The All Americans in World War II, chronicle the division's exploits in the Mediterranean and European theaters; Four Stars of Valor is his way of honoring one of the division's stellar regiments--the 505th...Basing his book on extensive archival research as well as the memoirs and interviews of over 300 veterans, Nordyke takes the reader from the 505th's prewar days, through basic and airborne training, and into the unfriendly skies above enemy-held territory, conveying with remarkable immediacy and power what it was like to be an American airborne trooper engaged in heavy combat during World War II...Four Stars of Valor is essential reading for anyone moved by the American fighting man's courage, discipline, and devotion to duty."

Military Book Club
"Author Phil Nordyke, voted official historian of the 505th Regimental Combat Team in 2003, provides an unparalleled view of one of WW II's premier units guaranteed to quench anyone’s thirst for true-combat reading."

From the Publisher