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The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War
On the night of 9/10 July 1943 the All Americans of the 82nd Airborne Division jumped into history as they made their first parachute assault of World War II. Three others would Salerno, Normandy, and Holland. In total the division served more than three hundred days in combat, a record unmatched by any other American division. With nearly 400 historic photographs, many never before published, The All Americans in World War II provides a complete photographic history of the 82nd Airborne Division as it fought it way across Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany, ultimately all the way to Berlin as part of the American occupation forces. This book is an essential addition to any serious World War II collection and a tribute to the fighting spirit of this legendary division.
- GenresWarWorld War IIHistory
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 29, 2025
A vignette sets up each set of photos often with a first hand account. Not every photo is the sharpest/clearest but quantity has quality of its own in this case.
March 28, 2011
In 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division of the US army was reactivated and renamed: it would now be known as the 82nd Airborne Division, composed of trained parachutists from all then-48 states (hence the nick-name, “The All American Division”) who would be dropped into key conflicts including Operation Overlord in Normandy, Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands, and the Battle of the Ardennes in Belgium. The 82nd Airborne Division came to include several battalions and regiments, each of which possessed their own number-names such as the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 325th Glider Infantry Division, etc., which sometimes worked in tandem but just as often operated individually. The army’s second airborne division, the 101st, sometimes worked with the 82nd as well.
Phil Nordyke’s new photographic history on the subject of the 82nd contains 36 chapters which each include a single page of explanatory text, maps, and multiple pages of photographs regarding every activity of the division. His matter-of-fact writing style doesn’t miss much and covers a wealth of information in a small amount of space, as seen in this narrative taken from chapter 33 regarding troop movements towards the end of the Battle of the Ardennes: “The 325th GIR moved east through Meyerode and then took Wereth at 5:00 a.m. the following morning after a sharp fight. After moving twelve hours through the deep snow on January 28, the Company H, 504th PIR, ran into and destroyed an entire German battalion outside of Herresbach, Belgium, then held the town against repeated German counterattacks that night.”
The text’s minimalist style suits its subject very well, especially when it relates feats of heroism enacted by those associated with the 82nd: “[Sergeant Leonard Funk] was standing there with him Tommy gun slung arms, and the German [who was ordering Funk to surrender] was standing there waving his Schmeisser in Funk’s belly. In a flash, that gun was in the German’s belly and he ripped off a burst. The German started to sink slowly down . . . “
This unfortunate German wasn’t the only one to be defeated by a member the 82nd; if a dead German officer’s war journal is to be believed, the enemy was terrified when first encountering the U.S. paratroopers, as Nordyke relates in chapter seven:
“A diary found on the body of a dead German officer read, ‘American parachutists – devils in baggy pants – are less than one hundred meters from my outpost line. I can’t sleep at night. They pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems the black-hearted devils are everywhere.’ ”
Even when mistakes were made, they often seemed to work out in the favor of the paratroopers: apparently, during the D-Day invasion, only one regiment from the 82nd and the 101st combined landed where it was supposed to. The others were either hindered by the enemy or dropped into the wrong location. But Nordyke relates that “because the paratroopers of both divisions were widely scattered, the German commanders were unable to determine the main objectives of the paratroopers, and were hesitant to commit forces to a counterattack as a result.”
The nearly 400 photos included in the book, many of them never before published, speak eloquently of the work of the 82nd Airborne Division and, when coupled with the maps and clear text, illuminate a fascinating aspect of U.S. WWII history.
(This review is also posted at BookPleasures.com).
Phil Nordyke’s new photographic history on the subject of the 82nd contains 36 chapters which each include a single page of explanatory text, maps, and multiple pages of photographs regarding every activity of the division. His matter-of-fact writing style doesn’t miss much and covers a wealth of information in a small amount of space, as seen in this narrative taken from chapter 33 regarding troop movements towards the end of the Battle of the Ardennes: “The 325th GIR moved east through Meyerode and then took Wereth at 5:00 a.m. the following morning after a sharp fight. After moving twelve hours through the deep snow on January 28, the Company H, 504th PIR, ran into and destroyed an entire German battalion outside of Herresbach, Belgium, then held the town against repeated German counterattacks that night.”
The text’s minimalist style suits its subject very well, especially when it relates feats of heroism enacted by those associated with the 82nd: “[Sergeant Leonard Funk] was standing there with him Tommy gun slung arms, and the German [who was ordering Funk to surrender] was standing there waving his Schmeisser in Funk’s belly. In a flash, that gun was in the German’s belly and he ripped off a burst. The German started to sink slowly down . . . “
This unfortunate German wasn’t the only one to be defeated by a member the 82nd; if a dead German officer’s war journal is to be believed, the enemy was terrified when first encountering the U.S. paratroopers, as Nordyke relates in chapter seven:
“A diary found on the body of a dead German officer read, ‘American parachutists – devils in baggy pants – are less than one hundred meters from my outpost line. I can’t sleep at night. They pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they will strike next. Seems the black-hearted devils are everywhere.’ ”
Even when mistakes were made, they often seemed to work out in the favor of the paratroopers: apparently, during the D-Day invasion, only one regiment from the 82nd and the 101st combined landed where it was supposed to. The others were either hindered by the enemy or dropped into the wrong location. But Nordyke relates that “because the paratroopers of both divisions were widely scattered, the German commanders were unable to determine the main objectives of the paratroopers, and were hesitant to commit forces to a counterattack as a result.”
The nearly 400 photos included in the book, many of them never before published, speak eloquently of the work of the 82nd Airborne Division and, when coupled with the maps and clear text, illuminate a fascinating aspect of U.S. WWII history.
(This review is also posted at BookPleasures.com).
March 6, 2011
"The All Americans in World War II: a Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War" by Phil Nordyke delivers what the book’s title promises, a photographic history of the 82nd Airborne Division at war. The book is filled with numerous black and white photographs. The photographs are excellent and many that have never before been published.
The book is organized into 36 chapters. The chapters chronicle the 82nd Airborne Division’s from the division’s reactivation in February 1942 to the return to the USA in January 1946. The chapters begin with a one-page summary of that stage of the 82nd’s action. A skillfully produced map showing the locations of allied follows the chapter summary. It contains locations of allied and axis units visually showing their actions that are covered in the chapter. Next, the reader feasts with pages of period photographs of the action. There are 30 detailed maps and 365 photographs.
This book is a very useful addition to or a great stand-alone volume for the reader wanting to learn more about the All American Division in World War II. It really is spectacular. It would be an excellent addition to any military historian’s library of college and community library.
I am a former US Army officer who graduated from airborne school in class 36-76. I found myself reading the book in one sitting. My father is a World War II veteran who served in the European Theater of Operations. He also could not put the book down until he had read it from cover to cover.
The book is organized into 36 chapters. The chapters chronicle the 82nd Airborne Division’s from the division’s reactivation in February 1942 to the return to the USA in January 1946. The chapters begin with a one-page summary of that stage of the 82nd’s action. A skillfully produced map showing the locations of allied follows the chapter summary. It contains locations of allied and axis units visually showing their actions that are covered in the chapter. Next, the reader feasts with pages of period photographs of the action. There are 30 detailed maps and 365 photographs.
This book is a very useful addition to or a great stand-alone volume for the reader wanting to learn more about the All American Division in World War II. It really is spectacular. It would be an excellent addition to any military historian’s library of college and community library.
I am a former US Army officer who graduated from airborne school in class 36-76. I found myself reading the book in one sitting. My father is a World War II veteran who served in the European Theater of Operations. He also could not put the book down until he had read it from cover to cover.
March 12, 2008
Great Photo History of the First Paratroopers. Phil Nordyke really cares about the Veteran.
September 1, 2013
A little context would have gone a long way in each chapter. This books assumes you know each battle the 82nd divisions were involved.
June 17, 2012
My D-Day book for 2012!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews