555th Parachute Infantry Battalion

[CarlosDJackal]

Too bad they don't bring the story of these brave men out during Black History month.

555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (http://www.triplenickle.com/home.htm)

The last remaining members of the 55th PIB:
http://www.triplenickle.com/home_htm_files/1.jpg

[DragonDoc]

For a second there I thought the you were going to say that they were going to reconstitute the Regiment. It is a shame that the Triple nickel is no longer an active Regiment as they have a quite a bit of history. I for one understand the trials and tribulations those brave men withstood just to wear the uniform. I would be happy to see at least one battalion activated somewhere in the active army.

[mhall]

i saw a special on the 555th and the outfit that helped build the road to Alaska during WW2 on tv a year or so ago. it was put on during black history month iirc.

[jaxman7]

It is really sad to me that there are so few of these great men from world war two left. They truly are unique and if you ever get the opportunity to talk with one don't miss the chance. So many people just see an old man and that's it. They will never know the hell some of these guys went through. Both of my grandfathers were in the war. I grew up with stories of one of them shooting messerschmitts and focke-wolfs out the sky from a ball turret in a B24. The other calling in artillery strikes as a forward observer. The stories they told were incredible. They both have passed and I miss them dearly. God bless these men that served. God bless all that have served and the ones downrange as I write this.

[Littlelebowski]

Some of these guys were on hand for my graduation from Jump School in 2000. Truly an honor and I shook their hands.

[Safetyhit]

Too bad they don't bring the story of these brave men out during Black History month.


No doubt, they always seem to find enough time to acknowledge the louder mouthed yet lesser accomplished. These are true role models that are essentially ignored.

[ThirdWatcher]

No doubt, they always seem to find enough time to acknowledge the louder mouthed yet lesser accomplished.

Isn't that the truth!!!

[USAFR]

Sirs, Thank you for your service.

[CarlosDJackal]

Sorry about reviving an old post. But I had the honor of meeting two of the remaining members of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion. As it turns out, the three shown in the second link I posted above were the last three surviving members of the original Test Platoon of Black Paratroopers. There were originally seventeen of them and the platoon was formed to prove (or disprove) the notion that Blacks can, in fact, be able to perform as Airborne Infantry.

These two Gentlemen who were nice enough to speak to my Army Reserve unit's Christmas Family Day in order to tell us their story were LTC John E. Mann (http://www.triplenickle.com/johnmann.htm) and LTC Townsend. I have not been able to upload my photo with these true heroes.

Both these Paratroopers served with distinction in at least three wars (WWII, Korea and Vietnam). It was a humbling experience to have been in the presence of such true Warriors who had to bridge the racial divide.

What I found very interesting was how they held in high regard, MG Gavin, CG of the 82nd Airborne Division. While he was instrumental in the deactivation of the 555th PIB, he did so to integrate the members of this unit into the division as the 3rd BN, 505th PIR in 1947 - before President Trumman signed the Executive Order that forced the desegregation of all our military.

Like I said before, it's a shame that today's urban youth would rather put such individuals as snoop dog, kanye west, and their local gang-banging thugs than such men as the members of the "Triple Nickel" PIB.

[SeriousStudent]

That would have been both an honor, and a great pleasure to listen to those gentlemen. I truly do hope that there are people in the Army who work to preserve the history these fine men made.

One thing that I know the Marine Corps does, is the Oral History program, where they tape record interviews with some of their older warriors. Do you know if the Army has such a program? It would be a shame to lose the wisdom of such Soldiers.

And thank you for reviving this thread. Such things always bring a smile to my face. :)

[dhrith]

Saw bunch of these fellas down at the 82nd reunion this summer. Very cool seeing these men from history and their stories.