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WW2 ERA 511TH (PARACHUTE) INFANTRY REGIMENT FLAG.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
WW2 ERA 511TH (PARACHUTE) INFANTRY REGIMENT FLAG.
6’ x 6’ double applique eagle, unit distinctive insignia, motto "STRENGTH FROM ABOVE". This large 6’ square infantry flag was regulation from Civil War till 1920s when most issued regulation army flags were 3’ x 4’ but scattered 6’ flags were issued for unknown reasons. Undated Philadelphia QM label. The 511th Infantry Regiment first formed in November 1942, training at Camp Toccoa in northeast Georgia (where the 101st Airborne Division trained). Since they were part of the newly formed 11th Airborne Division, their original designation was the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The regiment and division were both activated in January-February 1943. The 11th Airborne Division also consisted of the 187th and 188th Glider Infantry Regiments, which would later receive jump training. After activation and significant training, the regiment and division were sent to the Pacific Theater in May 1944. They arrived in New Guinea for acclimatization and further training where the two glider regiments became jump qualified. In November, the division moved to the Philippines taking part in the Leyte Campaign. After relieving the 7th Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne took part in an offensive to clear the island with the 511th PITR leading the attack. The two glider commands guarded rear areas but helped the advance by using their Piper Cub planes to drop ammunition and supplies to their fellow regiment. During this advance, Private Elmer Fryer of the 511th would be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for repelling a Japanese counterattack and killing twenty seven soldiers before being shot by a sniper. After some rest and reorganization, the 511th and the rest of the division were sent to Luzon with the two glider regiments going by sea and the 511th being airlifted. As the two glider commands launched an attack, the 511th PIR was made ready for an airborne drop on Tagaytay Ridge on February 5th, 1945. Due to the shortage of air transports, it took three lifts to get the whole regiment onto the drop zones and, as with many airborne operations, the units became somewhat scattered. After five hours the entire regiment was assembled and soon linked up with it sister regiments. Later that month the division helped liberate Manila and during this advance Private Manuel Perez Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor for taking out several Japanese bunkers and killing or capturing 18 soldiers. He was killed by a sniper later that month. One of the last areas still holding out was old U.S. Fort McKinley fortified by the Japanese. On February 17th, the division, led by the 511th PIR, assaulted the fort which finally fell on March 3rd. The commanding officer of the 511th PIR, Colonel Orin "Hard Rock" Haugen died of wounds received in the attack. On February 23rd, the 511th PIR made its most famous parachute drop which helped liberate the Los Banos Internment Camp. Loaded with American civilians who had been trapped on Luzon with the fall of the Philippines in 1942, the 511th’s men, working with Filipino guerrillas, scouted the camp, conducted an airborne drop close by and with the remainder of the unit came ashore in AMTRACS to help evacuate the prisoners to safety. Over 2100 civilians were rescued. After this, the last Japanese resistance on Luzon was slowly taken out and included one last parachute drop of elements of the 51tth PIR. Jumping in windy conditions that cause numerous injuries upon landing on an enemy airfield, the 511th soon concentrated and pushed south to help surround the last remaining Japanese forces on the island. Combat operations concluded in late June 1945. This was the division’s final action of World War Two. In August 1945 after Japan surrendered, the 11th Airborne was tasked with the occupation of the country along with several other Army divisions. They set up camps in several places in the nation and helped keep control of the population, distribute food and medicine and more. Finally, in May 1949, the division was relieved and sent to Camp Campbell, Kentucky. While components of the 11th Airborne Division served in Korea, the 511th PIR did not. The division was inactivated in Germany in July 1958 (the 511th POR inactivated the year before) and reflagged as the 24th Infantry Division. Between 1960 and 1962, the concept of airmobile operations handled by helicopters was discussed in the Army and a test division as needed to work out the concept. To this end, the 11th Airborne Division was somewhat reactivated in February 1963 at Fort Benning with the added designation, "Test." Elements of the 511th, redesignated as Infantry in 1963, took part as the First Battalion. After training and developing vertical envelopment tactics by helicopters, the division took on the 82nd Airborne Division in an exercise and defeated them. The concept proven, in June and July 1965, the 11th Airborne Division (Test) had its colors cased and it was inactivated as such and merged into a new command with the 2nd Infantry Division and the 10th Air Transport Brigade to become the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile). The colors and unit designations of the 1st Cavalry, then posted in South Korea, were transferred to this new command while the 2nd Infantry Division took control of the former cavalry units in Korea. The 511th Infantry Regiment was reflagged at this time as the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (Air Mobile). The 11th Airborne Division was recently reconstituted in 2022 by combining Army units based in Alaska but none of its World War Two through Korea regiments were part of the new division. The regimental crest, with its motto, "Strength From Above," depicts the Japanese Torii denoting their service in Japan. On the lower left is the Sun for their service in the Philippines and the crossed kris and war club is for their time in New Guinea. Today, the Third Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) are called the "Rakkasans," which was Japanese for "umbrella men," or parachutists. This was the designation of the 187th Regiment. The infantry core of the Third Brigade are two battalions of the 187th Infantry Regiment of the old 11th Airborne Division. Their unit logos feature the Torii as does their base on Fort Campbell. CONDITION: very good, light soiling & staining. (02-19473-42/JS). $300-400.