M2 502'd Five-O-Deuce Parachute Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion Officer Helmet

The 502'd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), took part in most major Western Europe Campains in WW2. They were part of the 101st Airborne Division and were on a par with their (now), more famous 506th PIR (Band of Brothers). Their list of actions are to many to list here but in summary:

Normandy:
They jumped into Normandy and Lieutenant Colonel Robert George Cole ordered and pressed home a bayonet charge, almost unheard of in WW2.

Battle of the Bulge:
On December 16 1944 the Germans launched a massive coordinated offensive through the heavily wooded area of the Ardennes Forest with the intent for securing the port of Antwerp in order to cut off the allied supply line. The 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions were quickly moved from camps in France to shore up the American front line that was crumbling under the speed and mass of the German attack.

Bastogne:
Brigade General McAuliffe, the acting division commander, had all four regiments of the 101st around Bastogne. Soon after arriving in Bastogne, the paratroopers of the 502nd began digging defensive positions along the north and northwest portion of the defensive perimeter surrounding the city. On 20 December 1944, German forces completely encircled the defenders of Bastogne. "It was on this day, 20 December," reads the war diary of the 327th Glider Infantry, "that all roads were cut by the enemy...we were completely surrounded.”

Five-O-Deuce 502d PIR Helmet

More Info >>