History of the 101st Airborne Division History of the 101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division ("Screaming Eagles") is a specialized modular light infantry division of the US Army trained for air assault operations. The Screaming Eagles has been referred to by journalists as "the tip of the spear" as well as one of the most potent and tactically mobile of the U.S. Army's divisions. The 101st Airborne Division has a history that is nearly a century long. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord (the D-Day landings and airborne landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France), Operation Market
501st Infantry Regiment (United States) citation for their action in Normandy. They were briefed on several planned air assaults into France, each aborted when the allies overran planned objectives. In the early fall of 1944 they began preparing for an airborne assault into the occupied Netherlands. Code-named "Market Garden," it combined a deep airborne thrust through the west of the Netherlands by the 1st Allied Airborne Army, with an overland drive by the British 2nd Army. The plan visualized airborne forces seizing key bridges over rivers and canals so 2nd Army could move very deep and fast over a distance of more than , past