101st Airborne: The Pentomic 101st ~ 1956 US Army; The Big Picture TV-351

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'Viewers will see a comprehensive historical review of the 101st Airborne Division from early organization and training in World War II, through combat in Europe, to Reorganization Day Ceremonies held late in 1956 when the Division became the Army's first potential nuclear equipped, long-range, "fire brigade." In flashbacks, THE BIG PICTURE brings to life the Battle of the Ardennes in which this now-famed "Screaming Eagle" division played such a vital role in the Town of Bastogne. Narrated in the language of the soldiers who were there, this dramatic film presentation concerns itself with the "esprit de corps" that arose among paratroopers of World War II and is continuing in the new "Pentomic 101st." In bringing the past and present together, the camera lens is aimed at Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell Taylor, wartime commander of the 101st. His words are pointed and leave little doubt in the viewers' mind that "speed, mobility and versatility are the key concepts" behind the Army's "new look." As the film ends, paratroopers of the 101st march forward to re-fulfill, if called upon, the prophecy made years ago -- that the 101st "has a rendezvous with destiny." Special music was composed and conducted by Captain Samuel Louoda of the United States Army Band and includes the new "101st Airborne March" and "'Screaming Eagles' March." The chorus of male voices, heard on the soundtrack, is the newly formed Official United States Army Chorus.'

Originally a public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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 as "the tip of the spear" by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the most potent and tactically mobile of the U.S. Army's divisions by former Chief of Staff of the Army GEN Edward C. Meyer (ret). The 101st Airborne is able to plan, coordinate, and execute brigade-size air assault operations capable of seizing key terrain in support of operational objectives, and is capable of working in austere environments with limited or degraded infrastructure. These particular operations are conducted by highly mobile teams covering extensive distances and engaging enemy forces behind enemy lines. According to the author of Screaming Eagles: 101st Airborne Division, its unique battlefield mobility and high level of training have kept it in the vanguard of US land combat forces in recent conflicts. More recently, the 101st Airborne has been performing foreign internal defense and counterterrorism operations within Iraq and Afghanistan.

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 Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles, including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969.

In mid-1968, it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division and then in 1974 as an air assault division. The titles reflect the division's shift from airplanes to helicopters as the primary method of delivering troops into combat. Many current members of the 101st are graduates of the US Army Air Assault School. It is known as the ten toughest days in the US Army, and its average attrition rate is approximately 50 percent. Division headquarters is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At the height of the War on Terror, the 101st Airborne Division had over 200 aircraft. The division now has slightly over 100 aircraft. As of December 2017, the division had about 29,000 soldiers, down from 35,000 soldiers just three years prior because of budget restraints...