07/13/2026
On this day in U.S. Army Airborne history.......10 July 1943, during Operation Husky, U.S. Paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Div. make their first-ever combat jump into Sicily. High winds scatter the Airborne Infantry and few make their assigned rallying points. Nevertheless, the paratroops maximized their opportunities, attacking patrols and creating confusion wherever possible, LGOP.
On 11 July Patton ordered his reserve parachute regiments to drop and reinforce the center. Unfortunately, not every unit had been informed of the drop, and the transports, which arrived shortly after an Axis air raid, were fired on by American Naval units. The 82nd lost 37 out of 144 planes to friendly fire.
---Mud
