Photo By Sgt. Justin Leva | 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers prepare to cut a ceremonial cake during...... read more read more
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The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) celebrated their 80th Anniversary at their new, temporary home in Mihail Kogălniceanu Airbase, Romania, August 16, 2022.
The division headquarters and 2nd Brigade Combat Team (“Strike”) honored their legacy by sharing a celebratory birthday cake and watching a historical movie - “A Rendezvous with Destiny” - a testimonial of three World War II veterans who served in the division’s major combat campaigns during the war.
Attendees and organizers followed one of many U.S. Army traditions, where the youngest and the oldest Soldiers in the unit come together to be first to ceremoniously cut the cake.
U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Assane Gueye, the division’s force protection sergeant major, along with Pfc. John Lee, an intelligence analyst, assigned to the division’s Signals, Intelligence and Sustainment (SIS) Company, stood side by side to begin the celebration.
“It's an honor to continue the tradition of those who have served before us, now we continue to live on through our traditions,” said Lee. “What makes 101st unique is how a young unit can build and maintain the lethality that the [U.S.] military needs in order to sustain freedom for their country.”
First activated on August 16, 1942, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, the “Screaming Eagles” have participated in some of the most significant military operations in the last 80 years, such as: D-Day, Operation Market Garden, Battle of the Bulge, and Hamburger Hill.
“Whether on the war-ravaged fields of Normandy, the unforgiving jungles of Vietnam, the mountains of Afghanistan, or the southeastern flank of NATO, the spirit of this division remains constant and unbending,” said Maj. Gen. J.P. McGee, the division’s commanding general.
Since D-Day, June 6, 1944, the division has responded to the needs of its nation.
This past June, roughly 4,000 Soldiers from the division headquarters and 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Europe to support NATO Allies and partners in reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank.
“For 80 years, our division’s history has been one of service, valor, innovation, and grit,” said McGee. “Every day, when Europeans see the patch of the 101st, they know America has sent their best.”
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2022 13:37 |
| Story ID: | 427430 |
| Location: | MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, RO |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, “Screaming Eagles” are still loud and proud at 80 years, by SGT Justin Leva, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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