 The 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated at Camp Toccoa, Georgia on 15 November 1942.The 501st was part of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II and the Vietnam War.The famous test platoon, the prime ancestor of all American parachute units, provided the nucleus of the 1st Parachute Battalion, which in turn provided part of the cadre, the unit number, the genealogical lineage and the heraldic background of the 501st Parachute Regiment.