Army moves to cut 'Band of Brothers' regiment

Army moves to cut 'Band of Brothers' regiment
The flag of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who were made famous as the "Band of Brothers" in World War II, is seen on a wall on June 27, 2013, inside the museum at Fort Campbell, Ky. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall)



The brigade traces its lineage to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, created in 1942, at Camp Toccoa, Ga.

The 506th was among several parachute regiments created to sneak behind enemy lines in the war. Nicknamed "Currahee," which is a Native American Cherokee term for "stands alone," the regiment parachuted into Normandy during the D-Day invasion in 1944 and then later parachuted into Holland. The regiment raced to liberate Europe amid bouts of fierce fighting in Bastogne, Belgium and then overran Hitler's famed "Eagle's Nest" in Germany.

The regiment wasn't associated with the "Band of Brothers" nickname until the book by historian Stephen Ambrose came out in 1992, reigniting interest in the regiment among the public. The subsequent HBO miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks about the men of Easy Company won national acclaim, and followed the soldiers from paratrooper training through D-Day and the end of the war.


He said during a news conference Thursday at the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line that the regiment's battalions should be transferred to two of the division's three remaining infantry brigades.







Jim Martin served in the G Company of the original 506th regiment. At 92, he just returned from a trip to Europe to visit locations, including the coast of France, where he and fellow soldiers fought.




Sink's daughter Robin Sink McClelland has a mailing list of about 400 veterans and their families to share information about the regiment and its history.

"Everybody feels proud to be a member of the Currahee nation, so anything they can do to keep that going would be good," she said.

Joe Alexander, 67, of Lenoir City, Tenn., who was a second lieutenant in the regiment during the Vietnam War, said while he understands that the Army needs to cut down its size, he was hoping they would be spared when the Army spread the brigade cuts throughout the country.
