Battling Buzzards: The Odyssey of the 517th Regimental Parachute Combat Team

by Gerald Astor

Survivors of the unit recall the four major battles they fought in Italy, France, the Ardennes, and Germany.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II

16 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 1993

About the author

Gerald Morton Astor, a native of New Haven, grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his Army service in the Second World War, he received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. He was the picture editor of Sports Illustrated in its early years and worked as an editor for Sport magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Time.

Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.

He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.

Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”

Reviews

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've found this to be a great collection of anecdotes that really capture the sweep from the airborne landing of Dragoon, through the Champaign Campaign, into the Bulge and now the meat grinder of the Hurtgen Forest. The wastefulness, the idiocy of the Hurtgen in particular (as well as the collapse of the Bulge) are striking.

To be honest, the first hundred pages weren't to my liking - dealing with the unit's formation, leadership and training. After a couple dozen pages I literally skipped ahead to the units entry into combat in Italy ... and from then I was hooked.

Recommended for those who enjoy collections of WWII anecdotes woven together in a cohesive narrative.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was hard for me to read because I am not familiar with military terms and there were so many people to keep straight. I wanted to read it though because my grandpa never talked about the war and these are the battles he fought in as a paratrooper. My grandpa was such a quiet man and I cannot imagine what he went through in this war. I am really proud of him.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's nice to find a airborne history not connected with the 82nd or 101st. Well written in the author's normal style of mixing history and personal accounts, covers training operations in Italy and Southern Frances and more. worth reading.

[Kyle]

My Opa's regiment...

[Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

my grandfather (Charles Keen) was a bad ass

[Juliana Marez · Rating 5 out of 5]

My great uncle reccomended I read this if I wanted to know what he did in the war. Wow! A side of him I never knew.