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Battling Buzzards: The Odyssey of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 1943-1945
The Few and the Brave
Convinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world.
Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second D-day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps.
Gerald Astor, acclaimed author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide , draws on the words of the men of the 517th to create this gripping, action-packed account of a unit that existed for only two years but fought heroically to defeat the vaunted German forces.
From its campaign in Italy to its assault in the French Alps, the Battling Buzzards helped push the Germans out of southern Europe one fierce, close-quarter battle at a time. Then, after six months of nonstop action, the exhausted, battle-hardened 517th was called into the ultimate battle — at a place called The Bulge....
Convinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world.
Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second D-day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps.
Gerald Astor, acclaimed author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide , draws on the words of the men of the 517th to create this gripping, action-packed account of a unit that existed for only two years but fought heroically to defeat the vaunted German forces.
From its campaign in Italy to its assault in the French Alps, the Battling Buzzards helped push the Germans out of southern Europe one fierce, close-quarter battle at a time. Then, after six months of nonstop action, the exhausted, battle-hardened 517th was called into the ultimate battle — at a place called The Bulge....
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published October 9, 2001
About the author
Gerald Astor
37 books15 followersGerald 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.”
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.”
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 16, 2021
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.
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.
May 17, 2020
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.
August 5, 2026
This book tries to be all-in-one, however it lacks many crucial details, especially in regard to specific dates and unit belonging of the troops. The narrative is good, it works as a base for the 517th PRCT story.
January 30, 2014
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.
Want to Read
October 31, 2007My Opa's regiment...
August 22, 2008
my grandfather (Charles Keen) was a bad ass
October 8, 2009
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.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews