Lieutenant General James Maurice Gavin, U.S.A., born March 22, 1907, and died February 23, 1990, served as the first commander of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, and ambassador to France, and was remembered as a courageous leader and a trooper's soldier. On this site on March 29, 1943, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment made the first regimental mass parachute jump in the history of the United States Army. The success of this exercise established the feasibility of and the foundation for large-scale parachute operations in World War II, with United States Army Air Corps troop carrier units providing the C-47 aircraft for the jump. The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, activated 6 July 1942 and still active today, served thirty months overseas in six campaigns, seven river crossings, four combat jumps, and 325 days in combat, suffering 654 killed in action, and received Presidential Unit Citations, French and Belgium Fourrageres, and the Netherland Orange Lanyard. Its World War II commanders were Col. James M. Gavin from July 1942 to Oct 1943, Lt. Col. Herbert Batcheller from Nov 1943 to Mar 1944, and Col. William E. Ekman from Apr 1944 to Sept 1947. The 82nd Airborne Division, known as "All American" and "America's Guard of Honor," began as the 82nd Infantry Division, activated 25 August 1917, reactivated 25 March 1942, and reorganized and redesignated as an airborne division 5 August 1942; its World War II campaigns were Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Holland, Ardennes, and Central Europe.