page_title: History of the 101st Airborne Division
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: History of the 101st Airborne Division / Post World War II era / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: Men of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, fire from old Viet Cong trenches
context_page_description: The 101st Airborne Division is a specialized modular light infantry division of the US Army trained for air assault operations. The Screaming Eagles has been referred to by journalists as "the tip of the spear" as well as one of the most potent and tactically mobile of the U.S. Army's divisions. The 101st Airborne Division has a history that is nearly a century long. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium. During the Vietnam War, the 101st Airborne Division fought in several major campaigns and battles, including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969. In mid-1968, it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division and then in 1974 as an air assault division. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the height of the War on Terror, the 101st Airborne Division had over 200 aircraft. The division now has slightly over 100 aircraft.
context_section_description: On 29 July 1965, the 1st Brigade deployed to II Corps, Republic of Vietnam with the following units:
  1st Battalion, 327th Infantry
  2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry
  2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry
  2nd Battalion, 320th Artillery
  Troop A, 2nd Squadron 17th Cavalry
  101st Support Battalion (Provisional)
  Company A, 326th Engineer Battalion
  Company D, 326th Medical Battalion
  Company B, 501st Signal Battalion
  20th Chemical Detachment
  181st Military Intelligence Detachment
  406th Army Security Agency Detachment
  Source: Vietnam Order of Battle by Shelby Stanton, published by Galahad Books, 1987.
  In May 1967 the 1st Brigade operated as part of Task Force Oregon.
  The rest of the 101st was deployed to Vietnam in November 1967 and the 1st Brigade rejoined its parent Division. The 101st was deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley for most of the war. In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in 15 campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970.
  The 101st Airborne were called the "Chicken Men" by the North Vietnamese because of their insignia. (The Vietnamese had never seen an eagle before.) Enemy commanders are said to have warned their men to avoid the Chicken Men at all costs because they were sure to lose any engagement with them. One of the opponents of the 101st Airborne Division commented that of all the American organizations he opposed that the 101st Airborne was the one he feared the most.
  Within the United States, the 101st, along with the 82nd Airborne Division, was sent in to quell the large and violent 1967 Detroit riot.
caption: Men of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, fire from old Viet Cong trenches.
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