541st Parachute Infantry Regiment ( United States ) The 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment was a regiment in the United States Army during World War II . While never to see combat the unit , was composed of highly trained and highly educated troopers . It was also utilized to send trained replacements overseas . The 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment Is Born . The 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated August 12 , 1943 at Fort Benning , Georgia , under the command of Colonel Ducat M . McEntee and his Executive Officer Major Harley N . Trice . The unit was filled with men who had already completed Basic and Infantry Training , but were yet to complete Jump School . The men who filled out the unis ranks of a high fibre , all had scored exceptionally well on their Army Entrance Exams ; all were volunteers . One of the original members of the unit was famed 101st Airborne author Donald R . Burgett , who later participated in all the World War II battles of A Company 506th Parachute Infantry . Pvt . Burgett ' s first impressions of the 541st were to meet the Parachute School instructors who would take them through the four week program , after a five - mile run and a full morning of calisthenics , men were already beginning to fall out . The Regiment was taking form and only the determined would survive ! Any man who quit was immediately removed and banished to the Military Police , a fate deemed shameful to a paratrooper who considered their duty to challenge the authority of the MPs every chance they got . The men completed Jump School as a unit , but not without casualties . One planeload of prospective paratroopers crashed in a ball of fire , killing all on board . Others , Pvt Burgett included suffered Jump Injuries , which put a halt to their training until they were well enough to continue , after which they would catch up with the unit , which moved out to Camp Mackall upon completing the Parachute School . The Knollwood Maneuvers , North Carolina , December 1943 . By late December 1943 the Army High Command had become disenchanted with the idea of Parachute Troops , to the point where they were contemplating dissolving the existing Airborne Divisions in favour of independent Battalions , which could be attached to regular Divisions for use in sabotage and deception operations . The 82nd Airborne Division had jumped into Sicily at this point and a mixture of misdrops and friendly fire had the High Command concerned about the practicality of large scale airdrops of troopers . General Dwight D . Eisenhower , later Overall Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces , famously said : " I do not believe in the Airborne Division . . . " In order to decide whether to keep or disband the Airborne Units it was decided to hold a 2 week maneuver to assess the fate of Airborne Troops , this was the Knollwood Maneuvers . By this time the 541st was a part of the Strategic Reserve held in the United States . The Regiment was chosen alongside the 11th and 17th Airborne Divisions to participate in the Maneuvers . The future of Airborne Troops was resting on the shoulders of these men and they approached the task with determination to preserve their branch of service . Despite foul weather the maneuvers were a resounding success and the future of Airborne Troopers was safe . The 541st performed particularly well , scoring high marks and making a good account of themselves . However , despite their good performance and obviously being ready for movement overseas , the men of the 541st were still held in Reserve , watching as their counterparts in the 11th and 17th Airborne Divisions were deployed overseas . To further add to their disappointment the 541st was tasked with providing replacements for the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions overseas . As a result many original members of the 541st were on hand to participate in the Invasion of Normandy . Strategic Reserve , USA . After the end of the Knollwood Maneuvers , training continued for the 541st . A new group of men came into the outfit , to replace those lost to units overseas , and the Regiment began a 13 week Airborne Infantry Training Cycle . One of these men was Billy Tom Lusk , a young draftee , later a Sergeant of a Machine Gun Squad , who had taken Infantry Basic Training , volunteered for the Army Air Corps , been recalled to the Infantry and volunteered for the Paratroopers to get out of the 71st Infantry Division and get overseas and into the action . He remembers spending most of 1944 doing problems in the field , Jumping onto the DZ on Monday and staying until Friday of Saturday . He was not happy with the assignment , remembering that the unit never went to the field without sustaining a few casualties from friendly fire , as well as the inherent jump injuries . Lusk became disenchanted with the unit and when it became obvious that they weren ' t getting overseas he volunteered for OCS . The war ended before he graduated , so he dropped out and discharged , having never gotten overseas as he wished . The Regiment moved back and forward between Fort Benning and Camp Mackall , demonstrating Airborne Tactics for dignitaries , developing new tactics and technique , and providing cadre for new Airborne Units being raised , like the 13th Airborne Division . Then in July 1945 the Regiment was alerted for movement to the Pacific Theatre of Operations , pending an assignment to the 11th Airborne Division . The Pacific Theatre . The Regiment arrived at Manila in the Philippines waiting to be attached to the 11th Airborne , which was preparing to Jump on the Japanese Homeland . However much to the disappointment of the men of the 541st , the Regiment was deactivated and absorbed into the 11th Airborne ranks . The 541st , after three years of dedication and waiting , was no more . Soon thereafter the Atomic Bomb was dropped and the Second World War came to an end . The 11th Airborne Division moved to Mainland Japan as an occupation force , taking the men of the former 541st with it . References . The US Airborne In World War II