The 101st Airborne Division ("Screaming Eagles")—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord (the D-Day landings and airborne jumps starting 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France), Operation Market Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and 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 fight for Hamburger Hill in May 1969.
In mid-1968 it was reorganized and redesignated as an airmobile division, then in 1974 as an air assault division. These titles reflect the division's shift from airplanes as the primary method of delivering troops into combat, to the use of helicopters. Many current members of the 101st are graduates of the U.S. Army Air Assault School. Division headquarters is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In recent years, the division has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The division is one of the most highly decorated units in the U.S. Army[citation needed] and has been featured prominently in military fiction.
