The American paratrooper became iconic during WWII when airborne soldiers jumped in France for Operation Overlord, an event now know as D-Day. On Aug. 15, almost 300 modern paratroopers will celebrate the American paratrooper’s legacy by performing elaborate jumps on the 75th anniversary of the first paratrooper test jump.
The event will take place at Fort Benning and include exhibits from the National Infantry Museum.
In 1940, 250 soldiers from the 29th Infantry Regiment volunteered to be part of a test platoon of paratroopers. The test platoon completed the last of its five requisite jumps on Aug. 16 of that year. Since that day, the Army’s volunteer airborne force has participated in including Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The celebration will feature paratroopers jumping from C-130’s, C-17s and two UH-60 Black Hawks. A group of WWII reenactors called Liberty Jump Team will also jump from a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the same aircraft used by paratroopers in 1940.