17th Airborne Division (United States)

17th Airborne Division
17th Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	15 April 1943 – 16 September 1945 3 July 1948 – 1949
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Airborne
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	"Golden Talons"
Motto(s)	Thunder From Heaven
Engagements	World War II Battle of the Bulge Operation Varsity Central Europe
Commanders
Notable commanders	William M. Miley
Insignia
The Parachute Badge: Worn by U.S. Army paratroopers
The Glider Badge: Worn by U.S. Army airborne soldiers who rode gliders into combat

The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley.

Activated in April 1943, the division took part in the Knollwood Maneuver and other exercises that helped ensure that the U.S. Army would retain airborne divisions. It arrived in Britain in August 1944, having missed the Allies' first two large-scale airborne operations: Operation Husky and Operation Neptune.

In Britain, the 17th came under the command of Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway's XVIII Airborne Corps, a part of Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton's First Allied Airborne Army. It was not chosen to participate in Operation Market Garden, the airborne landings in the Netherlands, as Allied planners believed it had arrived too late and could not be "trained up" in time. After Market Garden, the division was shipped to France and then Belgium to fight in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. The 17th gained its first Medal of Honor during its time fighting in the Ardennes, and was then withdrawn to Luxembourg to prepare for an assault over the River Rhine. In March 1945, the division participated in its only airborne operation, dropping alongside the British 6th Airborne Division as a part of Operation Varsity, during which it gained three more Medals of Honor. The division advanced through Northern Germany until the end of World War II, when it briefly undertook occupation duties in Germany before shipping back to the United States. It was inactivated in September 1945, although it was briefly reactivated as a training division between 1948 and 1949.