Book Description
Hailing from the big cities and small towns of America, these young men came together to serve their country and the greater good. Preparing for war, they came of age in what arguably became the best parachute infantry regiment to descend upon a Europe beset by World War II. They were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and their story is told here by their official historian. Drawing on interviews with surviving veterans and oral history recordings, as well as official archives and largely unpublished written accounts from over 300 veterans of the 505th PIR and their supporting units, author Phil Nordyke brings the history of the regiment to life, conveying with remarkable immediacy and power what it was like to be there: to liberate the first town in France; to spearhead the invasion of Sicily in the first American mass combat jump to fight at the forefront of six major campaigns (Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Germany); to jump into Normandy as the only U.S. parachute regiment with combat experience. This is history as it was lived by the men of the 505th, from their pre-war coming of age in the regiment, through the end of World War II when they marched in the Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, to the postwar legacy of having been part of an elite parachute regiment with a record unsurpassed in the annals of combat.

From the Inside Flap

From big cities, small towns, farms, and ranches, young men hardened by the bitter experiences of the Depression, answered the call to serve their country after Pearl Harbor. Preparing for war, they came of age in arguably the best parachute infantry regiment to descend upon European battlefields during World War II. They were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and their story is told by the unit’s official historian in Four Stars of Valor.

The 505th was the only regiment during World War II to make four combat jumps—Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and Holland—all within fourteen months. At the forefront of some of the fiercest fighting in Europe during six major campaigns: Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Normandy, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Germany, the regiment’s combat record is unsurpassed in the annals of warfare.

Through accounts from over three hundred veterans of the 505th PIR and their supporting units—including personal interviews, oral history archives, and unpublished written accounts—author Phil Nordyke brings the history of the regiment to life, conveying with remarkable immediacy and power what it was like to be an American paratrooper in heavy combat in World War II. Nordyke skillfully weaves the stories of the men who served, quoting or mentioning almost seven hundred of them by name.

Four Stars of Valor is history as it was lived by the men of the 505th, from their pre-war coming of age in the regiment, through the end of World War II, when they marched in the Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City, to the post-war legacy of having been part of arguably the most elite parachute regiment of World War II.

Phil Nordyke was voted in as official historian of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) at the association’s at annual reunion, held in Colorado Springs in 2003. He is the author of All American, All the Way: The Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II and The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War.