Instead the troopers assembled along the embankment of the main railroad from Cherbourg to Carentan, both because it was high ground and because it was a recognizable terrain feature. Because of the confusion they were unable to muster their forces into enough strength to occupy the west bank of the Douve River in force. Landing in the swamp lands along the river the heavily laden troopers hurriedly scrambled to assemble into fighting units.

Consequently, both the 507th and 508th troopers were widely scattered over the Normandy countryside. This prevented the pathfinders from marking them and consequently delayed many pilots from flashing the jump lights until they had overshot the drop zones as they frantically searched for the markers. The confusion was also compounded by the Wehrmarcht's presence in the scheduled drop zones. Clouds and heavy anti-aircraft fire caused the formations to break up and many of the planes to stray off course. The 508th was responsible for the Southwest portion of the 82d Airborne Division sector in Normandy.Their primary targets were bridges over the Douve River, located at Brienville and Beuzeville-la-Bastille. More than 10,000 All-Americans landed by parachute and glider on JD-Day - as part of the greatest airborne assault in history. The 82nd's mission was to destroy vital German supply bridges and capture causeways leading inland across the flooded areas behind the Normandy beaches where seaborne forces would land to gain control of roads and communications.

Because the 504th PIR ranks had been depleted due to the Italian Campaigns the 507th and the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiments were attached to the 82nd for this operation. The 82nd Airborne was an integral part of Operation Neptune. Operation 'Neptune' was an all-important airborne phase of Overlord, the name given to the massive plan for D-Day invasion of Europe.

The colors of 1-508th and 2-508th departed the 82nd Airborne Division during an Army-wide reflagging of combat units in the 1980s, leaving the division with battalions of the 325th, 504th, and 505th within the 2nd, 1st and 3rd Brigades, respectively. When the Airborne component of the battalion was reduced to a single company (Co A), the battalion was reflagged as the 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry. In 1983 both battalions served in the Operation Urgent Fury with the invasion of Grenada.Р”Р‡rom 8 August 1962 to 26 June 1968, the lineage of Co C, 508PIR was reactivated as HHC, 3-508th INF, and the unit served as an Airborne battalion within the 193rd Infantry Brigade in Panama. It was later awarded the Valorous Unit Citation. There it took part of the heavy fighting of Hue and Saigon. When the 3rd Brigade was sent to Viet Nam in response to the Tet Offensive in early 1968, 1-508th accompanied it. They served in Operation Powerpack in the Dominican Republic in 19. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, 508th Parachute Infantry continued to serve in the 82nd Airborne Division. The former Company B, 508PIR was reactivated as HHC, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry, part of the 1st Brigade. Within the 82nd Airborne Division, the former Company A, 508PIR was reorganized and redesignated as HHC, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry, an element of the 3rd Brigade. When the Army abandoned the Pentomic (battle group) structure in the early 1960s, the 508th reorganized under the Combat Arms Regimental System as a parent regiment and at the same time renamed the 508th Infantry. The 508th was reactivated as the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team 1951 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, served in Japan, and later moved to Fort Campbell where it once again inactivated in March 1957 as part of the reactivation of the 101st Airborne Division.

4 Battle of the Bulge - The Ardennes Offensive.

D day pathfinder movie 504th