XVIII airborne corps

General Matthew Bunker Ridgway

Matthew Bunker Ridgway was born at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on 3 March 1895. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1917 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. Promoted to first lieutenant and then temporary captain, Ridgway was assigned as a company commander of the 3d Infantry. From 1918 to 1924, he taught Spanish at West Point. In …

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Operation VARSITY: The Last Airborne Deployment of World War II

By Matthew J. Seelinger In the years prior to World War II, the U.S. Army began to develop the concept of deploying troops from the air.  Starting with the formation of the Parachute Test Platoon on 26 June 1940, the Army experimented with and developed airborne doctrine, deploying soldiers by parachute and by glider behind …

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