Editing 82nd Airborne Division (section)

===North Africa and Italy===
In April 1943, [[paratrooper]]s from the 82nd, under the command of Major General Ridgway, sailed into the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]] and landed in North Africa as part of the Allied plan to [[Allied invasion of Sicily|invade Sicily]]. The division's first two combat operations were [[Paratrooper|parachute assault]]s into Sicily on July 9 and [[Allied invasion of Italy#Salerno landings|Salerno]] on 13 September 1943.<ref name="divhist">{{cite web |url=http://www.bragg.army.mil/82nd/Pages/History.aspx |title=82nd Airborne Division History |publisher=82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office |access-date=1 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225125033/http://www.bragg.army.mil/82dv/History.htm |archive-date=25 December 2009}}</ref> The initial assault on Sicily, by the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, under Colonel Gavin, was the first regimental-sized combat parachute assault conducted by the United States Army.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} The first glider assault did not occur until [[Normandy landings|Operation Neptune]] as part of the [[Normandy landings|D-Day landings of 6 June 1944]]. Troopers arrived in Italy by [[landing craft]] at Maiori, Naples, and Salerno.<ref name=":0" />

During the [[Allied invasion of Italy|invasion of Italy]], Ridgway considered [[Will Lang Jr.]] of [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' magazine]] an honorary member of the division.

In January 1944, the 504th, commanded by [[Reuben Henry Tucker III|Colonel Reuben Tucker]], which was temporarily detached to [[Battle of Anzio|fight at Anzio]], adopted the nickname "Devils in Baggy Pants", taken from an entry in a German officer's diary.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Drew |title=Retired Lt. Col. Guy LoFaro to sign books at Airborne & Special Operations Museum |url=https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/military/2014/02/08/retired-lt-col-guy-lofaro/22213329007/ |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=The Fayetteville Observer |language=en-US}}</ref>