Editing 82nd Airborne Division (section)

===Into Germany===

After helping to secure the [[Ruhr]], the 82nd Airborne Division took over [[Ludwigslust]] past the [[Elbe|Elbe River]], accepting the surrender of over 150,000 men of Lieutenant General [[Kurt von Tippelskirch]]'s [[21st Army (Wehrmacht)|21st Army]] on 2 May 1945. [[General (United States)|General]] [[Omar Bradley]], commanding the [[Twelfth United States Army Group|U.S. 12th Army Group]], stated in a 1975 interview with Gavin that Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]], commanding the Anglo-Canadian [[21st Army Group]], had told him that German opposition was too great to cross the Elbe. When Gavin's 82nd crossed the river, in company with the [[6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 6th Airborne Division]], the 82nd Airborne Division moved 36 miles in one day and captured over 100,000 troops, causing great laughter in Bradley's [[Twelfth United States Army Group|12th Army Group]] headquarters.<ref name="Ellis1990">{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=John|title=Brute force: allied strategy and tactics in the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mddmAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Deutsch|isbn=978-0-233-97958-8|page=440}}</ref>

Following Germany's surrender, the 82nd Airborne Division entered Berlin for [[Allied-occupied Germany|occupation duty]], replacing the [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division]] in August 1945.<ref name=Stivers>{{cite book|last1=Stivers|first1=William|last2=Carter|first2=Donald|title=The City becomes a Symbol: The U.S. Army in the occupation of Berlin 1945–1949|publisher=US Army Center of Military History|year=2017|isbn=978-0-16-093973-0|url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/045/45-4/cmhPub_45-4-1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113085629/https://history.army.mil/html/books/045/45-4/cmhPub_45-4-1.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 January 2020}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>{{rp|94}} The division was relieved by the [[78th Infantry Division (United States)|78th Infantry Division]] early in November 1945.<ref name=Stivers/>{{rp|131}} While in Berlin, General [[George S. Patton]] was so impressed with the 82nd's "honor guard" that he said, "In all my years in the Army and all the honor guards I have ever seen, the 82nd's honor guard is undoubtedly the best." Hence the "All-American" became also known as "America's Guard of Honor".<ref name="Reynolds1998">{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=David|title=Paras: An Illustrated History of Britain's Airborne Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uY7fAAAAMAAJ|date=1 September 1998|publisher=Sutton|isbn=978-0-7509-1723-0|page=220}}</ref> The war ended before their scheduled participation in the Allied [[invasion of Japan]], [[Operation Downfall]].