551st Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States)

1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion
Shoulder sleeve patch of the GOYA
Active	26 November 1942 – 27 January 1945
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Parachute infantry
Role	Airborne forces
Size	Battalion
Part of	1st Airborne Task Force
Garrison/HQ	Fort Kobbe, Panama and Camp Mackall, North Carolina
Nickname(s)	GOYA (Get Off Your Ass)
Motto(s)	Aterrice y Ataque Land and Attack
Mascot(s)	Furlough
Engagements	World War II Italian Campaign Operation Dragoon Battle of the Bulge
Decorations	Presidential Unit Citation
Disbanded	27 January 1945—absorbed into 82nd Airborne Division
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lt. Col. Wood Joerg

World War II

The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion (551st PIB) was, for many years, a little-recognized airborne forces unit of the United States Army, raised during World War II, that fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Originally commissioned to take the French Caribbean island of Martinique, they were shipped instead to Western Europe. With an initial strength of 800 officers and enlisted men, the remaining 250 members of the Battalion were ordered on 7 January 1945 to attack the Belgian village of Rochelinval over open ground and without artillery support. During the successful assault the unit lost more than half its remaining men. The Battalion was inactivated on 27 January 1945 and the remaining 110 survivors were absorbed into the 82nd Airborne Division. Virtually nothing of the unit's history was known to the American public until the 1990s when renewed interest prompted its veterans to seek recognition for their costly success at Rochelinval. The battalion was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation in 2001 recognizing its accomplishment.

The 1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated on 26 November 1942 at Fort Kobbe in the Panama Canal Zone. Its initial cadre came from Company C of the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion, while the rest of that battalion was absorbed into the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. Its first draft of new men was gathered in the Frying Pan Area of Fort Benning, Georgia, on 30 October 1942. Those personnel were trained as paratroopers through the Parachute School Replacement Pool in November–December 1942. Leaving Fort Benning on 11 December, they passed through Richmond and staged at Camp Patrick Henry, near Newport News, Virginia, arriving there on 13 December. While at Camp Patrick Henry, the men picked up a unique mascot, a short-haired black and tan dachshund puppy they stole from the yard of the port commander. They named her Furlough, which was the thing the men most desired. Under strict orders of secrecy, they could not wear their hard-won airborne insignia, had to hide their newly acquired tattoos that revealed their military affiliation, and were prohibited from leaving the base.