The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (517th PRCT) was an airborne, specifically a parachute infantry, regiment of the United States Army that was formed in March 1943 during World War II, training at Camp Toccoa in the mountains of Northeast Georgia. Although it began as the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment (517th PIR), an element of the 17th Airborne Division, the 517th PRCT was formed when the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment was combined with the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (460th PFAB) and the 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company. The 517th saw most of its combat (in Italy, Southern France, and the Battle of the Bulge) as an independent unit. At the end of the war, the unit was eventually incorporated into the 13th Airborne Division. Before its dissolution after only thirty-three months, the outfit of 2,500 men endured heavy fighting from Italy through the invasion of Southern France (Operation Dragoon), then the bitter winter in the Ardennes (in the Battle of the Bulge) and the final thrust into Germany. During the unit's relatively brief lifetime, members of the 517th Regimental Parachute Combat Team received one Medal of Honor, six Distinguished Service Crosses, five Legions of Merit, 131 Silver Stars, 631 Bronze Stars, two Air Medals, four Soldiers Medals, 17 French Croix De Guerre, and 1,576 Purple Hearts—at the cost of 252 officers and men killed in action. The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was formally deactivated in 1946. Seven members of the 517th went on to attain the rank of general in the U.S. Army, and one became the Sergeant Major of the Army. History Activation and training The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was formed from units of the 17th Airborne Division, which was activated on 15 March 1943. The division's parachute units were the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and Company C, 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion. The 517th was at Camp Toccoa, Georgia; the 460th and C/139 were at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Paratrooper units were formed from volunteers, who were screened and trained at Camp Toccoa. The 517th was charged with screening the volunteers and assigning those qualified to either infantry, artillery or engineers. Officers of the 460th and C/139 were placed on temporary duty at Toccoa to help with the screening, and men assigned to those units were sent to Mackall. On activation, the regiment had a total strength of nine