The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (508th PIR) was activated during World War II on 20 October 1942 at Camp Blanding, Florida.

After additional training at Cromore Estate in Portstewart, the regiment was moved by ship to Glasgow in Scotland and by train on 13 March 1944 to Wollaton Park in Nottinghamshire, England, where they became part of the veteran 82nd "All American" Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgway, which had seen distinguished service in Sicily and Italy.

[2] During training in England Brigadier General James M. Gavin, the Assistant Division Commander (ADC), was particularly impressed with the regiment, noting that the 508th "looks as good as any new outfit that I have ever seen, if they cannot do it it cannot be done by green troops.

The 82nd objectives were to capture Sainte-Mère-Église, secure crossings at the Merderet River near La Fiere and Chef-du-Pont, and establish a defensive line north from Neuville-au-Plain to Breuzeville-au-Plain.

Enemy mobile anti-airborne landing groups immediately engaged assembled elements of the Regiment and reinforced their opposition with heavily supported reserve units.

Elements of the Regiment seized Hill 30, in the wedge between the Merderet and Douve Rivers, and fought vastly superior enemy forces for three days.

From this position, they continually threatened German units moving in from the west, as well as the enemy forces opposing the crossing of our troops over the Merderet near La Fiere and Chef-du-Pont.

The courage and devotion to duty shown by members of the 508th Parachute Infantry are worthy of emulation and reflect the highest traditions of the Army of the United States.

[5]After their success in Normandy, the 508th PIR returned to its billet at Wollaton Park and prepared for its part in Operation Market Garden, jumping on 17 September 1944.

The regiment additionally seized, occupied, organized, and defended the Berg en Dal hill mass, terrain which controlled the Groesbeek-Nijmegen area.

[2] The 508th later played a major part in the Battle of the Bulge in late December 1944, during which they screened the withdrawal of some 20,000 troops from St. Vith and defended their positions against the German Panzer divisions.

[1] The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment returned to the United States soon after, settling at Camp Milner, New Jersey and was inactivated on 25 November 1946.

[7] The 508th was reactivated as the separate 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team 1951 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina,[8] with Colonel Joe S. Lawrie assigned as commander.

[9] The regiment served in Japan, and later moved to Fort Campbell where it once again inactivated in March 1957 as part of the reactivation of the 101st Airborne Division as a combat unit.

From 8 August 1962 to 26 June 1968, the lineage of Co C, 508 PIR was reactivated as HHC, 3-508th INF, and the unit served as an airborne battalion within the 193d Infantry Brigade in Panama.

On 26 March 2003, the 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted the 44th combat jump in US history, dropping 965 paratroopers into northern Iraq to secure a lodgement at Bashur during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

The 1-508 main effort had the mission to secure the southeast side of the Bashur Airfield and prepare the runway to receive C-17s within 6 hours of landing.

The remainder of the brigade combat team (BCT) included field artillery, Battery D, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, combat engineers, Stinger air defenders, from 173rd Combat Support Company (CSC), 74th LRSD, medics from the 401st Forward Support Company (FSC), a surgical team from the 250th Medical Detachment (Forward Surgical Team), Operational Detachment Alpha (-), 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, a public affairs officer on loan from the JSOTF-North, and U.S. Air Force airmen from the 86th Expeditionary Contingency Response Group and 4th Air Support Operations Squadron (-) (ASOS).

The brigade first saw action when it moved on Kirkuk on 10 April 2003, following the JSOTF-North's successful efforts to evict the Iraqi Republican Guard and Regular Army from the city.

In June 2005 Legion was redeployed to RC South (Kandahar) under Task Force Gun Devil (3d Battalion, 319th Field Artillery).