The 513th PIR was not sent overseas until after the D-Day landings, which took place on June 6, 1944, and was still in training in England during Operation Market Garden in September. During the crisis of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, the division was flown into Reims, France and moved by truck into southern Belgium. In January 1945, the 513th Parachute Infantry was sent into the assault on Flamierge. During this fight, Staff SergeantI.S. "Izzy" Jachman raced through heavy fire, picked up a bazooka from a fallen comrade and drove off two tanks, damaging one. His Medal of Honor citation concludes, "S/Sgt. Jachman's heroic action, in which he suffered fatal wounds, disrupted the entire enemy attack, reflecting the highest credit upon himself and the parachute infantry."[1] Another Medal of Honor recipient from the regiment was Private First ClassStuart Stryker.
After the conclusion of the Ardennes campaign, the division was withdrawn in preparation for Operation Varsity. The regiment dropped with the rest of the division into Germany near Wesel in its only combat drop. In April 1945, units of the 513th were carried into action around Munster by British tanks from the Guards Armoured Division.
After conducting occupation duty the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment returned to the United States on 1945-09-14 and was inactivated on the same date at Camp Myles Standish, Mass.
Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit, 513th PIR 1944-1946, shot and killed while trying to apprehend Lee Harvey Oswald after the 1963 assassination of US President John F Kennedy.
Private Frank C Gaylord, Sculptor of the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC