Greetings and welcome to our corner of the World Wide Web. We hope that your visit to our site is informative and that you leave here with a sense of what we are all about. We, as living historians, portray 2nd Platoon, Item Company, 3/505 PIR of the 82nd Division. We are, at present, a small but growing group of well-read military history enthusiasts. Our standards for unit membership are exacting – we accept only those who can look and act the part of an Airborne soldier in WWII. Our members all have museum or military experience, are physically fit, and are knowledgeable enough to conduct educational dialogue with the public about the Airborne infantryman in WWII. We prize research, study, and knowledge of Airborne-related subjects, the broader picture of events in WWII, and the day-to-day life of the G.I. between 1942 and 1945. We place a premium on uniform and equipment authenticity. As a unit, we participate in “Living Histories”, timeline events, immersion tacticals, talks, and public demonstrations. Too, as WWII Airborne consisted of light, adaptable spearhead units, we strive to portray ourselves as a soldiers on the move without the comforts of camp – we dig in when we can (i.e. when our hosts permit!); we “live” and sleep where we dig with what we have; we eat what the real soldiers ate; and we carry on our backs and in our arms everything we need for our displays.

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Why do we do this? Each of us have our own reasons, but all of Item Co. shares an interest in educating the public about the sacrifices of the American GI in WWII.
We all enjoy meeting and interacting with people who are genuinely interested in history. Most rewarding of all is to meet veterans of WWII and hear their anecdotes,
recollections, and reflections about their time in service. At every event, we all learn something new from the people with which we interact. Simply put, we love to
teach others what we know, and -- in turn -- learn all we possibly can from the veterans who were really there.

So, as our esteemed guest, feel free to browse our page and learn a bit about the real 505th in WWII and the re-created Item Co. of today. We are currently looking for
recruits to join us – like-minded individuals who are interested in teaching the public of the crucial role the 505th PIR played in the last years of WWII. If the idea of
our unit appeals to you, please stop by the “Recruiting” section and further investigate what you need to do to join Item Company. What we, as a re-enacting unit can
promise you, the recruit, is a learning experience and a chance to teach others of the sacrifices made by “The Greatest Generation”.