The 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army is an elite modular airborne infantry division and was constituted in the National Army as the 82nd Division on March 5, 1917, and was organised on March 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Since members of the division came from all 48 states, the unit was given the nickname “All-American.” This is the basis for its famed “AA” shoulder patch. Famous soldiers of the division include Sergeant Alvin C. York, General James M. Gavin, former Chief Dave Bald Eagle (grandson of Sitting Bull), and Congressman Patrick Murphy (the first Iraq War veteran elected to congress).------Between April and July, 1918, less than a year after its formation, the division deployed in small unit groups to France to fight in World War I as the 82nd Infantry Division. In nearly five months of combat the 82nd fought in three major campaigns and helped to break the German Imperial Army. Alvin Cullum York was a soldier in the division and became famous for his heroism in World War I. He was awarded the Medal of Honour for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, killing 20 German soldiers and capturing 132 others. * World War I Casualties 1. 1,298 Killed in Action 2. 6,248 Wounded in Action After the Great War, the 82nd was demobilised May 27, 1919 at Camp Upton, at Yaphank, New York. The 82nd was reconstituted on June 24, 1921 in the Organised Reserves as Headquarters, 82nd Division, and was organised on September 23, 1921 at Columbia, South Carolina.