The 11th Airborne Division was activated at Camp Mackall North Carolina on February 25, 1943. The division was manned primarily with former glider troops and some veteran Airborne troops. Immediately after activation, the Division began an intyensive training cycle to get all of the glider troops jump qualified. Many of the troops were simply sent up in an aircraft with little formal training on the ground. The new Airborne soldiers performed above expectations and the Division was ready for overseas movement barely a year later.

In early 1944, the Angels were ordered to prepare for embarkation and the Division moved to San Francisco California. They boarded troop transports and in May they were on their way to New Guinea in the South Pacific. Upon arrival they were ordered into an intensive training cycle to learn jungle warfare in preparation for the invasion of the Pilippines. For 5 months the 11th Airborne sweated in the jungles and mountains of New Guinea and had several training jumps. FInally on November 11th, the Division boarded transports for their objective.

On November 18, 1944, the Angels landed at Leyte Beach Philippines. After consolidating their equipment, they moved inland to relieve they weary 24th Infantry and 37th Infantry Divisions. The 11th's objective was to clear a mountain pass from Burauen to Ormoc. It took 3 months of bitter fighting, often hand-to-hand to drive the Japanese defenders from the pass and surrounding heights. In the end the 11th Airborne had killed almost 6,000 enemy soldiers. When the Division arrived in Ormoc they were given a much needed rest and resupply.

On January 26, 1945 the 11th went back into action having rested only a few days. The Division landed at Nasgubu Beach, Luzon some 70 miles from the capitol city of Manila. Their mission was simple, clear all enemy opposition from a major highway and link up with the Allied forces attacking Manila. In just 5 days, the Division had eliminated all enemy resistance along Highway 17 and had pierced the main line of resistance at Tagayaty Ridge. Here the 551th Parachute Infantry Regiment conducted a combat parachute drop to reinforce the 11th and the Division continued north.

After capturing Fort McKinley, Clark field and Nichols field, the 11th launched their assult on Manila joining the 1st Cavalry Division and the 37th Infantry Division who were attacking from the North. Once the capitol was liberated, the 11th made a daring raid behind enemy lines and liberated 2,200 Allied POWs from the Los Banos Internment Camp. Once that mission was cleared the 11th Airborne spent the next few weeks mopping up resistance in the southern areas of Luzon.

In May of 1945, the Division moved into a reserve area in the Philippines to rest, resupply and take in new troops. They began preparations for the next big operation. Operation Olympic, the invasion of the Japanese home islands. Those plans were cancelled after the Japanese surrender in August 1945. On Aug. 10, 1945, the division moved to Okinawa to escort Gen. Douglas MacArthur into Japan and to spearhead the occupation. The 11th Abn. landed at Atsugi Airdrome, near Tokyo, on Aug. 30, 1945, and occupied an initial area in and around Yokohama. They remained there until mid-September 1945, when they moved to northern Japan and assumed responsibility for Akita, Yamagata, Miyagi and Iwate Prefectures. The division later took over control of Amori, Hokkaido, Fukushima and Prefectures to control of almost half the island of Honshu and all the island of Hokkaido.

Legend has it that when the 1st Cavalry Division, whose motto is "1st in Manila, 1st in Tokyo" arrived in Tokyo, they were met by the 11th Airborne Division band. The band played a special song for the Cavalry; "The old gray mare ain't what she used to be". Whoever was really "1st in Tokyo", the 11th Airborne Division remained on occupation duty until 1949 when they were relieved and sent to Camp Campbell Kentucky.

The mission of the 11th Airborne changed to that of a training division. WIth the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, the Division intensified its training operations and by the end of 1953, they had trained and shipped overseas some 13,000 soldiers. The 11th Airborne was sent overseas one more time, this time in 1956 to replace the 5th Infantry Division in Germany for Operation Gyroscope. The Division remained in Germany for the next 2 years. In 1958, the 11th Airborne was sent back to Camp Campbell where they were officially deactivated.

In 1963, the 11th was reactivated as the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) to test the viability in the use of helicopters for a new concept in warfare, Air Mobile Divisions. The tests were an overwhelming success and when they were completed the Division was once again deactivated. Today the traditions of the 11th Airborne Division are acrried on by the US Army's 101st Air Assualt Division and the 82nd Airborne Division.