An American paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division relays a message over a portable field radio during operations in the European Theater. Dressed in standard herringbone twill combat fatigues and an M1 steel helmet, he represents the thousands of Screaming Eagles who fought across France, Belgium, and Germany following the D-Day airborne assault. Reliable battlefield communication, whether by handheld radio or field telephone, was essential to coordinating small-unit actions in the fast-moving airborne campaigns of 1944-1945. Project: 218672