82nd Airborne Division inducts 12 into Hall of Fame
Retired generals, noncommissioned officers and paratroopers who jumped behind enemy lines or rapidly deployed into battle are among the 12 soldiers named to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2023 Hall of Fame.
The veteran paratroopers were recognized during a ceremony Wednesday outside of the division's Hall of Heroes on Fort Bragg.
“This is our hallowed area where we put names up that had an impact not only on our division but on our country,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.
LaNeve said “a common thread” with each veteran who was told they’d be inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame asked, "Why?”
“They’re humble leaders,” he said. “They’re the epitome of what it means to be a paratrooper; and the second common thread is they got to lead paratroopers, the greatest that our country has to offer.
The Hall of Fame honors veteran paratroopers based on their service within the division, combat action and contributions to their chosen field outside of the division.
Twenty-one paratroopers were inducted in the first class in 2018, 16 were inducted in 2019, 12 were inducted in 2020, eight were inducted in 2021 and nine were inducted last year.
Among the inductees is retired Gen. John Nicholson Jr.
Nicholson was commander of the division from October 2023 to October 2014 and retired from the Army after serving as commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command.
Following Wednesday’s ceremony, Nicholson said tht when LaNeve told him he was going to be inducted, he asked if LaNeve was kidding.
“It’s an opportunity and honor to serve with the amazing soldiers we work with, but I’m very humbled and grateful to receive this recognition,” Nicholson said.
Earlier in his career, Nicholson was a rifle platoon leader with the 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment that deployed to Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983.
The conflict lasted about 51 days following a coup that overthrew Marxist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
American forces rescued 600 American students and 400 foreigners living in Grenada.
Nicholson said his unit deployed within 10 days of being alerted, and fellow inductee, retired Col. Jack Hamilton, was his battalion commander.
Nicholson was a second lieutenant.
“I was on the first plane that landed,” he said. “The Rangers had secured the airport, so we had this notion that the airport was secure, but the plane turned around and left and you could hear the gunfire, so we went right into the fight, but we did everything we trained for.”
Nicholson would later command A Company of the same regiment, and also deployed to Afghanistan four times before becoming commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan.
He said being a paratrooper means “working with the best.”
During his first combat deployment, Nicholson said, his son was worried and asked how many soldiers would be with him.
“I said, ‘Well 3,000, and they’re all the best soldiers in the world,’ and it was a relief to him. When you go into a dangerous situation, that’s who you want on your right and left is another paratrooper.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Payton is another 2023 Hall of Fame inductee.
Payton enlisted into the Army in August 1986 and served as a forward support operations sergeant major in the 82nd Airborne Division’s Fire and Effects at Fort Bragg and in Afghanistan, followed by serving as command sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Bragg and in Iraq.
He became command sergeant major for the 128th Fires Brigade, followed by being the senior enlisted leader for U.S. Army Japan and sergeant major for the Army’s deputy chief of staff.
Early in his career, Payton parachuted into Torrijos International Airport in Panama during Operation Just Cause in December 1989.
Operation Just Cause was an attempt to arrest dictator Manuel Noriega for drug trafficking charges.
The jump was the Division's first combat parachute assault since Operation Market Garden in World War II
Payton was part of the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
“This is the best place to be to train for your job, and our job was to conduct force entry into any country around the globe when called upon by the nation,” Payton said following Wednesday’s ceremony. “So I was very confident in going into that operation. We were well-briefed. We knew what was in front of us. Though it came at no notice, the confidence was based on the training that we had.”
He said he used to tell his formations there are two types of people who wear berets.
“There are beret wearers because anybody can wear a beret. Then there are beret bearers. The people of the 82nd Airborne Division, the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, bear the maroon beret because of everything that comes with it.”
Payton said he is honored to be among the other paratroopers inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Three-quarters of my 34-year career was spent right here at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne Division,” he said. “So to be honored in this manner, just to simply be recognized, is just amazing to me. I attribute it all to the paratroopers that I had the honor of leading and serving alongside and the leaders that showed me the way, that there's always someone out there looking out for your best interest even when you don’t know it, and that’s right here in the 82nd Airborne Division.”
Other inductees
• Retired Gen. Stephen R. Lyons was commissioned into the Army in 1983 and served in multiple roles within the division. Between July 1987 and March 1990, at the rank of lieutenant and captain, he served as the material officer and later, commanded Alpha Company, 782nd Maintenance Battalion. His company deployed in support of Operation Just Cause in Panama. He returned in July 2005 and commanded the Division Support Command, later reflagged as the 82nd Sustainment Brigade, of which he was the first commander. His formation deployed paratroopers in support of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lyons was later commander of the U.S. Transporation Command.
• Retired Gen. Dennis L. Via served in the All American Division in four positions over the course of seven years, including as assistant division signal officer in the division headquarters, operations and executing officer for the 82nd Signal Battalion. He eventually became commander of the same battalion from July 1996 to July 1998 and helped modernize communications systems, allowing the division to conduct large-scale combat operations. Via later served as deputy commander and commander of the U.S. Army Material Command, before retiring in 2016.
• Retired Lt. Gen. Joseph K. Kellog Jr. joined the Army in 1967 and served two tours during the Vietnam War. He served in the 82nd as an operations officer in 1st Brigade and commander of the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.During Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he served as the chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division from 1990 to 1991 and commanded the division in 1996. After retiring from the Army in 2003, he was appointed as chief of staff and executive secretary for the National Security Council in 2016 and was named the council’s acting national security advisor in 2017.
• Retired Lt. Gen. Freddy E. McFarren commanded 1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment from December 1982 to December 1984. With the battalion, he deployed to Grenada for Operation Urgent Fury, the Army’s first combat deployment since Vietnam. He served as the 82nd Airborne Division chief of staff from November 1988 to September 1989, and less than 90 days later, the Division jumped into Panama as part of Operation Just Cause. McFarren later served as commander of the Fifth U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
• Retired Lt. Gen. Jack P. Nix commissioned into the Army in 1969. He served as the executive officer for the infantry battalion that participated in the 1982 mission to Grenada. Nix commanded the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment during the night parachute mission into Panama to capture Manuel Noriega during Operation Just Cause in 1989. During the 1990s, he also served in Operation Desert Storm. He served as assistant division commander for support and operations and led relief efforts in Rwanda. In 1996, he joined the NATO headquarters as chief of operations and led the deployment of the first troops into Bosnia-Herzegovina. He later coordinated efforts to capture the first convicted war criminals in the former Yugoslavian countries.
• Retired Col. Jack Hamilton served as an enlisted Green Beret during his early Army career, which included a tour in Vietnam. He was company commander of A Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, placing himself in harm’s way while the 3rd Brigade was deployed to Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. Hamilton later commanded the 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry White Falcons in the invasion of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. He led paratroopers from the alert and out load in late October in a 10-hour timeline. After the unit fought to secure the airfield, he led the unit on an operation to secure American medical students at St. Georges University School of Medicine. Hamilton retired as commander of the operations group for the Joint Readiness Training Center when it was based in Arkansas.
• Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Charlie A. Thorpe is a native of Tarboro, North Carolina, who joined the Army on May 24, 1971. His first duty assignment was from October 1971 to December 1974 as a scout observer, team leader and squad leader with 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He served as a platoon sergeant, first sergeant, and battalion operations sergeant for the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment from November 1980 to June 1988. He also served as battalion operations sergeant, brigade operation sergeant major for the 2nd Brigade and from December 1992 to June 1995, served as battalion command sergeant major for the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. From June 1995 to June 1999 he was brigade sergeant major for 3rd Brigade. In August 2000, he became the division’s command sergeant major.
• Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Ricky Yatesserved multiple tours in the division spanning two decades. During that time, he held leadership roles from platoon sergeant to brigade sergeant major. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment as the squadron command sergeant major. Later during the same deployment, he filled the role of brigade command sergeant serving in both positions simultaneously until the brigade was redeployed. He remained the brigade command sergeant major through the brigade’s next deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom, Command Sgt. Maj. Yates provided guidance and leadership while the 82nd Aviation Brigade transitioned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade.
• Retired Sgt. Maj. Edward A. Bell is a Tarboro native who enlisted in the Army in 1987. His deployments include Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2006, he helped stand up the division's 4th Brigade. While a member of the 1st Brigade Task Force Combat team from 1993 to 1996, he helped with combat preparation for Operation Uphold Democracy in 1994 to liberate the country of Haiti from the military regime. Under his leadership as the 82nd Sustainment Brigade command sergeant major, his organization deployed in support of humanitarian efforts after Super Storm Sandy in New York, and numerous other natural disasters including the Haitian earthquakes in 2010, while he also participated in numerous Joint Operation Axis Exercises as a part of the Global Response Force. Bell retired from the Army in September 2020, after serving as deputy chief of staff in the Pentagon.
• Sgt. Owen B. Hill enlisted in the Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment for advanced training in airborne and infantry operations. He landed in France during the early morning hours of June 1944 more than five miles from his intended dropzone. After almost drowning, he organized a group of paratroopers during Operation Overlord. He made a decision to block the entrance of a nearby farm known as Chef-du-Pont. The group of about 50 paratroopers, some of whom were wounded, had no officers or medics and no radio. In the early morning of June 7, 1944, several Nazi tanks maneuvered in from the west. The lead tank halted just on the edge of Hill’s hedgerow, unaware of the paratroopers meters away. Hill crawled next to the tank and threw a grenade into the hatch when the Nazi commander raised up for a better view. In Hill’s words, “The German popped out like a champagne cork!” The tanks retreated. Hill and the paratroopers fought off Nazi attacks until reuniting with their regiment.
Hill was wounded June 13, 1944, and evacuated to England. He rejoined his unit in Germany in December 1944. He was again wounded in January 1945 and returned to headquarters in Germany, where he was later assigned to occupational duty of security forces. Hill left active duty in 1945.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: 82nd Airborne Division inducts 12 into 2023 Hall of Fame
