555th Parachute Infantry Company
Fort Leavenworth, United States
Dedicated to the first black parachute infantry The Original Seventeen* 1st Assigned and Selected 1ST SGT. Walter Morris 1st to Take Qualification Jump SSGT Calvin R. Beal SSGT. Hubert Bridges • SSGT. Lonnie M. Duke SSGT. Robert F. Greene • SGT. Clarence H. Beavers SGT. Ned D. Bess • SGT. James E. Kornegay SGT. Leo D. Reed • SGT. Samuel W. Robinson SGT. Jack D. Tillis • SGT. Roger S. Walden SGT. Daniel C. Weil • SGT. Elijah Wesby CPL. McKinley Godfrey, Jr. • CPL. Carstell O. Stewart** TECH 4. Alvin L. Moon *16 Qualified on 08 Feb 1944 **On Emergency Leave, Qualified One Week Later Placed on Army rolls 25 Feb 1943 Authorized as 555th PI Company 19 Dec 1943 - Ft. Benning, Ga. Activated as 555th PI Battaltion 25 Nov 1944 - Camp Mackall, NC. Redesignated as 3rd Battalion 505th Abn Infantry Regiment and integrated 82nd Abn Division - 09 Dec 1947 Inactivated - 15 Dec 1947 Removed from Army rolls 22 Aug 1950 "These great paratroopers walked point for their race and for our country, facing down discrimination by 'Standing in the Door' as one and jumping into our nation's history." LTG David H. Petraeus 07 Sep 2006 Significant Dates and Info 1st Trng Jump - 10 Sep 1944 1st to Die - PFC. Malvin L. Brown 1st Battalion Commander CPT. James H. Porter 1st Black Officers Assigned and Qualified 1st Lt. Jasper E. Ross 2nd Lt. Clifford Allen 2nd Lt. Edward Baker 2nd Lt. Bradley Biggs 2nd Lt. Warren C. Cornelius 2nd Lt. Edwin H. Wills "The Fire-Fly Project" (Secret Mission) May - Oct 1945 1st Fire Jump - 14 Jul 1945 Last Fire Jump - 10 Oct 1945 Total Fires Fought - 36 Total Individual Jumps - 1200 No Combat Jumps