82nd Airborne Division

He was once in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army. Today, he calls the streets of Atlanta, GA home.

“So, how did you get to Atlanta,” I asked. He grinned, “When I had a weekend pass I’d come to Atlanta because I loved it, after the Army I just stayed here.”

The 82nd was initially nicknamed “All American” because of the diversity of the states that the soldiers originally came from when it was first formed. Today the patch still highlights that, “AA.”  

Sergeant Alvin C. York, who once served in the 82nd Infantry Division, stated this after capturing 132 German Soldiers during World War I (in regards to keeping the German Prisoners of War safe):

“On the way back we were constantly under heavy shell fire and I had to double time them to get them through safely. There was nothing to be gained by having any more of them wounded or killed. They had surrendered to me, and it was up to me to look after them. And so I did.”

Vietnam at age 17

“I lost my older brother in Vietnam,” he told me while looking away to think. “When we joined the Army he was 19 and I went in at only 17 years old,” he then paused… “I did two tours.”

Mark Thiebold, who calls a tent his home in Nashville, TN, served our country in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army while in Vietnam. Total, he served in the Army for 12 years both in America and abroad.

Thiebold went into Vietnam in 1971. At the time, the United States Government was sending troops from the 82nd Division into both South Korea and Vietnam (1969 and into the mid 1970’s). The 82nd also worked side by side the 101st in some operations. He told me, “My job was to blow up bridges and build bridges, we killed innocent people.”