We are made up of two organizations:
The 505 Association - made up of 505 RCT veterans who served in WWII.
Friends & Family of the 505 RCT Association - anyone interested in preserving the legacy of the first group.
This page (below) describes the 505 Association. For more information regarding membership of either group or our reunions, please click here.
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Activation July 6th
1942. 25th anniversary of Activation reunion May 1967; Ft.
Bragg, NC. At this point in time, there was not much
interest in starting an Association, so everything lay
dormant for many years. In late 1985 and early 1986 word
started around for a 505 RCT Reunion at Ft. Bragg for
October 1986. This was a great reunion and they came up with
the idea of starting a 505 RCT Association. So at the
General Membership Meeting we decided to go for it.
Donald W. McKeage of "F" Co. was elected our 1st
President. At this point our directors were elected for two
years and Reunions would be every two years. Under McKeage's
leadership we were off to the races. By-Laws and
Constitution are needed for Association.
Official Name: WWII Veterans of the 505th Parachute
Infantry Regimental Combat Team, (505 RCT).
Dues were set at $5.00 annual and after the first meeting
of the board, a life membership of $50.00 was started and
General James Gavin was our First Life Member.
1987, McKeage is busy making our new Association fly.
Request IRS for Non Profit Organization Status. Request
Postal Service for Non Profit Organization Status. By-Laws
and Constitution were being finalized: With copies off to
the government units. Our Postal Permit was approved on
August 27, 1987. Our IRS approval for Non Profit status was
approved March 4, 1988; Code 501-c-19. Under the provisions
of section 170 of the Code, donors may deduct contributions
to this organization.
In the meantime plans were being made to hold our 2nd
reunion at Columbus, Ga. Home of the AIrborne School at Ft.
Benning in early October 1988. At this reunion Jack
Tallerday was elected President. A reunion was planned for
1990, to be held back at Ft. Bragg. Everything was going our
way, but when August 1990 came and the 82nd Airborne
Division was ordered to leave for Desert Storm to do battle
with Iraq, our 1990 reunion was cancelled.
Jack Tallerday stayed on as our President. Our next
reunion was finally set up to be held at Las Vegas, NV in
October 1991. Robert M. Murphy of "A" Co. was elected our
3rd President. He stayed on for 1992. Everything settled
down for a number of years.
1993 Elmo Jones of "B" Co. elected President at New
Orleans, LA
1994 J. J. Ryan of Hdqs 3rd elected President at San
Antonio, TX.
1995 Nick Psaki of "E" Co elected President at Boise, ID
1996 Robert Fielder of Regt. Hdqs elected President at
Myrtle Beach, SC
1997 Robert Fielder re-elected President at Orlando, FL
1998 Ed Thomas Hdqs 3rd elected President at Boise, ID
1999 Ed Sayre "A" Co. elected President at Ft. Bragg, NC
2000 Ed Sayre re-elected Las Vegas, NV
2001 Ed Sayre re-elected after Ft. Bragg reunion
cancelled by 82nd Airborne Division because of the attack on
the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11,
2001 (9-11). We missed another reunion, which we can
ill-afford to do with our age group, but this is a National
Emergency and we must carry on.
2002 Ed Thomas of Hdqs 3rd elected President at Myrtle
Beach, SC
2003 Reunion planned for Colorado Springs, CO.
2004 If all goes well in this world of ours we plan to
meet back at Ft. Bragg, NC
Our Association has made it through 16 years and if all
goes as planned we hope to add another 5+ to that total.
The above information was compiled by
our 1st President and for the past 15 years, our Vice
President of Communications; meaning the Editor of "The
Panther" Airborne DONALD W. MCKEAGE
