The color of this year’s uniform reflects the canopy of fog and snow giving way to the shadows beneath the snow-covered pine forests in the Ardennes. This environment formed the backdrop for the 101st Airborne’s stubborn defense, made more difficult by the lack of air support.

The Division’s moniker comes from their patch, which depicts “Old Abe,” a bald eagle first used as a mascot by the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War.

Assigned randomly across the Army Football Team, helmets display the markings used by 101st paratroopers and glider troops to identify their unit affiliations for the jump into Normandy and throughout the European Theater of Operations.

The Invasion Star was used on American aircraft and vehicles to aid in battlefield identification. This version of the star has seven gaps in the outer ring to represent the junction of seven roads at Bastogne.

The style of the lettering reflects the road sign held by General McAuliffe in a famous photograph taken after the siege was broken.

The coppered appearance of the Army West Point Athena Shield hearkens back to the weathered appearance, after half a year of combat from D-Day until the Ardennes Counter-Offensive, of a brass “Cricket,” an inexpensive children’s toy that paratroopers carried during the initial Normandy jump to use as a recognition signal in the dark.

The patch highlights the unit’s role as an airborne division and connected the division to an honored lineage: Wisconsin’s 8th Volunteer Infantry Regiment. When the Army first activated the 101st in Milwaukee in 1921, “Old Abe” returned as a reference to Wisconsin’s military history.

This typography evokes the typewritten version of Anthony McAuliffe’s famous reply to demands for his surrender. When the Nazi commander demanded his surrender, McAuliffe replied only with the word “Nuts!” which Colonel Joseph Harper, conveying his commander’s response, informed his confused Nazi counterpart meant “Go to Hell!”

Displayed in its original orientation and proportions, this flag echoes the 1944 flag worn on the paratrooper’s jumpsuit.

While defending Bastogne, the regiment retained its positions despite an attack that nearly reached the command post. Alongside the 502nd, the regiment counter-attacked and drove the Nazi forces back, recapturing Bourcy before being relieved by elements of Patton’s Third Army.

During the Battle of the Bulge, the 502d occupied the northern defensive positions in Bastogne. When a Nazi armored column broke through, 502d paratroopers regrouped to isolate and destroy in detail the tanks that had penetrated the line. Along with the 327th, the regiment counter-attacked and drove the Nazi forces back, recapturing Bourcy before being relieved.

Upon arrival to the Bastogne area, the 506th conducted a spoiling attack to seize fuel dumps and a key highway junction at Noville in conjunction with remaining armored elements in the area. This short-notice action delayed the enemy’s attack on Bastogne and prevented Nazi forces from resupplying immediately prior to assaulting Bastogne. After falling back to the perimeter, the 506th defended Bastogne until relieved.

Upon arriving with the rest of the 101st, the 326th's engineers set to work reinforcing the defense of Bastogne with obstacles and defensive positions. As the Nazi assault began, the 326th fought as infantry on the defensive perimeter and repelled several determined assaults. The battalion was the first to make contact with Patton’s Third Army as it moved to relieve the siege.

Soldiers of Combat Command B of the Tenth Armored Division were the first American troops to reach the Bastogne. Seeing the need to slow the Nazi advance, Colonel William Roberts, CCB’s commander, detached smaller task forces to delay the enemy until the 101st could arrive, then formed a mobile reserve with his surviving tanks to reinforce the 101st's defense.

Hastily dispatched to aid Bastogne, the unit was formally attached to the 101st on 20 December. With less armor than a tank, the faster tank destroyers were designed to defeat massed armor formations. Through the siege of Bastogne, the battalion was pivotal in blunting the Panzer spearheads to enable paratroopers to stop the infantry assaults.

An African-American segregated battalion, the 969th FA was already at the Front as the Nazi offensive began. In the face of direct attacks on their positions, the 969th moved to Bastogne and resumed fire in support of the 101st, whose paratroopers credit the 969th's precise fires with helping hold the line.