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be attached to the 82nd Airborne Division which at that time was
fighting overseas in Sicily.
The 82nd Infantry Division (All American) had been activated
during WW I and saw action in France. Disbanded after the Great
War, it was reactivated on March 25, 1942 at Camp Claiborne LA;
five months later it was re-designated as an Airborne Division,
the first in the U.S. Army, and relocated to Ft Bragg NC in
October 1942. Two parachute infantry regiments (504th and 505th)
and a glider infantry regiment (325th) formed the nucleus of the
82nd. After extensive training, the 82nd left New England by
troop ship and arrived in Casablanca, North Africa on May 10,
1943.
After debarking in Africa, the 82nd moved to Tunisia where it
prepared for its first combat jump – the invasion of Sicily
which began on July 9th. Two months later, both PIRs dropped at
Salerno, Italy in support of Operation AVALANCHE. Both units
sustained heavy casualties in Sicily and Italy, many of them due
to friendly fire from allied ships during the Sicily invasion
and by infantry generals learning how to employ airborne troops
in battle for the first time. In early 1944, the 82nd was
transported to England to reconstitute.
During his summer of intensive training as airborne infantry,
Uncle Joe was given the opportunity of a lifetime. One of his
buddies whose father was a Congressman informed their commanding
officer that there was a War Department policy which stated
military personnel being readied for overseas deployment would
be given a 10-day furlough before departing the States. A call
to the Congressman convinced the skeptical commanders of the
validity of the policy and on August 18, 1943, Private Joe
Favela left Camp Mackall by train heading for Phoenix on a
10-day pass. He was delayed in New Orleans and didn’t get to
Phoenix until Sunday the 22nd. The next day he surprised Angie
while she was working at the Ellis building in Phoenix and she
took time off from work to be with him. As he was walking with
Angie along Central Avenue just north of the underpass, he
turned to her and asked her if she wanted to get married? She
said yes. The next day, her mother made all the arrangements to
include buying a wedding dress and they got married on
Wednesday, August 25, 1943 at St.
Anthony’s church at the corner of 11th St. and Van Buren. Uncle
Joe was supposed to leave by train the next day in order to get
back to camp before his
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