Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives
Orphaned before he was two, "Slim Jim" Gavin was raised in a Pennsylvania coal town before he left home at the age of seventeen to join the army. Celebrated as the no-nonsense commander of the tough 82nd Airbourne, Gavin also played a role in integrating the U.S. military, incorporating the all-black 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion into the 82nd Airborne Division in 1945.
