The Triple Nickles: 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also known as the Triple Nickles, made airborne history in November 1944, by becoming the first all-black infantry battalion. The battalion did not see combat during World War II, nor did they serve overseas. The unit trained in the states as “smokejumbers,” the Army’s first and only airborne firefighters. They bravely made 1,200 smokejumps and help control 36 fires. Some forest fires were started by incendiary balloon bombs, which were carried to the United States by trade winds or the jet stream. Location: Main Library, Business & Government Division, third floor.