The The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion (VLA) (Colored) was an African American United States Army unit that saw combat in Europe during World War II. Their first assignment was Utah and Omaha beaches on 6 June 1944 (the D-Day invasion). The 1,500-man unit's mission was to set in the air barrage balloons to protect assaulting infantry and armor from being strafed by enemy aircraft. They saw combat in France at Saint-Lô, the Battle of the Bulge during the siege of Bastogne, and the Rhine River Crossing. Bill Pinkney (1925–2007), the last original member of the vocal group the Drifters served as a member of the 320th.
The 320th Barrage Balloon Bn. was unique at Normandy for two reasons. First, it was the first barrage balloon unit in France and second, it was the first black unit in the segregated American Army to come ashore on D-Day. The VLA in the 320th designation stood for "very low altitude." These units used smaller barrage balloons that could easily be moved by a few men and transported across the channel on landing craft. A standard balloon crew was normally four men, but trained personnel were in short supply and the 320th reduced the crews to three men to get as many balloons in the air as possible.
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