The 101st Parachute Division had never participated in a military operation prior to the Overlord invasion so in order to help the 'green' troops to identify friendly forces, a system of helmet markings of card suits was devised. They were the following: 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) = Diamond 502nd PIR =Heart 506th PIR = Spade 327th Glider Infantry Regiment Club The rankings are not those of the card games Bridge or Poker. Back to Dispatch August 2002 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com