For instance the 101st Airborne (specifically the 506th PIR) is shown far more than the 82nd Airborne Division, even though some elements of the 82nd were already battle tested. Another example is the prefrence for showing the 2nd Ranger Battalion and 16th IR of the 1st infantry Division over say the 29th Infantry (which took a huge hit on DDay especially the Bedford Boys company), or 4th Infantry.
This doesn't even include units that came in the following days that heroically partook in the Normandy liberation and subsequent break out (such as the 2nd Infantry).
Why does popular culture choose to look at a couple heroic units vs other equally heroic and admirable units when it comes to their portrayals of the American DDay Operations (Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and the Airborne forces dropped on the peninsula)?
I am a big history buff but want to know others theories and insights.
Thank you
When it comes to popular culture your answer is in the question: it is popular because films have made it popular. You can throw video games into the mix as well. With regard to the 101st Airborne, shows such as Band of Brothers and video games such as Brothers in Arms catapult that particular unit into the forefront of American thought. As for the "why" of selecting such units to tell stories, that would be a better question for film experts rather than historians, but in my opinion the romanticized idea of following the story of an elite unit is the "safe" choice when considering marketing a story. Similarly, if you were choosing a unit to write about then selecting a unit that your audience is already familiar with is again the safe choice for success. Modern writing has shifted to follow characters more than units, as can be seen in films such as Fury and 1917.
Ultimately I believe common Americans could only name the units you mentioned because of movies that propel those units into American thought. Films that have intense character focus often leave the viewer ignorant of the unit - not many could say what unit the titular tank Fury served in, or what unit Joker served with in Full Metal Jacket beyond perhaps recalling that it was the Marine Corps. Conversely, Band of Brothers has a focus on Major Winters, but is really about the 101st Airborne and not that specific characters, with each episode shifting perspective and not really locking on to a specific soldier over the course of the series. I believe that some films do technically branch out to less popular units, but that there has been a steady shift in writing style away from the grand battles depicted in post World War II film and toward character focus started in the late 80's and gradually growing in popularity still today. I know the answer seems circular and possibly even frustrating, but basically popular units are popular because film made them popular, and video games/film will always run popular units because they are safe sources of income, whereas a new story about a "new" unit is a risk. Focusing on characters allows writers to void a lot of that risk, but the cost in terms of popular memory is that the characters portrayed in that film are what is remembered rather than the unit portrayed. I am by no stretch a film buff or into film theory, so if anyone knows more in this arena I would love to see their thoughts. Cheers.