Newsletters and Articles

 82nd veteran may have been ‘1st dog face in Germany’

FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER-TIMES SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 18, 1994

Woody Wodowski says he might have been the first American paratrooper to land in Germany during World War II.

   And he may have been the first to leave.

   Wodowski arrived on Sept. 17, 1944 — 50 years ago Saturday. He was among 7,250 men of the 82nd Airborne Division who flew over Holland that day during Operation Market-Garden, the largest airborne force ever assembled.

   On Saturday, a group of local members of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment gathered at the NCO Club on Fort Bragg to share their memories of that day. The plan was for the paratroopers to seize a series of bridges to allow a ground force of British armor and infantry to drive across the Rhine River and into Germany.   But Wodowski entered Germany days ahead of time — and alone —   seconds before his C-47 transport plane crashed. When he jumped the left motor was burning and smoke filled the plane. He landed   in a stream on the German side   and quickly scampered across it.   "I don't know if this is true or not, but I may have been the first dogface that landed in Germany," Wodowski said.

   Wodowski later joined 10 other U.S. soldiers. Together, Wodowski said, they entered a factory and killed eight German officers and captured about 50 laborers.

   By midnight, the group entered the Dutch city of Nijmegen where Allied forces were battling to seize bridges crossing the Waal River into Germany. That night in the town square, Wodowski was wounded in the arm by a grenade.

   The day went smoother for most other troopers of the 508th.

   Francis L Mahan, then a second lieutenant commanding I Company, remembers flying over the coastline and seeing Dutch people waving bed sheets and towels.

   Thirty minutes after the jump, all his men had assembled and were moving out.

   "That was pretty darn good" said Mahan, who was shot in the chest six days later during a battle in the small town of Beek.

   "That finished up the war for me," Mahan said. But the injury did not finish his Army career. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.

   Jim Blue, a squad leader in Company A, said the flight over was tougher than the landing. Flak put a dent in one soldier’s helmet and knocked him out.  A bullet cut through the plane's belly and struck another soldier in the foot.  “We assembled as fast as any company ever assembled,” said Blue, 75.

   When four German planes flew past he and his soldiers waved to make them think they were Germans.

  The pilots tipped their wings and went on.

   The men say the significance of this part of their lives is not diminished by the failure of British forces to push into Germany.  They are proud they did their part and know they did it well

   Bud Warnecke, 73, was a fresh lieutenant commanding Company E, having won a battlefield commission in Normandy.

   "As a platoon leader, as a company commander, or as men who are fighting, you've got a worm's eye view of what is going on, "Warnecke said, "We took all our objectives. You don't know until years later how the strategists might have screwed up." 

   The paratroopers stayed until relieved by British forces in November. The British remained in a stalemate with German forces until after the Battle of the Bulge began in December. Since 1974, members of the 508th have gathered at cities throughout the country to share in their bond.

   Jim Smith, who helped form the group, said the association drew 133 people to its first convention 20 years ago in Chicago. This year, 1400 men are members.

   Smith sees the 508th as “the bastard unit of the 82nd Airborne “because the regiment was assigned to it.  The 508th always got the tough jobs, he believes, and seldom received much credit afterward.

   Wodowski, Smith Mahan and Warnecke live in Fayetteville.  Blue lives in Dunn and helps run the General Lee Museum there.

   Members of the 508th feel they are closer than other regiments because they trained and fought together. Warnecke said the 2,300 paratroopers who graduated from jump school at Camp Blanding, Fla., in the fall of 1942 fought beside each other throughout the war.    And sometimes, the remembrance of war can establish bonds between former enemies. 

 Ten years ago, during the 40th anniversary of the battle, Wodowski and Blue returned to the spot along the small stream in Germany where Wodowski had made his ill-fated landing.

   Led by a Dutch guide, the men began talking to a group of Germans. The guide asked one of the German men, who was about Wodowski's age, if he had been there during the invasion.

   He was there that day, the man answered, while on leave from the German army. He said he was on his way home from church when he saw the troops dotting the sky.

  Then be pointed at Wodowski, "I saw that guy by the bridge."

   Stunned, Wodowski asked the German why he didn't kill him.

   "He said he was too scared," Wodowski said. "Paratroopers have a bad reputation. If I would have saw him, I would have blown him away." To this day, Wodowski said, "that guy writes me and sends me Christmas cards,"  

4TH BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM NEWS

Pries Paratrooper Fast-Tracks
Soldier to go to Chaplain school
Read News Release

Paratroopers of Company A, 508th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division maneuver to their next challenge during the unit's "Sapper Stakes" competition Jan. 14 on Fort Bragg. The Paratroopers competed to see which squad had the best combat engineer skills(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Reenlistment with an impact
Sgt. Louis Adams is reenlisted by his commander, Capt. Brad McCoy while a mortar team fires a live round for each of the five years of Adams' reenlistment.
[note mortar round in mid-flight]Read News ReleaseOne Mission, One Round
Snipers bring talents to fight
Read News Release

We Are The Engineers
Combat engineer compete for bragging rights
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)Read News Release

Spc.Jeff Mews, a sniper with 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division fires an M-110 rifle at a range on Fort Bragg, N.C. Mews is part of a seven-men sniper section in the squadron. The snipers remove their armor to maximize accuracy when set up in a firing position downrange, and train to fire that way in garrison.
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Spc Jeff Mews, left, aims an M-110 rifle while Pfc. Phillip Adams spots the target Jan. 13 at a range on Fort Bragg, N.C. Mews and Adams are snipers in the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne. The snipers remove their armor to maximize accuracy when set up in a firing position downrange, and train to fire that way in garrison
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Paratroopers of Company A set up a wire obstacle Jan. 15 on  Fort Bragg during the unit's "Sapper Stakes" competition.(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)
Not Just A Kayak Ride
men of Company A prepare for an assault landing

Paratroopers ready to save lives
Fury Brigade conducts medical trainingRead News Release

Paratroopers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division treat a casualty during an urban combat scenario at the Division Medical Training Center Jan. 22 on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)
Paratroopers of Company C evacuate a casualty while subjected to sensory deprivation during medical training Jan. 22 at the Division Medical Training Center on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)Paratroopers prepare to enter and clear a room during tactical first-aid training Jan. 22 at the Division Medical Training Center on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

21st century tech in the field
Artillery uses digital equipment
Read News Release

Airborne couples train as a team
4th Brigade chaplains lead marriage retreat
Read News Release

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Hatfield, the brigade fire support non-commissioned officer for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division uses a Lightweight Laser Locator Designator Range Finder to find the position of a target at an artillery Jan. 23 on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Pfc. Jared Bonnie, a fire support specialist with Company C 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division calls in a fire mission during a digital gunnery range Jan. 23 on Fort Bragg. The range was the first time the brigade's forward observers had called for fire using digital targeting systems since the unit returned from Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Chaplain (Maj.) Scott Kennedy (center), the chaplain for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, supervises a Paratrooper and his wife while they conduct a communication exercise during a brigade married couples' retreat Feb. 14 at Myrtle Beach, S.C. The retreat was part of the Army's Stronger Bonds program to improve family readiness. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Paratroopers and their spouses from 4th Brigade Combat Team 82nd Airborne Division conduct a communication exercise during a married couples' retreat Feb. 14 at Myrtle Beach, S.C. The retreat was supervised by the brigade's chaplains as part of the Army's Stronger Bonds program to improve family readiness.
 (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Logistics Paratroopers prepare for combat
782nd BSB conducts convoy live-fire
Read News Release

A Paratrooper with Company B, 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division pulls security for his convoy during a convoy live-fire exercise Feb. 11 on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

A litter team from Company B, 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division rush a litter to a simulated casualty during a convoy live-fire exercise Feb. 11 on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

A Paratrooper with Company B, 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division takes cover behind his vehicle while his platoon conducts a security halt during a convoy live-fire exercise Feb. 11 on Fort Bragg. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Stephen Decatur)

Afghanistan - Spring 2014

508th PIR Kept Focus on Mission as Deactivation Loomed for 4th BCT

The following is a reprint of an article by Drew Brooks in the Saturday, 19 April 2014 edition of the Fayetteville Observer. Brooks is currently Military Editor at the Fayetteville Observer.

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — They call it the “deployment brigade.’’

Of all Army brigades, it is hard to imagine any have spent a larger share of their existence in Afghanistan than the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Created in 2006 during Army restructuring, the 4th Brigade was first called to action less than a year later when it deployed to eastern Afghanistan. Since then, almost like clockwork, the brigade’s battalions have served in Operation Enduring Freedom, totaling nearly three years, four months and counting in Afghanistan.

Most recently, the 4th Brigade sent parts of two battalions — the 1st and 2nd of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment — to Afghanistan in late 2013 and early this year. Already, those battalions have been moved out of the 4th Brigade, which is set to be deactivated this summer as part of another round of restructuring. When the soldiers return to Fort Bragg, they will find themselves in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and 2nd Brigade Combat Team, respectively.

In Afghanistan, soldiers of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment have largely been insulated by those moves. Their commanders have not changed, nor have their links to home. Many of the soldiers still identify by their old brigade and take pride in the number of times the unit has been called on to serve in Afghanistan. And, because of the relatively short life span of 4th Brigade, a small number of the soldiers now deployed have witnessed all of the unit’s history overseas.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Wrenn, a nearly 13-year veteran from Landrum, S.C., said he is proud to be among the few to have deployed each time 4th Brigade — known as Fury Brigade — has been called to duty. Wrenn joined 4th Brigade in February 2007. At the time, he was a specialist with one deployment to Iraq on his resume. He did not stay at Fort Bragg long, though, as he soon traveled to meet with the brigade, which already was in eastern Afghanistan. Two years later, Wrenn and the brigade again deployed. Then-Sgt. Wrenn served from August 2009 to August 2010 in Herat in western Afghanistan. In 2012, he and the rest of the brigade served the better part of eight months outside Kandahar, fighting the Taliban in the birthplace of their founder, Mullah Omar.

After the third deployment, Wrenn said, there was a small group of soldiers who had deployed every time, but that group has largely moved on. Now, Wrenn doesn’t know of any other soldiers who have served in each of the 4th Brigade’s deployments. He could have missed the latest deployment. But plans for him to move to a new unit were abandoned when he was promoted to sergeant first class. “I’ve been here a while,” said Wrenn, who is assistant operations sergeant for the Camp Phoenix-based battalion. “And I’ve gotten a lot of good experience. I grew up in this brigade.”

According to the 82nd Airborne Division, the 4th Brigade Combat Team will case its colors in a ceremony May 15 on Fort Bragg. The brigade commander, Col. Timothy Watson, said the brigade has made significant contributions in its short history with the 82nd Airborne Division. He praised the 1st and 2nd battalions for continuing that tradition. “Throughout these last eight years, the (brigade) has performed exemplary in combat and sacrificed much on behalf of our nation,” Watson said. “While we’re saddened that 4th BCT’s time is nearing its end, the legacy of the (brigade) and the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment lives on in those paratroopers who remain in 1st and 2nd battalions, 508th PIR, and those 4th BCT troopers who have departed to serve in other units across the Army.”

Wrenn and other 4th Brigade veterans will miss the ceremony and said leaving the brigade is bittersweet. Already, the soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Division can see progress. Unlike previous deployments where they were constantly patrolling and looking for fights, the Afghan national security forces are now in the lead. Instead of fighting, the soldiers are filling other roles, such as moving advisers and trainers around the battlefield and protecting forces from insider attacks. Wrenn said he wants the progress to continue. Ultimately, he said, he hopes the U.S. is seen not as invaders but nation builders. “I’ve got a son. I really don’t want my child to ever have to come over here,” he said.

About 4th Brigade Combat Team

Created in 2006, the brigade’s lineage dates to World War II. The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment joined the fight in World War II in 1944 in England and later participated in Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944, jumping into Normandy, France. The regiment captured and secured the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise and established a defense line north from Neuvill-au-Plain to Breuzeville-au-Plain. The 508th fought German forces until it was relieved July 7, 1944.

Later in 1944, the regiment participated in Operation Market Garden in Holland and seized Waal River Bridge in the Groesbeek-Nijmegen area.

After the war, the 508th was split between 1st and 3rd brigades and served in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and in 1966 as part of Operation Powerpack.

The 2nd Battalion, 508th PIR went to Vietnam with its brigade in response to the Tet Offensive and earned the Presidential Unit Citation after seeing heavy fighting in Hue and Saigon.

The regiment next deployed in 1989, when the 1st Battalion participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama.

As part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the battalion participated in the largest combat airborne operation since World War II when its paratroopers jumped into northern Iraq in 2003.

On June 14, 2006, the regiment became the core of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. Seven months later, it deployed to Afghanistan for 15 months.

Other deployments to Afghanistan were in August 2009, when paratroopers mentored more than 44,000 Afghan security forces as part of the first advise-and-assist brigade in Afghanistan, and in February 2012, when the brigade battled the insurgency in a Taliban stronghold as part of Operation Righteous Endeavor.

The most recent deployments, slated for nine months, began late last year.

[End of Fayetteville Observer Article – 19 April 2014]

Boys of The 508th Are Back

A lengthy article featured two men of the 508th, Fred Hall and Jack Bailey.  Both married English girls and both remained in Nottingham after he war.

Fred, known as "Yank" locally, and his wife Doris were reported to be living in Cinder Hill just a couple of miles north of Wollaton Park.

Jack Bailey wandered into the While Hose Inn out of curiosity just because his parents lived on White Horse Street back home. He met and later married Vivien, the publican's daughter.  Following the war Jack and Vivian took over the operation of the pub.

Elmer fled prison for bride-to-be in England

Nottingham has never forgotten the GIs who camped in Wollaton Park before going off to war on D-Day, and in March a memorial will be unveiled in their memory. ANDY SMART spoke to a returning hero of the 508th.

Elmer Melchi was one of the Iucky ones - the GI from Colorado survived the Normandy invasion, the Arnhem debacle and capture by the Germans. He returned to his home in the shadow of the Rockies with three bullets lodged in his body... and a beautiful Nottingham bride on his arm.

In a few weeks, he will be back in the city for the unveiling of a memorial to the 82nd Airborne, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who were camped in Wollaton Park before they flew to France in June 1944.

Elmer will be with wife June, the Radford girl he met at the American RED Cross HQ in the Albert Hail --- and defied US Army rates to marry in 1945.

“I was freed from a German POW camp by the Russians.”

“I had been wounded trying TO escape so I should have gone straight back to the States.”

"Instead, I made my way to England and to Nottingham to marry my girl."

Sixty-five years later, they are proud grandparents.

Speaking from their home in Colorado City, June said, “They said it wouldn't last,"

"It was love at first sight,” interrupted her husband.

Elmer and his buddies of the 508th arrived In Nottingham on March 14 1944. They were struck by the beauty of the park with its castle and loved the local entertainment.

Elmer said, "I remember the Gregory - my wife's mother worked there."

June, formerly Miss Lloyd of Bedford Boulevard, said, "You have to admit, we gave you all a wonderful welcome.”

"Nottingham took you guys in. We were proud of the 82nd.”

There were no arguments from Elmer, who explained what happened next.
“We landed in France; it was a bit of a mess. We had a lot of casualties … and then jumped into Holland and lost more. "I got captured and taken to a POW camp in the north. One night bombers flew over, heading for Berlin and Stettin.
The guards were distracted and I thought, ‘this is my chance', but I didn't make it.
"I was shot four times and I still have three bullets in me."

Elmer and June were married on June 16. 1945, and then headed to the picturesque Colorado City. They have four sons – one served three tours in Vietnam in the 1970s.

The couple have returned to Nottingham several times to see family and June insists: “It is lovely over here but I am still a Nottingham girl. There is no place like home.”

Elmer and June will be at the event in Wollaton Park on March 14. Elmer read about it in Diablo, the 508th regimental association newsletter.
 

 War memories are recalled 

War memories are recalled

Like so many Second World War veteran groups the 508th has its own website full of photographs and memories of those extraordinary days.

This is an extract of Gl Joseph M Kissane, from New Jersey: "In England six-man tents had been erected for us at Wollaton Park, a suburb of Nottingham, Robin Hood's old hangout. It included a castle and deer herd.

"That first night a few of us early arrivals visited a local pub. The women were enthralled. Their husbands had been sent to faraway places years ago.

“Gallagher always knew which pubs had the beer and gin. The locals were polite and respectful despite us acting like clowns.

“They would sit quietly nursing a beer while we tossed the pounds around spilling the warm sourish beer on ourselves.

“English entertainment, lots of laughs. A special importation, Tillie from Birmingham. Middle-aged. No front teeth, emoting Cockney songs.”

Clay honors local airborne unit

3 17 Number 127   2 Sections 264-3200 Clay County's Only Daily Newspaper,
Orange Park, Florida Friday, June 15,1990Clay honors local airborne unit

By John Dalgle Jr.

Assistant News Editor

HEADQUARTERS 82nd AIR­BORNE DIVISION, NORMANDY (By Mail) — Soldiers of the 508th Para­chute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Air­borne Division, dropped over a wide area on D-Day and were un­able to assemble as a tactical unit until the fourth day of the invasion. The regiment, nevertheless, played a brilliant role in carrying out the mission of the airborne troops, which was to prevent the Germans from interfering with the ground as­sault force until the beach landings had been accomplished. 

This is the way America read about how Clay County's own Air­borne regiment the 508th Para­chute Infantry Regiment, which was organized at Camp Blanding in October, 1942, took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6 1944.

Almost 46 years later, the Board of County Commissioners paid tribute to the 508th Regiment by adopting a resolution Tuesday extending thanks and praise

 from the citizens of Clay County as part of its participation in "The Year of the Airborne" celebration.   BCC Chairman James Jett pre­sented the resolution to Robert Phillips, 67, a retired member of the 508th Regiment living in Middleburg. Phillips accepted on be­half of the 13 members of the regi­ment who still reside in the Clay County area.

   Phillips told Jett the resolution would be presented to Sgt. Maj. Rodney Hall for acceptance to the Camp Blanding Military Museum.

   Jett also presented a resolution stating that Clay County joins with others in celebrating the 50th An­niversary of the Airborne and pro claiming 1990 as "The Year of the Airborne."

   Herbert Sellars of Jacksonville accepted the resolution on behalf of the 82nd Airborne Division Soci­ety.

The 508th won the Presidential Unit Citation for heroic perfor­mance in the D-Day Normandy In­vasion after suffering more than 50 percent casualties, losing approxi­mately 2,200 men.

    The unit also participated in the Invasion of Holland and the Battle of the Bulge, and was chosen as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's honor guard at the end of World War II.

   Retired members of the 508th on hand for the presentation Tuesday included: Sellars, Phillips, William Tritt of Keystone Heights, George Ritchote of Orange Park and Carl Smith of Jacksonville.

   An estimated 30,600 Airborne veterans, active duty, Reserve and National Guard airborne soldiers and their families will assemble in the Nation's Capital July 3-8 to help celebrate the 50th Anniver­sary of the start of Airborne train­ing and operations by the United States Army in 1940.

   Anniversary activities are under the sponsorship of the USA Air­borne 50th Anniversary Found­ation, Inc., a nonprofit group made up of virtually all airborne or air­borne-related associations in the nation.

I Am the Flag of the United States of Of America

I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is Old Glory.

I fly atop the world's tallest buildings. I stand watch in America's halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutions of learning. I stand guard with power in the world. Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice. I stand for freedom. I am confident. I am arrogant. I am proud. When I am flown with my fellow banners, my head is a little higher, my colors a little truer. I bow to no one! I am recognized all over the world. I am worshipped - I am saluted. I am loved - I am revered. I am respected - and I am feared.

I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox. I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy. Guam, Okinawa, Korea,  Khe San, Saigon, Vietnam all know me.

I'm presently in the mountains of Afghanistan and the hot and dusty deserts of Iraq and wherever freedom is needed. I led my troops, I was dirty, battle worn and tired, But my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.

I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I have helped set free. It does not hurt for I am invincible. I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled in the streets of my country and when it's done by those whom I've served in battle - that hurts. But I shall overcome - for I am strong.

I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon. I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.

But my finest hours are yet to come. When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield, when I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier, or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent at the grave of their fallen son or daughter, I am proud.

Please convey my message to all who still love and respect me that I may fly proudly for another two hundred years.

RED CROSS GIFT FROM P.O.W. CAMP

   Pfc Frank H. Cartwright, taken prisoner by the Germans soon after he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, is this year's first contributor to the Pasquotank County [NC] Red Cross fund, sending $5.00 from his prison camp deep inside Germany and with it the warmest commendation of the organization.  Mr. Weatherly calls upon the county to match his gift tomorrow.

Cartwright wrote to his parents from the prison camp in Germany, and with it a formal authorization signed by a German officer, authorizing the gift; the letter passing through German and American Army censorship: it was written November 21, 1944 and passed through American censorship January 13, 1945.  The letter: "Dear Mom and Dad: I am getting along fine here and hope everyone is getting along fine.  I am working now and am glad.  It helps the time to pass quickly.  Some of the boys received their first letters yesterday.  They were sure glad.  You can see the Red Cross Society about writing and sending things.  They are doing a fine job here.  We really owe them a lot.
   "Tell Mama Alice [his sister] I really want to see my little nephew, now I am an uncle.  Hope he don't take after her too much.  Give everyone my love and don't worry about me.  I am getting along fine.  With lots of love to all the family. Frank
   Young Cartwright grew up in the house four miles beyond Weeksville from which his father, Charles R. Cartwright went off to war more than a quarter century ago.  He is the oldest of the children.  He has been in the Army nearly two and a half years.  He asked for service with the paratroopers and got his training at Camp Mackall near Pinehurst.  He went to England, and landed with his Division in Normandy on Invasion Day.

[remainder of article missing]

HEROIC DROP INTO HISTORY

CURT BROWN, Star Tribune [Heroic drop into history

Article by: CURT BROWN , Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN , October 16, 2009]

The Netherlands will honor seven area U.S. Army veterans today for helping liberate part of southern Holland 65 years ago in a dangerous mission involving more than 20,000 paratroopers.

It was 65 years, one month and one day ago, but 86-year-olds Harold Roy and Henry Langevin remember it vividly. "It was bright and sun shiny, a beautiful day," Roy said. "It was just like a training jump."

Except the Nazis were firing away as Staff Sgts. Roy, Langevin and more than 20,000 U.S., British and Polish troops parachuted or floated into southern Holland via gliders on Sept. 17, 1944. Their mission, known as Operation Market Garden, was aimed at securing a series of Dutch bridges to help Allied tanks get across the Rhine and into Germany near the end of World War II.

Today, the Dutch consul general will present Roy, Langevin and five other members of the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army with honorary Orange Lanyards for helping liberate the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands from German control. The 11 a.m. ceremony in the State Capitol rotunda was delayed because the old soldiers' military records had been destroyed in a fire in St. Louis decades ago.

Langevin, a retired lithographer from Roseville, said he was a "handcuffed volunteer" when he descended into Holland on a glider after being towed in from England behind a C-47 plane.

"They let us go, and we were wide open up there, and the landing was rough," he said. "We came down into some trees and, of course, the Germans had us zeroed in."

He said he got lucky and dug in, avoiding artillery fire, "but some of my buddies got shot down out of the sky."

The massive and daring mid-day jump caught some of the Nazi Panzer tank divisions by surprise. But hundreds of Allied troops were killed during the next few weeks.

Langevin grew up in St. Paul's Midway area and landed in Casablanca via troop ship as the battles in Africa wound down. He later parachuted into Sicily at night and still later fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

"I'd seen it all over there, but the Battle of the Bulge was the worst and the coldest," he said. "I earned enough points that when the war ended, they flew me home while the rest of my division had to take a troop ship." He'll be joined by many of his nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren at today's ceremony. "When you get up to my age," Langevin said, "you never really think about it anymore, not until this thing came up."

Besides Roy and Langevin, the other five veterans who will be honored today are:

• Albert Larson, 87, of Fridley.
• Northam Stolp, 85, of Appleton, Wis.
• Lyle Sande, 86, of Willmar.
• Emmett Yanez, 89, of Woodbury.
• David Oldemeyer, 89, of Pipestone.
 

Health problems and long drives are expected to keep Stolp, Sande and Oldemeyer from attending today's ceremony, but some will be represented by family members.

"Most all of us who jumped that day are dead," said Roy, who lives in Farmington. "But it's a nice honor and nice to be remembered."

Curt Brown • 651-673-4767

Dallas Paratrooper Finds Life With Nazis Tough Proposition

TEMPLE, Texas, Aug. 1 (AP).— A Texas sergeant of the 82d AirBorne Division who spent three weeks as a German prisoner at Cherbourg before being liberated by the American capture of the port, is back at McCloskey General Hospital with a vivid story of life with the Nazis.
   He is Sgt. Robert S. Daniels, whose wife lives at 2611 Douglas Avenue, Dallas.
   Daniels told how antiaircraft fire hit the plane carrying him to Normandy, how tracers from machine guns followed the plane over France, about how he wondered if the tracers going through his parachute as he sailed to earth would set the ’chute afire.
   “I crashed through a tree before I hit the ground and broke my leg. Four of my men joined me,” Daniels said. “For fourteen hours, five of us held a terrace in an orchard against a bunch of Germans.
Men Refuse to Leave.“Finally the Germans brought up a machine gun. They killed two of the boys and wounded another.  Since thesituation was hopeless, I ordered the two men alive to leave. They refused. But I finally convinced them it was foolish to stay.
   “When they left I had ammunition for my pistol and a few grenades. After I used that up, I lay back and waited for them to come and get me. I was carried to a German command post and dropped on the ground.
   “A German officer who strutted over asked me what time I had jumped. I told him to go to hell. He slapped my face. After a bit, he left me and went over to question Lt. Dixie Davis of San Antonio, an officer from my outfit who had been wounded before he was captured. The German got nothing out of Lieutenant Davis.
   “When he came back to me, he told me that he knew I was in the 82d AirzBorne Division and that I might as well tell him what he wanted to know since they had gotten plenty of information from the other prisoners. I guess he could see I knew was lying because he moved away.
   “They searched me and took everything. . . . Theyliked my B rations, too."
   Daniels told of being taken to a German field hospital where he lay on a pile of straw used for beds.
   “After three days they stopped changing the straw and the stuff began to stink.' he said. “We were cared for by a Captain Adams, a captured paratroop medical officer. He was probably the first prisoner taken by the Germans in the invasion of Normandy.
   “He had jumped about the same time I did but landed right on the roof of a German headquarters. He slipped off the roof into the back of a truck where some Germans were sleeping and was captured." The prisoner-patients were soon transferred; to Cherbourg where they got better treatment and casts on their broken bones, Sergeant Daniels said.French Help Pro Ally
“For the .next ten days we waited. The French help in the hospital was very pro-ally. A cute, French girl brought me some cigarettes but a German guard caught her and slapped her face.
   “The Poles and the Russians among the German army personnel really looked forward to the coming of the Yanks. They slipped us cog-nac and cigarettes.  
   “Three days before the Americans took Cherbourg, the Germans moved all the litter patients into an air-raid shelter. The next day one of our wounded flight officers and a German medical officer went across the lines under a white flag to get some badly needed medical supplies, and to advise the Americans- where our hospital was so they wouldn't bomb or shell it.
   “On the morning of the 26th we heard the sweetest music in the world, American Browning automatic rifles and machine-gun fire. The whole hospital staff surrendered to our troops, when they come through.
   “Major General Eddie, commander of the Ninth Division, and Major General Collin, who were right up there' with the front line troops, came in and talked to all of us. Medics brought some C rations. A sizzling steak couldn’t have tasted any better.
   “When we first heard the news that the hospital was under Yank control, the men who could walk hobbled around the wards and tore down the large pictures of Hitler, Goebbels and Goering that were hung all over the place."

Bygones: Memorial to GIs at Wollaton Park

NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST
June 4, 2010

MOTHERS SONS WHO MADE A LITTLE GIRL FEEL SO EXCITED.

Top left: Nottingham writer Joan Wallace.

As a little girl gazing out of my bedroom window on a warm, summer's evening in June, how could I have known I was witnessing part of a most memorable time in the history of the Second World War? Standing outside the Royal Oak public house – which was about 200 yards from the back of our garden...and outside toilet, was a crowd of young, handsome American paratroopers.

Laughter and friendly banter floated through the air. I opened my window wider and leaned out towards the fun.

Young women, dressed in their best clothes, had gathered around the smartly dressed paratroopers. I imagined I was taking in a Hollywood film.

Evenings in Radford had never looked like this before.

I watched in wide-eyed amazement, my stomach turning over with the excitement of it all. What where they all laughing and talking about?

Why were the young women – and not so young – hugging and kissing the young men?

"Joan...are you out of bed?" Mother's voice called from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm just looking at the soldiers, Mam. There's loads of them Americans – those out of the tents on Wollaton Park.

"They can't all get inside the pub...they're all drinking outside. Are they having a party, Mam?"

"Yes," my mother answered. "I'm just going across with your Auntie Flo and some of the neighbours to have a drink with them. They're all going away soon.

"Big Jim Lacey's opened a special barrel and I don't want to miss it. Won't be long."

The back door closed and I watched as Mother clip-clopped in her best high-heeled shoes, down our cobbled entry.

She hurried along Denison Street and into my own Hollywood movie.

I hope those handsome, young paratroopers enjoyed their party. Hope they drank Jim Lacey's pub dry – because for many of them, it was to be their last good time.

Soon they would be slaughtered, as they drifted down beneath their parachutes, over the beautiful Normandy countryside.

Brave men of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, heroically sacrificing their lives for us. The kindly pub landlords, little girls peeping excitedly out of bedroom windows, innocent babies fast asleep in their prams. They protected us all.

Although they were strangers in a foreign land called England, the 508th didn't hesitate.

In the July, on another warm summer's evening, I can recall little groups of women standing huddled together on Independent Street.

I'll never forget how sad they looked. Crying, they let the tears flow unchecked.

When I asked my mother what was wrong, she replied: "It's the Yanks...off Wollaton Park. Loads of them won't be coming back. They've been killed."

She was still crying as she added: "Some mothers' sons... they were all mothers' sons."

Mother used that expression a lot during the war. It was not until I was older that I realised just what she meant.

All those lost sons...all those heartbroken mothers. But when you are 10, everything seems so exciting.

In June 2009, some of the surviving 508th PIR revisited Wollaton Park. I was befriended by their treasurer, Ernie Lamson, and was thrilled to be made an honorary member of their association.

They are returning to Wollaton again this year, on June 27 to be precise, for the official unveiling of their memorial. The ceremony begins at 1pm.

I can't wait to see them all again.

I can still remember looking out of my bedroom window – that wide-eyed little girl – as if it was yesterday.

Hundreds celebrate ‘Rock’ Merritt at Airborne & Special Operations Museum

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth “Rock” Merritt had been duped.
   Merritt, a World War II veteran who spent 35 years in the Army and remains active in speaking to modern day paratroopers, believed he was at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville to speak with a small group of soldiers about the founding father of the U.S. Army Airborne, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee.
   But instead of Lee, Merritt, 94, was the focus of the day as he was led outside the museum into a waiting crowd of hundreds of 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers, veterans and friends.
   There, he was celebrated as an icon, hero and as living history as officials unveiled a paver stone in his honor that was placed outside the museum.
   “Rock. You draw a hell of a crowd,” said Tommy Bolton, the civilian aid to the Secretary of the Army for North Carolina.
   With generals and numerous command sergeant majors in attendance, alongside family and friends, Bolton praised Merritt not only for what he has accomplished, but for what he represents. “It’s that place in history when the world was at war and the only thing that stood between freedom and the Nazis were guys like Rock,” he said. “They faced the severity of combat, moved back one row, one causeway, one river, one town at a time.”

   Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Steve England, who like Merritt previously served as the senior noncommissioned officer for the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, said Merritt has long been a role model and mentor for soldiers at the nation’s largest military installation.
   England said Merritt is an American hero, patriot and an “exceptional example of the greatest generation.”
   Merritt, a native of Oklahoma, enlisted in the Army in October 1942. He deployed to World War II with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment and fought during the D-Day invasion, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge, earning a Silver Star in France for single-handedly preventing a German ambush by destroying a machine gun nest.
   Speaking to the Observer in 2014, Merritt described the first of two combat jumps. He and more than 30 other paratroopers leapt from a C-47 into the French countryside in the early hours of D-Day.
   The jump itself was cold and windy, Merritt said. He was weighed down by about 100 pounds of equipment before landing in the middle of a field surrounded on all sides by massive hedgerows.
   “I look up and I see a C-47 on fire coming right at me,” Merritt recalled. “It came as close as 50 feet overhead.”
   Alone, the paratrooper gathered ammunition for his machine gun and set out into France, hesitantly testing each hedgerow for German fighters while also contending with the occasional snap of a bullet intended for him.
   Each hedgerow was 5 to 6 feet high, Merritt said, and sat on a 3-foot mound of dirt — the perfect hiding place to ambush disoriented paratroopers trying to regroup.
   “I prayed to God to live to daylight,” said Merritt, nearly 70 years after the first of two combat jumps he made during World War II. “I wanted to see the (expletive) who wanted to kill me.”
   Nearly 76 years after he first reported to the 508th, Merritt walked out of the museum on Friday to find himself facing a crowd that included hundreds of paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment -- now part of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
   He said the reception was something he would never forget.
   “This is amazing,” Merritt said after posing for numerous photographs, shaking countless hands and signing a few autographs for soldiers.
   Officials with the battalion said Merritt often makes the time to visit with today’s soldiers, many of whom look up to him.
   Merritt said he also admires them. “Our Armed Forces today are led by the best trained, best equipped, best educated officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers that the Army has ever had,” he said.
   Later this year, Merritt will have another honor coming his way.
   He will be part of the inaugural class of the 82nd Airborne Division’s All American Hall of Fame.

Published on: Apr 20, 2018 --- Military editor Drew Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@fayobserver.com or 486-3567.

Surprise!
Rock Merritt is led to the ceremony by Lou Gutierrez

Polished Orator
Rock delivers a speech at the ceremony

Happy Conspirator
Lou Gutierrez spearheaded this event to honor a best friend

Association Associates
Current VP, CSM Steve noon, Trustee Rock Merritt and Past President, Lou Gutierrez

On Display
Rock's jump boots and uniform jacket with the Order of St. Maurice Doughboy Award, Primicerius level*

Medal Array
includes Combat Infantryman badge, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, French Legion of Honor, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, WWII Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, U.S. Vietnam Service Medal, D-Day Commemorative Medal, Battle of The bulge Commemorative Medal, Armed Forces Retired Commemorative Medal, Master Parachutist Bade with two combat jump stars and Bronze Service Arrowhead and the French Fourragére.

*THE ORDER OF SAINT MAURICE®
awards are made only to those who served the Infantry community with distinction; must have demonstrated a significant contribution in support of the Infantry; and must represent the highest standards of integrity, moral character, professional competence, and dedication to duty.

The Primicerius (Highest Level) is  for those who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the entire Infantry with a special version of the award going to the Infantry Doughboy Award winners each year.

RESCUE FROM NORMANDY CANAL

Rescue From Normandy Canal in 1944 Remembered Now by Panther Sergeant

It happened 11 years ago, a strange rescue, during the Normandy operation in a water filled canal and more recently, the renewed acquaintance of the two people involved after not seeing one another for over 10 years.

SFC William Hayes, then a member of the 508th Parachute Combat Team, and later a member of the 505th AIR, was one of those two persons and had begun his part of the Normandy operation, eight days before when detailed briefings and table operations were in high gear in Nottingham, England.

During the days that followed, the unceasing activity kept each individual of the team on the move, readying equipment for the big day—June 5, 1944.

The day came sooner than some wanted it to and the long shuffle to the airfield began under cover of darkness, elements of the command on the airfield for the flight due to become airborne at one minute past 11:00.

Loading on the C-47s with combat equipment was a job within itself, each man struggling up the flimsy ladders to be swallowed up seemingly in the one opening ol the huge bird.

Sgt. Hayes was the number five man in the stick and as the plane took off from the runway, he could see the land slowly fade in the distance. Jumpmaster of his plane was General Roy Lindquist,, then Colonel and Commander of the 508th.

As the C-47s approached the coast of Europe, flak was encountered but the formation continued towards its destination without suffering any losses.

Jump Into Normandy
Approximately six minutes from the coastline and 12 miles behind enemy lines, the airborne assault began with Gen. Lindquist leading the way. It was 1:01 a. m. in the morning when the team descended on a land that was previously flooded to deny its use to all intruders.

Upon landing, Hayes became entangled in his 'chute and was forced to use his trench knife before freeing himself from the predicament. Rising to his feet, he gathered his equipment together and made a dash across the field to a canal, where he joined other members of the 508th.
 

GHOST RIDER IN THE SKY

Parachute recovery teams of the '05 working on DZ Sicily last Friday after the big jump were suddenly surprised when a T-10 parachute "ghosted out" on them.

A gust of wind filled the canopy of the 'chute, which a few minutes before had been collapsed on the DZ, and successive updrafts kept it aloft for nearly 40 minutes as it soared to a height of approximately 1.200 feet.

When the freak air currents subsided, the runway 'chute floated into the trees at the edge of the DZ and was recovered.

Officer Trapped
Once with the group, a decision was made to move to higher ground and the column moved out, Sgt. Hayes bringing up the rear.As he moved out, he suddenly heard a scuffling sound in the muddy canal and investigating found it to be the operations of¬ficer of the regiment, water log¬ged and covered with muck and grime of the canal.

Helping the officer out of the watery trap, the two moved for¬ward and joined the larger group which had moved further up the canal. In the days and nights of action that followed, the opera¬tions officer and his rescuer from a possible drowning became separated.

After successful completion of the Normandy campaign, the com¬bat team began preparations for the jump into Holland, and from there, fought through France, Bel¬gium, and finally Germany. Ser¬ving with the 504th AIR for a short time in Berlin, Sgt. Hayes returned to the States in 1945 and was discharged, only to rejoin the service a few months later.

Serving with the 505th for the majority of that time since rejoining the Army, Sgt. Hayes, now a platoon sergeant in Co. A, was recently surprised on the Panther parade field when he came face to face with the officer he had pulled from a canal in Normandy 11 years before.

Times had changed things for the one-time operations officer of the 508th PCT, but he still remembered the "good Samaritan" of the Normandy campaign, even though he is now Colonel Otho Holmes, Regimental Commander of the 505th AIR.

D-Day survivor gets lane in France named after himChet Graham talks about

D-Day's 60th anniversary,
friendships developed during war
By Maureen O'Rourke
News ManagerChet Graham doesn't express a lot of emotion when he talks about parachuting into France on D-Day 60 years ago. He talks about the war in a matter-of-fact way, not giving a lot of details about battles or strategies or even the deaths he witnessed.
   What comes across when talking to Graham about the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944 are his sense of pride from taking part in one of history's greatest war battles and his value of the lasting friendships he still has with other men who fought alongside him.
   Earlier this month, Graham, 85, returned to the French town where he landed, even the actual site where he landed, to take part in a 60th anniversary celebration of D-Day. On his recent visit, he received a commemorative pin from the French government and a medallion from the county seat in the town where he landed.
   But he is most proud of one little honor — a country lane
 named after him. The lane is about 100 yards from where he landed in an apple orchard and is now graced with the sign: "Route Capt. Chet Graham, 508th PIR 82AIR." The sign indicates that he was in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd ABN Division.
Graham landed in a tree in the middle of an apple orchard just outside the small town of Le Port Filiolet.    He was the company commander of a 140-man unit that parachuted into France in the dark of night to liberate the French from German occupation.
   He's estimated he has returned to the site of his landing about 16 times over the last 60 years, but his last visit was a major event. "The 60th was a big deal," he said. "People want your autograph all the time."
   The 12-year Rossmoor resident, was specifically invited to return to take part in a ceremony with two other men. After the ceremony, they went to a local school and talked to the children about D-Day and spent an hour just answering the questions of some very interested youngsters.
 
News photo by Mike DiCarlo
This is a piece of the tree that Chet Graham landed in when he parachuted into France on D-Day on June 6, 1944.

   Whenever he returns to the small French town, he visits the owner of the orchard, Georges Marion, the son of the original owner who was there when Graham's unit landed on D-Day. He even has the son's photo hanging on a wall in his Tice Creek Drive manor.
   "I always go to the property where we landed. I see the owner, his wife and his grandchildren," Graham said. "His father let us get water from his pump," when his unit took over the property during the liberation. 

News photo by Mike DiCarloChet Graham shows a replica of the sign that is posted on a French country lane near where he landed on D-Day. A French army officer duplicated the sign for him.
    Graham has all kinds of books and memorabilia on D-Day and even has a picture of the tree where he landed. Although the tree blew down in 1989, he was able to secure a small piece of it, which is now engraved with "My Tree" and the date of his landing on one side, and his name on the other.
   In addition to staying in contact with the property owner in France, Graham remains in contact with members of his 508th regiment and expresses feelings of nostalgia when talking about the men he fought
 alongside during the war.
"I have so many friends out of this, some of the finest men you'd every want to know," he said. "We went through a lot together."
   However, this October will be the last time the former 508th regiment will get together. "This is the last one because of age, money and health," Graham said with sadness in his voice. Three-hundred men have signed up to go this year.
   "We were very close, all of us who were over there," he said.

Paratrooper helps save

shooting victim in NC
Rachael Riley
 The Fayetteville Observer

FAYETTEVILLE – Spc. Matthew Connor heard repeated shots fired between noon and 1 p.m. on April 27.
   He was not in the field  training or on a deployment.
   Instead, Connor was at home watching TV with his wife at his apartment complex near Willowbrook Drive and South Reilly Road in Fayetteville.
   “I thought they dropped a trashcan or something like that, not anything really crazy, but it piqued my interest enough,” Connor said. “Then I heard five or six consecutive shots right after that and thought, ‘OK something’s really actually happening right now.’”
   That’s when Connor, a paratrooper with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, let his military training take over.
   “I went to go see what was going on, and since I had (combat lifesaver) training and stuff like that, I just figured that it would be best for me to go handle the situation rather than somebody just panicking in front of them, ’cause in infantry, you’re trained to handle well under pressure,” said Connor, who’s part of the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
   Connor looked out his window and saw a young teenager running down the hill with a gun in his hand.
   “The first thing I thought of was, ‘OK, well what if they turn back around? What if something happens to my wife? What if something happens to my dogs? Like whoever is around me, what’s going to happen?,’” he said. “So I made sure I armed my wife and was like, ‘OK, just stay here, and I’m going to go see what’s going on.’”
   Once he stepped outside, Connor heard the victim’s wife screaming and noticed a man was wounded.
   Connor helped carry the man downstairs and administered care, placing pressure on the wound with his bare hands, loosened the man’s shirt and ensured he didn’t go into shock.

   When police arrived, he was able to describe the suspects’ vehicle – a bright red Charger – and told authorities he heard two voices.
   He said by the time he was giving his statement, police were already chasing suspects and later caught three people.
   The victim, Connor said, was in critical condition for about three days, but he saw him on crutches about a week and a half later.
   The victim and Connor have since moved out of the apartment complex.
   And Connor credited his unit leadership listening to his experience, which he said helped him get promoted sooner and enabled him to purchase a new home to ensure his wife can sleep more safely at night.
   “Spc. Connor’s personal example of selfless service and unhesitating, decisive actions are consistent with the greatest traditions of our uniformed services and played a pivotal role in saving a life,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony Buchanan, Connor’s platoon sergeant for the Delta Company 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. “His actions are a testament to the training that all paratroopers receive and enabled him to react without hesitation and perform his duties in a non-commonplace environment.”
   And Connor is not the only paratrooper or Fort Bragg soldier who has helped save a civilian’s life this year.
   In June, Brig. Gen. David Doyle, outgoing deputy commander of sustainment for the 82nd Airborne Division, recognized Connor, Sgt. Brandon Alvarez and Pfc. Sean King.
   Alvarez helped rescue a driver and toddler from a smoking vehicle in April, and Pfc. Sean King helped a gunshot victim in Virginia earlier this year.
   On Sept. 1, the 18th Airborne Corps Tweeted that Maj. Levi Zok used his belt as a tourniquet to save the life of a driver in a car accident, with members of the Stoney Point Fire Department crediting Zok’s actions.

[ Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville, NC, 07 Sep 2020,, Mon, Page A6]

AYX PARATROOPER STRUCK FRANCE ON D-DAY

Fought 33 Days Without Relief in Normandy

   HEADQUARTERS 82nd Air­borne Division, Normandy (By Mail, to Journal-Herald) — Sol­diers of one parachute infantry regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, dropped over a wide area on D-Day and were unable to assem­ble as a tactical unit until the fourth day of the invasion.
   The regiment, nevertheless, played a brilliant role in carry­ing out the mission of the airborne troops, which was to pre­vent the Germans from interfer­ing with the ground assault force until the beach landings had been accomplished. Pfc. Robert M. Phillips, of Waycross, Route 2, was a member of this division.
   To achieve this, the 82nd captured the town of Ste. Mere Eglise and fought for and held bridges over two rivers, the Merderet at La Fière and at Chef du Pont, and the Dove [sic] at Pont l’Abbe and at Beuzeville la Bastille.
   A large pocket of Allied resistance within enemy lines was set up. During the campaign it stretched from Ste. Mere on the east to St. Sauveur le Vicomte on the west, and from Le Ham on the north almost to La Haye de Puits on the south.
   This was accomplished in 33 days of action, without relief and without replacements. Every mission was accomplished. No ground gamed was ever relin­quished. For nearly 34 hours, or until noon of the day after D-Day, the paratroops were without contact with friendly forces. And though heavy casualties were sustained throughout the campaign, nothing stopped the troops for long.
   The paratroopers of this regi­ment were dropped in several groups and at first these groups fell in with other units of the division rather than their own. It was not until four days af­ter D-Day that the regiment assembled as a tactical unit. Be­fore this, however, they had struck terrific blows.
   With other units of the divi­sion they forced the enemy west of the Merderet River at the start. Another element joined in the heavy fighting at Chef du Pont, finally contacting an iso­lated battalion and establishing a bridgehead on the west bank of the Merderet opposite Chef tin Pont. Other elements went south to clear out Carquebut; crossed the river at La Fiere and assaulted Guetteville. The latter action was assisted by arranged by a naval liaison officer with the regiment.

Source: Waycross Journal Herald, Aug 2, 1944

DROPPED IN
ON NORMANDY

 
Pfc. Robert M. Phillips

   After being pulled together as a unit the regiment jumped off for the attack at Beuzeville la Bastille. After crossing the Douve, it swept on through, the Cretteville-Baupte area. During this drive many enemy tanks, wore encountered and many were knocked out. Trucks moved the regiment to Pont L’Abbe for the general attack toward St. Sauveur. The regiment followed another of the division, driving the enemy west, north and south.

    Participating in the drive on Pretot, a squad encountered a Mark IV tank 600 yards north of the town and succeeded in knocking it out with a hand-thrown British grenade. The regiment took up .a defensive po­sition at Vindefontaine before joining in the drive toward La:Haye de Puits. Heavy fighting was experienced in the Bois: de Limers, and one element which eventually took “Hil 95” sustained heavy casualties.

   Colonel Roy E. Linquist [sic] of Pittsfield, Me., the Commanding officer, made a " lucky " guess which kept the enemy force on this hill from being greater than it was. He often directed the artillery fire, according to an ar­tillery officer, on the theory of catching the Germans doing what he would have done under similar circumstances. Accordingly he swept an orchard with fire. Lat­er a prisoner told that a German force preparing for an assault on "Hill 95" had been virtually wiped out by this hit. I The hard training, incomparable self-reliance and bravado of all of the men added another chapter to the history of the 82nd Division.

[NOTES:
    a. Phillips was in Company I]
   b. WAYX is editorial shorthand for Waycross, Georgia

Reporters 1945 Dispatch Takes Veterans Down Memory Lane

On January 7, 1915 the 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment with G Company and a section of Headquarters 3rd Battalion machine guns in the lead attacked the Germans in Thier Du Mont, Belgium.
   Two days later, Russell Mill, a war correspondent attached to the First Army, visited the Company C.P. and interviewed Captain Wilde. Recently contacted, Mr. Mill granted permission to reprint his dispatch which appeared In the January 20, 1945 edition of the New York Herald Tribune.

82nd RECAPTURES FOX-HOLES IT LEFT CHRISTMAS EVE

Airborne Division Drove Nazis Out By Silencing One Gun After Another
by Russell Hill, by Wireless to the Herald Tribune C right 1915, N. Y. Tribune Inc.

WITH 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION, Western Front, Jan. 9 (delayed).—The paratroopers of the 82nd Division are in the same foxholes they were or-dered to evacuate on Christmas Eve. "It took us five hours to get out of here and five days to fight our way back,” they said ruefully. They obviously would have preferred to stay in their positions and take on all comers, as the 101st did at Bastogne, rather than carry out the first withdrawal they had ever undertaken.
   When they left, the Belgian civilians went with them, stringing along the winding roads with their horse carts, bicycles and baby carriages. It was not a very merry Christmas for them. They went far to the rear, and left their cattle behind. When they come back they will find that farm boys among the parachutists have been milking their cows for them. It was not

so much that the paratroopers wanted the milk, it seems no farmer can bear to stand by idly while milk dries up in cows' udders.
   Taking their present positions the second time was harder for the paratroopers than at first, for the Germans had time to dig in. They were firmly established on a long wooded ridge that rises abruptly from the river at Salm Chateau and slopes down gradually to the west. There is another shorter ridge beyond which is connected with the main one by a low saddle, and this saddle is bare of trees.
The Germans on the ridge had their 88's placed on the edge of the ever-green forest covering that lovely field of fire as the airborne men began to move across the saddle. The 88's fired at point-blank range, as though they were machine guns. Less plucky troops would have fallen back. But this division has not had any practice in those tactics. They took on the 88’s with machine guns and bazookas.
   Once, one of those mean, long-barreled German guns opened up at 150 yards. An officer asked for machinegun fire on the German piece. Private William T. Kenny, of Baltimore, obliged and forced the German crew to take cover. Then another paratrooper stood up with his bazooka and dropped two rounds right on the position. You can still see the German gun at the edge of the clearing, and two frozen Americans lying where they were killed by that gun.
   A similar story could be told of how each one of those guns were silenced, as they had to be before the airborne soldiers could get onto that ridge. Once they had a foothold it was not so hard. Another unit passed through the first, and another one through it, and so the ridgewas taken.
   That first night on the ridge was not pleasant. The men had nothing with them but what they wore. Their blankets had had no time to catch up with them. Their old foxholes were there but were half filled with drifted snow. So they lay, wet and shivering,
and munched cold rations.
   They feel better now, for they know all the tricks that enable men to make themselves comfortable wherever are. They have cleaned out their foxholes, which are covered with spruce boughs, slates from abandoned huts nearby and earth and snow. They have blankets and rations and cigarettes and their Christmas mail caught up with them.

* * *

   Russell Mill provided some background information about himself, He relates that initially he covered World War II in the Mediterranean. In October 1911 he moved to Spa, Belgium and located at Hotel Portugal which became the unofficial head-quarters for the correspondents in that area. Each day they went forth in jeeps and visited whichever division was involved in the fighting. On October 19, he was wounded in Aachen and sent to a hospital in Paris. He missed the Ardennes break-through but by New Year’s Eve was in Brussels and soon after back in Spa.
   Author of the following books: Desert War, Desert Conquest, and Struggle for Germany, he is currently editor of Radio Free Europe, Washington, D.C.

—Joe Kissane,
New York Chapter

RUPEKA MARRIAGE MAKES WIDESPREAD HEADLINES
IN NEWSPAPERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND IN CANADA

By Michael Tsai Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer

As part of a testimonial to American soldiers who helped to liberate Europe on D-Day,

President Obama yesterday singled out Kane'ohe resident Zane Schlemmer in a speech from the American cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. In commemorating the 65th anniversary of the historic invasion, Obama said the story of D-Day was told by men like Schlemmer, who, he said, "parachuted into a dark marsh, far from his objective and his men. Lost and alone, he still managed to fight his way through the gunfire and help liberate the town in which he landed." Obama also acknowledged his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, who arrived in France six weeks after D-Day, and his great-uncle, Charles Payne, a member of the first American division to reach and liberate a Nazi concentration camp. Schlemmer's son, Brett, said he was watching a rebroadcast of Obama's speech on MSNBC yesterday morning when he heard his father's name mentioned. "I was totally surprised," Brett Schlemmer said from his home in Kaimuki. "We knew he was getting a commendation from (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy, but we never expected this." On Friday, Schlemmer and 37 other American D-Day veterans received the Legion of Honor — France's highest award — from Sarkozy at a ceremony at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. Zane Schlemmer was a 19-year-old sergeant with the 508th Infantry Regiment when he landed in France as part of Operation Overlord, widely considered one of the most decisive battles of World War II.

He and five others were assigned to a post three miles south of SainteMere-Eglise. Schlemmer was wounded by friendly fire less than a month later, during a battle near Le Haye de Puits. He was wounded again by German artillery fire in January 1945 in the retaking of Thier-duMont ridge. As Schlemmer would later write, "Our 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment had jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with 2,056 troopers. Only 918 returned to our base camp in England on their return July 13, 1944 — the rest being killed, wounded or captured; however, many of the wounded, such as I, did return at later times." While Schlemmer, now 84, has been honored many times for his service in France, his son said being included in Obama's speech was special. "I can't imagine how the old man was feeling when it happened," Brett Schlemmer said. "It's really such a solemn ceremony. It must have meant a great deal to him." Hawai'i resident and D-Day veteran Zane Schlemmer, center, looked on as President Obama shook hands with Canadian D-Day veteran Joseph Don Roach. REMY DE LA MAUVINIERE | Associated Press French President Nicolas Sarkozy embraced Isle veteran Zane Schlemmer after awarding him the Legion of Honor.

REMY DE LA MAUVINIERE | Associated Press Schlemmer said he has joined his father on his numerous return visits to France to meet old acquaintances, visit the spot where he landed, and walk along the street that bears his name: Rue Zane Schlemmer. Still, Brett Schlemmer said, his father is reluctant to talk in depth about his D-Day experiences. "He's not comfortable talking about it," Schlemmer said. "It was pretty ugly." Some of that ugliness may be put to rest tomorrow when Zane Schlemmer takes to the skies to drop 1,500 orchid blossoms he brought from Hawai'i over Sainte-Mere-Eglise, fulfilling a vision expressed by wartime mayor Alexandre Renaud. In a book about Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Renaud imagined an American C-47 again flying over the town, dropping not soldiers but flowers. The Associated Press contributed to this report

WATCHES FOUND ON DEVIL'S HILL

This material was shared by Paul Klinkenberg, Coördinator Werkgroep Archeologie van WOII (Volunteers in Archeology in the Netherlands, dept. Nijmegen) who stated: that "the group "has made a three years investigation to the tracks which can been seen in the terrain 'Duivelsberg' (see attachments. 'Devills Hill' is the highest top - 'Hill 75.9' - in the terrain which we name nowadays 'Duivelsberg') due to the fightings during World War II.

At this moment we have made a start with the writing of the report of our observations in the field, historical context, landscape description, etc."

 The attachments that Paul referred to included a article regarding watches that were found by Roland Hilgers, another member of the archeology group.  The text is shown in its original Dutch form and an English translation is included.  Note; the Jumpmaster takes full responsibility for any errors made in the translation.

Roland Hilgers with the watches found, standing in a foxhole close to where they were thrown on the Devil's Mountain.

... The German also had control over the path of the Wyler that went from Beek to Nijmegen. After the first Allied troops had arrived on September 17 in Nijmegen the Germans sent reinforcements along this road for the defense of the southern ramp of the Waal Bridge.

On September 19 Lieutenant John Foley of A Company, 508th, was told to win, at all costs, Hill 75.9 (Devil's Mountain). This worked but the after the men of G Company were in posti9on they were surrounded and had to cope with fierce resistance for several days/

In 1970 repelled created by a natural route (N70) on Devil's Peak. In the description of this hike was treated with about the Duivelsberg as a battle scene. Enjoying nature prevailed. The locals knew of course that fighting occurred here in the Sept. days