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Category: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions  -- See latest WWII news here. See also 'Nazi Militaria Collectibles', 'WWII Rangers', 'Kamikaze', '1944 D-Day'.

James Megellas, the most decorated officer of the 82nd Airborne Division, turns 91
Lt. Col. James Megellas, the most decorated officer of the 82nd Airborne Division, turned 91 recently. He is the author of "All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe". He earned the Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars and 2 Purple Hearts. Tom Petri has set up legislation, 2007 H.R. 795, to award Megellas the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Battle of the Bulge. In addition his battles include action near the Anzio beachhead, his combat jump during Operation Market Garden, crossing the Waal River under heavy German fire in broad daylight.     [ fdlreporter :: 2008-03-22 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

101st Airborne Division paratrooper Richard Newell recalls D-Day
On June 6, 1944, a heavily armed Newell and other paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division were drifting down through the sky about to become the first Allied troops to invade German-occupied France on D-Day. The weapons weren't all he carried: Parachute jump suits "had all these pockets all over them... You had on so much gear, they had to pull you into the planes." And they wore helmets. In the Normandy invasion, Newell wore all that plus mortar shells, each 16-inches long. On top of that, they carried a folded-up entrenching shovel and a cap and dynamite (to blow up a telephone pole) stuck inside the shovel. "If a bullet hit it, it would have blown up."     [ news-star :: 2008-01-16 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

WWII 82nd Airborne Division veteran visits paratroopers in Afghanistan
"If there is anything such as hell on earth, it was that moment," said James Megellas, talking of a thing of legend, something seen in WWII films like "A Bridge Too Far." Megellas, a retired lieutenant colonel from the 82nd Airborne Division, came to Afghanistan to visit the troops and gave a class - focusing on leadership in combat, a skill he learned during World War II. But the class was more than a lecture, it was Megellas' story. The day was Sept. 20, 1944; the unit was the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Abn. Div.; the operation was Market Garden... "Paratroopers, if properly led would follow you to the gates of hell if asked."     [ newsblaze :: 2008-01-06 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

101st Airborne veteran Bob Rommel displays flag proudly
"I did what I did for myself and my country," Bob Rommel proclaims. He jumped into Europe with the 101st Airborne on the night before D-Day and then jumped again in Holland during the failed attempt to take a bridge across the Rhine. He was part of the "Forgotten Battalion" 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of World War II that was turned into a book and documentary. He served side by side with the men of Easy Company, portrayed in the Stephen Ambrose book and series "Band of Brothers." In the Battle of the Bulge a German shell made mincemeat of his foot. From the friends and blood he left on the battlefield, Rommel swears his allegiance to the flag.     [ modbee :: 2007-11-11 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Ex-paratrooper of 101st Airborne Division says life after war is pale
Battle changes you: "You're kind of a skeptic the rest of your life. You're quieter. You don't worry about death anymore. Unless you've been there, you cannot understand it." As a former member of the 101st Airborne Division who survived many bloody WWII encounters with the Germans, including a siege at Bastogne, Bobby Hunter has been there. Steeled warriors also don't worry about killing the enemy, he said. After a lifetime of learning that killing is wrong, Hunter said, the first time you kill someone in battle, "it gives you a funny feeling." But once you realize, "Hey, these people are trying to kill me ... it don't take you long to get over it."     [ newsok :: 2007-07-24 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

The First U.S. Army Airborne Operation - American military history
Army Aviation developed rapidly during WWI with advancements in aircraft types, weapons and flight gear - but early parachutes were too heavy. As aircraft developed during the interwar period, military planners also experimented with parachutes. The outbreak of WWII in 1939 provided a chance to refine airborne doctrines. The German military had airborne successes in Norway, Belgium and Crete. Recognizing the potential of airborne forces, the Army formed test platoon in June 1940. The 82nd Infantry Division was redesignated and the 101st was activated on 15 August 1942 as the Army's first 2 airborne divisions.     [ army.mil :: 2007-07-11 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Eben Emael: Few visit the scene of one of Hitler's greatest victories
A small band of paratroopers mounts a daring assault on a huge underground fortress. Swooping down silently in gliders, they disable its big guns with secret weapons and force the 1,300-man garrison to surrender. Sounds like the plot of a action movie - In fact, it's what happened on May 10, 1940, to Fort Eben Emael, one of the world's most powerful fortifications which Allied war planners counted on to halt the Nazi Germany's attack on Western Front. Dug into a limestone cliff the fortress was regarded as impregnable to surface attack or aerial bombardment. Its fall was the key to the Nazi victory in the West.     [ pr-inside :: 2007-06-15 :: Bunkers - Underground military fortifications ]

Novelty toy saved D-Day paratroopers in 1944
Captain Sam Gibbons of 101st Airborne troops knew his D-Day mission was in trouble when he hit the ground. Troops were scattered far from drop zone. "People are always talking about behind enemy lines. Hell, there ain't no lines in combat. We jumped right on top of the Germans." On the ground, in the dark, the scattered American soldiers relied on a children's' novelty toy to sort things out. He is one of the few Operation Overlord paratroopers who held onto his military-issued "cricket," a brass and steel version of the tin prize from a 1930s Cracker Jack box. "If you came across somebody, you clicked. If he responded in kind, you were friends. If he didn't, you shot him."     [ navytimes :: 2007-06-04 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Glen L. Olson parachuted into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne
63 years ago, paratrooper Glen L. Olson was preparing to parachute into Normandy at the lead of the Allied D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from the grip of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi forces. He was with Company G of the 505th Infantry Regiment, part of the famed 82nd Airborne Division. Some of the troops rode gliders containing armed Jeeps to the ground. The paratroopers were the first into battle to secure the flanks and the beach exits of the assault area. He was wounded 4 times and received 2 Purple Heart medals. Once a Waffen-SS trooper among a group of captured German soldiers pulled a knife from his boot and slashed Olson on the wrist.     [ hudsonstarobserver :: 2007-06-02 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Past the D-Day beaches of Normandy: "Don't ask me how I made it"
June 7, 1944 was D-Day plus one. The 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Division, glided across the English Channel and landed 8-9 miles past the beach in Normandy at the Merderet Causeway - a crucial territory for the success of the Normandy invasion. Sgt. James B. Livaudias landed his glider with precision along with the other 1,000 in his 325th Airborne Regiment battalion. "The Forcing of the Merderet Causeway at La Fiere, France, An Action by the Third Battalion, 325th Glider Infantry" is a military study of the campaign written during WWII (www.army.mil/cmh) describing the battle. The report reveals what soldiers faced that day.     [ picayuneitem :: 2007-05-17 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Corporal tells WWII memories - In the 82nd Airborne Division
Corporal Jack Rogers knows the horrors of war. He served in the US Army in the 82nd Airborne Division where he fought in WWII 1944-1945. He served in the Third Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The Battle of the Bulge broke out Dec. 16, 1944. Convoy took the unit to Manhay, Belgium, where Rogers had his first full-scale encounter with the German Army. In the Manhay sector, the unit was in combat for 43 straight days during the worst winter on record. Rogers was wounded in the Manhay battle. A German tiger tank shot down 5 houses made out of stone boulders - when he was in the downstairs.     [ suwanneedemocrat :: 2006-11-11 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

A World War II paratrooper only now talks about the experience
The first time Willie Gray rode in an airplane, he jumped out of it in the dark of winter with a bazooka strapped to his leg. "I was scared, but they didn't have to push me out of the plane (as they did with some). In the airplane all we heard were bullets. Some hit the plane and some missed." ... Bastogne was beautiful as we marched to the end of the town. When we reached open fields, all we heard was, "boom, boom, boom." Then there were leaflets wanting us to surrender because we were surrounded and the president had died. They said there was no use in us fighting them anymore. The Nazi SS troops were vicious and experienced soldiers, Gray said.     [ wiscnews :: 2006-09-01 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Another bridge too far for paratroopers after D-Day - Book
Most history buffs know that the 82nd Airborne Division parachuted into the Normandy on D-Day and seized the key village of Ste. Mere Eglise. Wwhat followed was the 3-day battle for the bridge of La Fiere over the Merderet River. Had the Germans seized the bridge, their tanks and troops could have route to attack Utah Beach, the western most Allied landing. Instead, a ragtag assemblage of badly dropped paratroopers banded together and held the bridge. Four privates used their bazookas to stop a tank attack. A sergeant took command and led with a machine gun from the front to drive off German infantry.     [ mysanantonio :: 2006-08-19 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

D-Day Airborne Commander who captured a German battery
In the history of airborne forces in the World War II, the name of Terence Otway will live for his capture of the German battery at Merville on D-Day. Allied intelligence believed that four 150mm guns were able to fire on Sword Beach. Silencing battery beforehand was tasked to the 9th Parachute Battalion after battery was attacked from the air by 56 RAF Lancaster bombers on the night of May 9-10. The German summary of raid reported "Out of 1,000 bombs only 50 landed near the battery and of these only two hit a casemate, though without penetration. A rabbit warren suffered a direct hit."     [ timesonline :: 2006-07-27 :: D-Day, Normandy & Operation Overlord ]

Paratroopers on D-Day - With the 82nd Airborne Division
Operation Overlord was to have begun on June 5, but it was called off because of bad weather. But that night Broughton Hand and other paratroopers loaded aboard C-47 transport planes. "Near the coastline we ran into a lot of fog and flak, and the planes scattered." Hand had 25 pounds of explosive strapped to each leg, and 14 concussion caps, a land mine and a five-pound block of dynamite. "It was a problem trying to get back to where the action was going on. There were Germans everywhere and you couldn't get far without running into a hedge row. It took 4 nights of running and dodging Germans to get near the Allied lines."     [ baytownsun :: 2006-06-06 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Lasting images of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II
The heroic deeds of the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division come to life through the stories and photos in "The All Americans in World War II". The book documents the 82nd's soldiers from the early years at Camp Claiborne, to their first combat operation in Sicily. On July 9, 1943, paratroopers boarded 226 C-47 planes and took off for Sicily to spearhead the beach landings. Several images throughout the book illustrate key battles and events during the war. Maps are included to help the reader understand the units' movements. Often the casualties were high and the soldiers were outnumbered, but the men of the 82nd accomplished their missions.     [ --- :: 2006-05-26 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

Battle of Arnhem Vet honoured - The largest airborne operation
Austin Brearton was lucky to survive the Battle of Arnhem during the Second World War. He was attached to the First Parachute Battalion and part of the First Forward Observer Unit which took the brunt of enemy fire during the largest-ever airborne operation in Sept 1944. 25,000 paratroopers were dropped in 3 separate areas in order to occupy the bridges from the Belgian border to Arnhem. Only 2,400 returned safely. Just 7 out of 73 men in his unit survived. Realising how fortunate he was, he has devoted much of his time to the Arnhem Veterans' Club, which honoured him with an MBE for his hard work.     [ yorkshiretoday :: 2006-05-17 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

PoW camp Veteran recalls daring Airborne rescue mission
Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered the rescue mission after he received information that prison guards planned to slaughter the prisoners and flee the camps as Allied forces prepared to retake the Philippines. Galen Johnson would be the third member of the 11th Airborne Division to parachute out of an airplane as the sun was about to rise on the Los Baños Internment Camp and help rescue the men, women and children. Prison guards had no idea the raid was about to take place. A Filipino scout was killed, but nobody else in the several US units that participated in the rescue died.     [ sacbee :: 2006-05-13 :: Rescue heroes & Missions of WWII ]

William P. Yarborough: The plan for the airborne phase of North Africa
Soldiers paid tribute to a pioneer of modern warfare as Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough was laid to rest. From the earliest days of paratroop experiments, his hand touched every part of airborne: he worked out the designs for jump uniforms and jump boots. He designed the airborne insignia, the famous jump wings of the parachutist's badge. He developed the initial concept and plan for the airborne phase of the WWII invasion of North Africa, then as executive officer went with that task force on its flight over Spain toward target objectives in Algeria - the longest operational flight ever made by parachute troops.     [ thepilot :: 2006-04-24 :: North Africa & Italian Front ]

War hero killed German soldiers disguised as a Nazi paratrooper
A New Zealand war hero broke the international rules of combat by killing German soldiers in WWII while disguised as a Nazi paratrooper. The claim appears in a newspaper report about a new book. Alfred Clive Hulme was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British and New Zealand bravery award, for his actions in the 1941 Battle of Crete. It is there that he killed 33 German snipers and other soldiers while dressed as a German paratrooper.     [ nzcity :: 2006-04-09 :: North Africa & Italian Front ]

Legendary soldier who led Canadian paratroopers on D-Day
Brigadier James Hill, a legendary British soldier, died at the age of 95. Hill was one of the last men evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk and he was in the vanguard when the allies returned. On D-Day, Hill's 3rd British parachute brigade was scattered wide by contrary winds during the parachute drop. He gathered a group, which was strafed by their own aircraft under the illusion that anyone walking toward the landing zones would have been German. He was wounded in the right bum cheek. When asked why he wasn't evacuated to hospital, he said he hadn't trained the brigade for all that time in order to leave it in the midst of the action.     [ ww2aircraft :: 2006-03-30 :: D-Day, Normandy & Operation Overlord ]

Japanese-American served as paratrooper in the 11th Airborne Division
Clarence Ohta served as a paratrooper and linguist in WWII with the Army's 11th Airborne Division, nicknamed "the Angels." The 11th fought to liberate Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines in 1944 and 1945. The Angels were the first of the occupation forces in Japan. Ohta said the servicemen who occupied Japan after VJ Day, were permitted to bring home a sword or pistol as a souvenir. "I brought home a long sword myself." He had his sword's history researched. The sword was 350 years old and worth $3,500.     [ azcentral :: 2006-03-04 :: Pacific War - Allied powers ]

Why Operation Market Garden was doomed
Article no longer available from the original source.
It was the last British defeat of the WW2. The daring attempt to race through the Netherlands failed to shorten the war and cost 8,000 Allied lives. High levels of iron in the soil around the town of Arnhem prevented the Allied soldiers from communicating with their headquarters. That meant vital supplies fell into German hands. Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Arnhem, took place in Sep 1944, and involved parachuting troops deep into occupied Holland at strategic bridges. But unexpectedly strong German resistance, including Nazi Panzer divisions, meant the Paras were defeated before the Allied ground forces could reach them.     [ scotsman :: 2006-01-08 :: Airborne - Paratroopers of 101st and other divisions ]

British counter-intelligence interrogator and SS paratrooper meet
Article no longer available from the original source.
Edwards was a British counter-intelligence interrogator when World War II ended while Parchmann was a pimply-faced paratrooper of 18. Edwards interrogated captured Germans as well as the SS Troops and Gestapo after it was over to determine who should be put up for war crimes trials. When Parchmann was drafted by the Nazis at the age of 16 his friend was drafted too, but he became a member of the infamous SS. Both agreed if the Germans had been treated with respect after World War I, Adolph Hitler would never have come to power.     [ burnabynews :: 2005-12-23 ]

Joseph Beyrle: The Only U.S. Soldier To Fight For Soviets
Joseph Beyrle is believed to be the only soldier to have fought for both the United States and the former Soviet Union during WWII. Mr. Beyrle was among the first paratroopers to land in Normandy, as part of the 101st Airborne Division's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The Germans captured him shortly after he landed. He escaped from a POW camp in Poland and joined a Soviet tank unit headed for Berlin. He fought alongside the Soviets for three weeks or so, and they called him "Joe." He got wounded in the leg along the way, and had to be hospitalized. While he was staying in the hospital, Marshal Georgy Zhukov came over for a visit.     [ RIA Novosti :: 2005-03-23 :: The Red Army & russian partisans ]

See also

'Nazi Militaria Collectibles'

'WWII Rangers'

'Kamikaze'

'1944 D-Day'.

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