Download or read book Letters Home a Paratrooper s Story written by H. L. "Bud" Curtis and published by Aardvark Global Publishing DBA Ecko Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "H.L. "Bud" Curtis, 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) 1943-1945"--Cover.
Download or read book Between the Lines and Beyond written by Guy Carleton Whidden and published by . This book was released on 2009-02-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book recounts the author's experiences as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne in World War II through letters written home to his mother. As the title suggests, Guy's censored letters often forced his family to read "between the lines" to figure out the many subtle messages he was sending. Through these letters and Guy's narrative, we relive many of his experiences: Army training and the voyage to England on the S.S. Strathnaver; his historic jumps into Normandy on D-Day and into Holland during Operation Market Garden; and being seriously wounded by a German mortar shell that killed two of his friends nearly causing his own leg to be amputated. These letters show the progression of a young man as he grew in maturity and the resilience of the true and honorable soldier that emerged.
Download or read book Comes A Soldier s Whisper written by Jenny La Sala and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles letters written by one soldier, David Clinton Tharp, depicting his personal journey before, during, and after World War II as a radio operator while serving under the 101st Airborne Division.
Download or read book Static Lines written by Eric Palmer and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2023-12-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was Christmastime, 2010, in Billings, Montana, when my father-in-law handed me a shoebox. Its contents, unknown to me at the time, sparked a curiosity, an adventure, a challenge. Inside were stacks and stacks of letters. That day I learned of a man named Sonnie Rockford, my wife's great-uncle who was a paratrooper in World War II. Sonnie was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (H-Minus), 1st Battalion, Company C. He served for over 2 years, visited at least 6 countries, and survived 4 combat jumps. This is Sonnie's story.
Download or read book Sacrifice and Service written by Linda Dudik and published by . This book was released on 2012-08-08 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dick Field wanted his World War II service to be something different. It was. The nineteen-year-old guaranteed that when he volunteered to be a paratrooper. The Army assigned him to the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. In August 1944 his unit participated in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. They made airborne history in that campaign by carrying out the wars first daylight combat jump by American paratroopers. With the 551st s attachment to the 82nd Airborne Division, Dick fought in the Battle of the Bulge. In a letter to his wife months later, he admitted, I have never seen such hell before. He survived that German counteroffensive, but the 551st did not. Based upon Dick s recollections and letters home, this is his story.
Download or read book Welcome Sky Soldiers Letters Home from Vietnam written by Mike Walker and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2022-05-23 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author decided over a forty-year period to write about his experiences in South Vietnam with the Fourth Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry. His parents had managed to save every letter he had sent home during that time. What Mike decided to do with the help of his oldest granddaughter, Sierra, was to reproduce the letters in chronological order, with all the grammatical errors, misspellings, and fractured sentences as is. The letters were often written in harsh jungle conditions, under duress with pencil and often wet paper. He felt it would help convey, somewhat, the terrible conditions he and his fellow members of the "herd" were constantly under. Under each reproduced letter, he then wrote of happenings during that time, a diary of sorts. He also concluded he would not spend much time with the blood and guts but devote the majority of the work to the everyday goings-on, both funny and serious! The book begins with time spent in West Germany before moving on to South Vietnam. During the height of the war, more and more paratroopers were needed to fill the ranks of the fallen and discharged, so the Army started a second jump school, the original being at Fort Benning, Georgia, at Weisbaden Airforce Base, West Germany. He was then sent halfway around the world to South Vietnam, and the rest is history!
Download or read book World War II Dispatches to Akron written by Christopher LaHurd and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-30 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bombardier’s story of serving in the skies over Europe—and surviving in a POW camp—as told through his correspondence with his Ohio family. On his twenty-sixth horrifying mission over the hostile skies of Nazi Europe, a charismatic bombardier, seated at the nose of a B-17, strapped on his parachute as his disintegrating bomber dropped uncontrollably to the ground. What got him to this point, the ensuing months behind barbed wire, and his daily letters written to his family in Akron, Ohio, makes for an emotionally intense memoir. This is the true account of a single individual who represents the countless unsung warriors of the greatest generation during World War II. Previously published as A Story of One
Download or read book Parachute Infantry written by David Webster and published by Dell. This book was released on 2011-10-12 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Kenyon Webster’s memoir is a clear-eyed, emotionally charged chronicle of youth, camaraderie, and the chaos of war. Relying on his own letters home and recollections he penned just after his discharge, Webster gives a first hand account of life in E Company, 101st Airborne Division, crafting a memoir that resonates with the immediacy of a gripping novel. From the beaches of Normandy to the blood-dimmed battlefields of Holland, here are acts of courage and cowardice, moments of irritating boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror, and pitched urban warfare. Offering a remarkable snapshot of what it was like to enter Germany in the last days of World War II, Webster presents a vivid, varied cast of young paratroopers from all walks of life, and unforgettable glimpses of enemy soldiers and hapless civilians caught up in the melee. Parachute Infantry is at once harsh and moving, boisterous and tragic, and stands today as an unsurpassed chronicle of war—how men fight it, survive it, and remember it. NOTE: This edition does not include photos.
Download or read book A Thousand Letters Home written by Aarol William Irish and published by Ingram. This book was released on 2011 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discovered by Teresa K. Irish in her father’s Army trunk shortly after his death in 2006, the letters and photographs in this book are a personal record of his experience as a soldier of World War II. Selected from the nearly 1,000 letters addressed to his parents and to the sweetheart who would later become his wife, this firsthand account through the eyes, heart and words of one soldier mirrors the journeys of many who served in WWII. At every opportunity, Bud poured out his thoughts and feelings in these letters, all amidst reassuring words to loved ones a world away. From lonesome, moonlit nights listening to the Hit Parade, to the foxholes and front lines in Germany where he would earn the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, to correspondence from the heartbroken mothers whose sons had died by his side, “A Thousand Letters Home” is a moving and historic story of life and loss, hope and perseverance, unwavering faith and true love.
Download or read book Hang Tough written by Erik Dorr and published by Permuted Press. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major Dick Winters of the 101st Airborne gained international acclaim when the tale of he and his men were depicted in the celebrated book and miniseries Band of Brothers. Hoisted as a modest hero who spurned adulation, Winters epitomized the notion of dignified leadership. His iconic World War II exploits have since been depicted in art and commemorated with monuments. Beneath this marble image of a reserved officer is the story of a common Pennsylvanian tested by the daily trials and tribulations of military duty. His wartime correspondence with pen pal and naval reservist, DeEtta Almon, paints an endearing portrait of life on both the home front and battlefront—capturing the humor, horror, and humility that defined a generation. Interwoven with previously unpublished diary entries, military reports, postwar reminiscences, private photos, personal artifacts, and rich historical context, Winters’s letters offer compelling insights on the individual costs and motivations of World War II service members. Winters’s heartfelt prose reveals his mindset of the moment. From stateside training to the hedgerows of Normandy, his correspondence immerses readers in the dramatic experiences of the 1940s. Via the lost art of letter writing, the immediacy and honesty of Winters’s observations takes us beyond the traditional accounts of the fabled 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment’s Easy Company. This engaging narrative offers a unique blend of personal wit, leadership ethics, and broader observations of a world at war. Hang Tough is a deeply intimate, timely reflection on a rising officer and the philosophies that molded him into a hero among heroes. Hang Tough “will help people better understand the man I knew and respected so much. Folks should know what we all went through during the war.” —Bradford Freeman, Foreword
Download or read book Weapons of War written by Robert E. Wright and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2019-07-10 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weapons of War has given me the opportunity to tell my Vietnam story and how it affected me, my fiancée, and my family. This is to give my family a written record of my service to my country and to thank the United States Army for its role in shaping my character and developing me into a responsible leader—ready and equipped to take on any challenge or mission. In other words, helping me to be all that I can be. And this is to finally tell my story of how the army took a raw recruit and turned him into a trained combat soldier and proven leader.
Download or read book Letters from the Greatest Generation written by Howard H. Peckham and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of personal letters from overseas that reveal in day-to-day detail what it was like to serve in World War II. Recounting victory and defeat, love and loss, this is a remarkable and frank collection of World War II letters penned by American men and women serving overseas. Here, the hopes and dreams of the greatest generation fill each page, and their voices ring loud and clear. “It’s all part of the game but it’s bloody and rough,” writes one soldier to his wife. “Wearing two stripes now and as proud as an old cat with five kittens,” remarks another. Yet, as many countries rejoiced on V-E Day, this book reveals that soldiers were “too tired and sad to celebrate.” Filled with the everyday thoughts of these fighters, the letters are by turns heartbreaking and amusing, revealing and frightening. While visiting a German concentration camp, one man wrote, “I don’t like Army life but I’m glad we are here to stop these atrocities.” Meanwhile, in another letter a soldier quips, “I know lice don’t crawl so I figured they were fleas.” A fitting tribute to all veterans, this book brings the experience of war—its dramatic horrors, its dreary hardships, its desperate hope for a better future—to vivid life. “An intimate portrait of the mundane and remarkable, of heroism and terror, of friendship and loss . . . Timely, compelling, and important reading.”—Matthew L. Basso, author of Men at Work
Download or read book Like Dreamers written by Yossi Klein Halevi and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Everett Family Jewish Book of the Year Award (a National Jewish Book Award) and the RUSA Sophie Brody Medal. In Like Dreamers, acclaimed journalist Yossi Klein Halevi interweaves the stories of a group of 1967 paratroopers who reunited Jerusalem, tracing the history of Israel and the divergent ideologies shaping it from the Six-Day War to the present. Following the lives of seven young members from the 55th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade, the unit responsible for restoring Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem, Halevi reveals how this band of brothers played pivotal roles in shaping Israel’s destiny long after their historic victory. While they worked together to reunite their country in 1967, these men harbored drastically different visions for Israel’s future. One emerges at the forefront of the religious settlement movement, while another is instrumental in the 2005 unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. One becomes a driving force in the growth of Israel’s capitalist economy, while another ardently defends the socialist kibbutzim. One is a leading peace activist, while another helps create an anti-Zionist terror underground in Damascus. Featuring an eight pages of black-and-white photos and maps, Like Dreamers is a nuanced, in-depth look at these diverse men and the conflicting beliefs that have helped to define modern Israel and the Middle East.
Download or read book Letters from Uncle Dave written by Phil Rosenkrantz and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: S/Sgt David Rosenkrantz was an 82nd Airborne paratrooper who was missing in action in World War II. Through letters he wrote home and 20 years of research this book chronicles the 73-year journey to find out what happened to him, return him home, and bring closure to the family.
Download or read book The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy written by Stephen G. Rabe and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-10 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fateful days and weeks surrounding 6 June 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms. These villagers – predominantly women – provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers. In this moving book, historian Stephen G. Rabe, son of one of the paratroopers, meticulously documents the forgotten lives of those who participated in this integral part of D-Day history.
Download or read book All the Way to Berlin written by James Megellas and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as “Maggie” to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, his new “home” for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples. In October 1943, when most of the 82d departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, requested that the division’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Maggie’s outfit, stay behind for a daring new operation that would outflank the Nazis’ stubborn defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On 22 January 1944, Megellas and the rest of the 504th landed across the beach at Anzio. Following initial success, Fifth Army’s amphibious assault, Operation Shingle, bogged down in the face of heavy German counterattacks that threatened to drive the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a fiasco, one of the bloodiest Allied operations of the war. Not until April were the remnants of the regiment withdrawn and shipped to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and train for their next mission. In September, Megellas parachuted into Holland along with the rest of the 82d Airborne as part of another star-crossed mission, Field Marshal Montgomery’s vainglorious Operation Market Garden. Months of hard combat in Holland were followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the long hard road across Germany to Berlin. Megellas was the most decorated officer of the 82d Airborne Division and saw more action during the war than most. Yet All the Way to Berlin is more than just Maggie’s World War II memoir. Throughout his narrative, he skillfully interweaves stories of the other paratroopers of H Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The result is a remarkable account of men at war.
Download or read book A Company of Heroes written by Marcus Brotherton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE “MUST-READ”* BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE EXTRAORDINARY DOCUMENTARY FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION Look for the Band of Brothers miniseries, now available to stream on Netflix! After the Band of Brothers went home, they never forgot the lessons of war... After chronicling the personal stories of the Band of Brothers in We Who Are Alive and Remain, author Marcus Brotherton presents a collection of remembrances from the families of the soldiers of Easy Company—and how their wartime experiences shaped their lives off the battlefield. A Company of Heroes is an intimate, revealing portrait of the lives of the men who fought for our freedom during some of the darkest days the world has ever known—men who returned home with a newfound wisdom and honor that they passed onto their families, and that continue to inspire new generations of Americans. *Jake Powers, Official E/506th Historian
