Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne

Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne PDF Author: Vincent J. Speranza
Publisher: Vincent J. Speranza
ISBN: 9781941165515
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
On 22 December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, with the Germans surrounding the Belgian town of Bastogne, a German messenger brought a message from his commander to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, acting commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, demanding his surrender. McAuliffe's response was simply, "Nuts!"Manning a foxhole on the perimeter around Bastogne was nineteen-year-old Army private Vince Speranza, a machine gunner with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is Vince's story of the Battle of the Bulge and his life before and after the battle.Vince shares his memories from early childhood through his service in World War II and his life up until now as he stands on the verge of turning 90--a story you will long remember. Vince will be in Bastogne, at his original foxhole, on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, drinking Airborne Beer, which his actions many years ago inspired.

Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne

Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne PDF Author: Vincent J. Speranza
Publisher: Vincent J. Speranza
ISBN: 9781941165515
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
On 22 December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, with the Germans surrounding the Belgian town of Bastogne, a German messenger brought a message from his commander to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, acting commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, demanding his surrender. McAuliffe's response was simply, "Nuts!"Manning a foxhole on the perimeter around Bastogne was nineteen-year-old Army private Vince Speranza, a machine gunner with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is Vince's story of the Battle of the Bulge and his life before and after the battle.Vince shares his memories from early childhood through his service in World War II and his life up until now as he stands on the verge of turning 90--a story you will long remember. Vince will be in Bastogne, at his original foxhole, on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, drinking Airborne Beer, which his actions many years ago inspired.

The Rifle

The Rifle PDF Author: Andrew Biggio
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1684511399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
It all started because of a rifle. The Rifle is an inspirational story and hero’s journey of a 28-year-old U.S. Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all -- WWII veterans. It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII, to honor his great uncle, a U.S. Army soldier who died on the hills of the Italian countryside. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years. On the spur of the moment, Biggio asked Drago to sign the rifle. Thus began this Marine’s mission to find as many WWII veterans as he could, get their signatures on the rifle, and document their stories. For two years, Biggio traveled across the country to interview America’s last-living WWII veterans. Each time he put the M1 Garand Rifle in their hands, their eyes lit up with memories triggered by holding the weapon that had been with them every step of the war. With each visit and every story told to Biggio, the veterans signed their names to the rifle. 96 signatures now cover that rifle, each a reminder of the price of war and the courage of our soldiers.

Rear Admiral Larry Chambers, USN

Rear Admiral Larry Chambers, USN PDF Author: Ric Murphy
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476627533
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
The first African-American aircraft carrier commander, Rear Admiral Lawrence Cleveland Chambers (1929- ) played a prominent role as captain of the USS Midway during the Vietnam War. During the evacuation of Saigon--known as Operation Frequent Wind--he famously ordered several UH-1 helicopters pushed overboard to make room for an escaping South Vietnamese Air Force major to land his Cessna. Chambers, who had only commanded Midway for a few weeks, gave the order believing (wrongly) that he would be court-martialed for the $10 million loss. This biography covers his early life and military career, including his role in the desegregation of the U.S. Navy during a period racial strife.

Captured at the Battle of the Bulge

Captured at the Battle of the Bulge PDF Author: E. Russell Lang
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998361901
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In December of 1944, Russ Lang and the rest of the 106th Infantry Division had just arrived at the front lines in Europe when the Germans launched the all-out counter-attack we call The Battle of the Bulge. Surrounded, his regiment fought until their ammunition and supplies were exhausted. Lang spent the rest of the war in as a German P.O.W.--and he kept a diary! Here the tale of a young man caught in the drama of World War II.

Comes a Soldier's Whisper

Comes a Soldier's Whisper PDF Author: Jenny La Sala
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 146697687X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
The Golden Warrior and the bravest man I ever knew. When Dave and I fought together, no matter how severe the action, he would put his hand on my shoulder, and it gave me a calming effect. He was as fi erce in battle as he was gentle in friendship. Charles E. Eckman, 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles Holtwood, Pennsylvania I remember David as a kind, soft-spoken man and was intrigued that he was also Colonel Michaelis radio operator. All of these men were larger than life! Little is known about Michealis because he was in command of the 502nd for such a short, yet important, time. Peter J. K. Hendrikx, author of Orange is the Color of the Day Pictorial history of the 101st Airborne Liberation of Holland www.heroesatmargraten.com Madame Rolle, owner of Chateau Rollea castle located in Champs outside of Bastogne, Belgium, and was designated as the headquarter command post for the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment when she was a young girlremembered our father operating his radio in her foyer, and said, He was a nice young fellow who kept talking to someone named Roger. Madame Rolle This collection of letters, written by a young 101st Airborne paratrooper soldier to his sweetheart from 1943-1945, is so personal and matter-offact that I almost forgot that David Clinton Tharp was only one of millions of heroes made by World War II. David Tharp certainly deserves a book like this in his honor, and it deserves to be read and praised. It is a mustread for every American, and especially for veterans of war. Palmetto Review

The Dakota Hunter

The Dakota Hunter PDF Author: Hans Wiesman
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612002595
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
A tale of a lifelong passion for a WWII aircraft that changed the author’s life: “It is almost like an adventure novel except it is true” (Air Classics). This book tells the story of a Dutch boy who grew up during the 1950s in postwar Borneo, where he had frequent encounters with an airplane, the Douglas DC-3, a.k.a. the C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, of World War II fame. For a young boy living in a remote jungle community, the aircraft reached the proportions of a romantic icon as the essential lifeline to a bigger world for him, the beginning of a special bond. In 1957, his family left the island and all its residual wreckage of World War II, and he attended college in The Hague. After graduation, he started a career as a corporate executive—and met the aircraft again during business trips to the Americas. His childhood passion for the Dakota flared up anew, and the fascination pulled like a magnet. As if predestined, or maybe just looking for an excuse to come closer, he began a business to salvage and convert Dakota parts, which meant first of all finding them. As the demand for these war relic parts and cockpits soared, he began to travel the world to track down surplus, crashed, or derelict Dakotas. He ventured deeper and deeper into remote mountains, jungles, savannas, and the seas where the planes are found, usually as ghostly wrecks but sometimes still in full commercial operation. In hunting the mythical Dakota, he often encountered intimidating or dicey situations in countries plagued by wars or revolts, others by arms and narcotics trafficking, warlords, and conmen. The stories of these expeditions take the reader to some of the remotest spots in the world, but once there, one is often greeted by the comfort of what was once the West’s apex in transportation—however now haunted by the courageous airmen of the past.

General Toothpick... WW II Memiors of 1st Sgt Donald L. Deam

General Toothpick... WW II Memiors of 1st Sgt Donald L. Deam PDF Author: Donald Deam
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781493616541
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
THE GUNS ARE SILENT NOW. Nature is slowly healing the brutal scars that marred Normandy, Holland, and Bastogne. The men who struggled in many of the greatest battles in human history are dwindling in number. One day perhaps all traces of the epic tragedy of World War II will be gone. And that is why this personal account by Donald Deam, who fought in all three battles, is so precious. As he wrote shortly before his death: "This is the story of a one hundred and twelve pound nineteen year old who became a First Sergeant in the 501st Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division. Many years have now passed. My memory often fades and then resurfaces in vivid fashion. I still relive many episodes of the war. I miss the comradeship that existed, something I have never experienced in peacetime. I don't recall many of their faces. Now these memories often bring back a few smiles, but also bring many tears. Too many of these men did not come back." All proceeds from this book will be donated to the 101st Airborne Division in honor of First Sgt. Donald L. Deam.

101st Airborne

101st Airborne PDF Author: Mark Bando
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610602560
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of the elite 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing behind enemy lines at Normandy is accompanied by firsthand accounts from Airborne veterans and forty incredible, previously unknown (let alone published) color photos of the “Screaming Eagles” at Normandy and in Great Britain prior to the invasion. Accompanying these remarkable D-Day color Kodachromes—which were unearthed in the attic of an Army doctor’s daughter—are more than two hundred black-and-white photographs from 101st survivors and the author’s own private collection. This is an unprecedented look at an elite fighting force during one of the last century’s most crucial moments.

Bastogne

Bastogne PDF Author: S. L. A. Marshall
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781516946709
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The Center of Military History is pleased to present the second volume in the U.S. Army in Action series, a facsimile reprint of Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall's Bastogne: The First Eight Days. Originally published in 1946, this brief study provides a combat history of a critical battle during the Allied liberation of Europe in World War II. Outnumbered and surrounded for five days, a U.S. Army combined arms force of airborne infantry, armor, engineers, tank destroyers, and artillery conducted a successful defense of the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne in late December 1944. They separated the German combined arms formations and destroyed the pieces, halting the offensive. The outcome of this battle was critical to the successful Allied defense against the German Ardennes offensive. Bastogne offers unique insights, capturing the immediate impressions of the soldiers who fought in this harsh winter engagement. The author penetrates the "fog of war" with a coherent narrative that clearly captures the strategy, tactics, and leadership of the battle. This action strangled the German logistical flow to their forward assault divisions, disrupting their offensive tempo and slowing their advance. What emerges is a vivid case study of how decisive leadership and incidents of individual heroism can contribute to overcoming enemy forces and weather.

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion PDF Author: Samuel de Korte
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399008692
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Finalist, 2022 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was activated on 25 July 1942 at Camp Carson, USA and, like many other tank destroyer battalions, would be sent to Europe. It saw combat in France, where a platoon earned the Distinguished Unit Citation, and later continued to fight gallantly in Germany and Austria until the war was over. However, unlike many other tank destroyer battalions that fought in the Second World War, this unit was crewed only by black soldiers. The men had been subjected to racism from their countrymen during training, although the battalion did eventually win the respect of the white soldiers they fought alongside. When the third platoon deployed their guns on the slopes near Climbach, France, they weren’t just fighting against the Germans, but also against any prejudices that their white countrymen might have had. Having earned the respect of the 103d Infantry Division, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion shared in their triumphs and tragedies. So when the division needed to retreat during a blizzard, or when Task Force Rhine pushed its way across the German plains, or when the division suffered heavy losses at Schillersdorf, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was there with them. Included in this book are lists of medals awarded to the men during the war, as well as a list of casualties and those that served in the unit.