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Hey you are coming on from way back in the past Yeah I was there. Too much work and no adventure
I shipped out after 3 or 4 months to Camp Chaffee Ark. R.T.C. next stop North Africa. But Moorehead & another
(poor memory) & I thought anything would be better than North Africa as we were all mechanized cavalry trained.
So we looked around & noted the paratroops were looking for good men. We all went to the First Sergeant &
signed up the next morning. You know, the Army should take a little time to shuffle the paper. No way. The next
morning we were told to pack up ready for Ft. Benning. So we were off to a different world.
The rule at Ft. Benning was "wash out & you were on the next boat to somewhere". I didn't wash out.
Took some of the hardest training ever. Made my 5 jumps and went on furlough. Came back to the 542 Para Inf
Regt. Under Col. Bill Ryder, a tough & demanding C.O. I can remember the camp in the Alabama area of Ft. Benning.
No Females, just a daily grind to get tough. Try double time 5 miles in 90° weather. Or we would go for
a 5-mile road run in jump boots & shorts - with frost on the ground.
When the D-Day plans were shaping up, the 542nd was stripped of all trained personnel to build up the 101st 82nd
and 11th airborne divisions. Ryder went to McArthur as airborne adviser with one star.
I was sent out of NYC to Northern Ireland. Then to the 101st Airborne 502 PIR C Co. for the rest of the war.
I made the D-Day jump rough & tough --lost lots of casual acquaintances. We jumped 42 men in the 2nd platoon.
Came back to Englnd three weeks later with 5 able-bodied troopers left. Lots of MIA's - we lost 17 men from the
platoon in one day (11 June 44) in linkup of Omaha & Utah beachheads. The division lost our Commanding General
killed in a glider crash. Our regiment lost our C.O. - shattered leg on a bad landing.
After the linkup we spent some time in the hedgerows. I was a platoon scout - not a good future. But I ducked
and dodged at the right time.
After about 3 weeks we were pulled back to England to regroup and prepare for another jump. First a furlough -
but London wasn't good during the buzz bomb attacks. Those damn things make you impotent. Very strong desire
to get out of town.
Then there was Operation Market Garden - jump into Holland. I lasted 18 hours - back on the point and had my butt
peppered by a mortar round. Took 10 days to get back to England, then 3 months in 61st General Hospital before
I was returned to my outfit. It was 3 or 4 days before the Krauts started raising hell at Bastogne. Moved into
Basogne and had a White Christams - cold and hungry. A real bitch and a long story. Xmas day we entertained a
couple of hundred Germans and 10 tanks at too damn close range. Fortunately we had some 4th Armored Shermans and
tank destroyers. We took care of their infantry and they took care of the tanks. One hell of a Christmas party.
No food, no drink, but who cared; we finally won, ain't that wonderful.
After some adventures in Alsace and in Switzerland, another boat trip home. I hate the North Atlantic in winter
- a good place to lose weight, as you have a difficult time keeping it down.
James W. Flanagan PFC 2nd Platoon, C Co., 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne
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