Bastogne

When Bastogne was relieved by General Patton's Third Army, a Time magazine reporter interviewed one of the paratroopers who had successfully defended Bastogne:

“What was the secret? What set the 101st Airborne apart from other units in the
U.S. Army?”

The paratrooper snorted and told the reporter: "What the hell - everybody in this outfit is crazy, including me. If we weren't, we wouldn't be in it!"

The photo, above, is of a 101st trooper with his foot on the head of a dead attacker. It was taken outside Bastogne, Belgium in December, 1944. In the rear is a knocked-out Mark IV tank. This photo was taken by divisional photographer Albert A. Krochka.

(At Bastogne and the Battle Of The Bulge in WWII, the 101st Airborne was quite literally surrounded, outnumbered, cut off, and on their own. They had to hold out and win or die. They persevered against the odds and held on. The morale of the story is to not corner Americans… and don’t start a fight you can’t finish.)

Sgt York; All American

In WWI, the American 82nd Division was actively engaged in sustained combat against the Germans. This same division would ultimately be organized into the famous ‘All Americans,’ the 82nd Airborne Division.

On the morning of 8 October, 1918, elements of the 328th Infantry, 82nd Division, United States Army, were pinned down by German machinegun fire. Seventeen men, under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, were ordered to out-flank the machine guns. Shortly after they left their own lines, they came across a German Officer and several Soldiers having breakfast. Believing that they were surrounded, the Germans surrendered. Before Early could detach a man to take the prisoners back through the lines, intensive machinegun fire swept the patrol. Only eight American Soldiers survived. Sgt. Early was seriously wounded and had to relinquish command. As the ranking Non-Commissioned Officer, Corporal Alvin York took command of the patrol. While the remaining Americans guarded their prisoners and at the same time tried to avoid enemy fire, York spotted the location of the German guns about 30 yards away.

The German gunners peeked over the tops of their Maxim machineguns to avoid hitting their own men. With the appearance of each face, framed in its "coal-scuttle" helmet, York's Enfield rifle spoke. One shot equaled one dead gunner. York was from the Tennessee mountains where firearms were used to put food on the table. Mountain folk were frugal, making each shot count. However, unnoticed by York, several Germans moved forward, locating York's position. Out of sight, they counted the shots from York's rifle, establishing the pattern of his shooting. They counted a series of five shots from his Enfield and rushed York to gain the advantage of the few extra seconds it took to reload the rifle.

Fortunately, as a good NCO, York came prepared. In addition to his Model 1917 Enfield rifle, he also carried a Model 1911, Colt .45 pistol. As the Germans charged, they came within easy pistol range. York brought the .45 automatic into action, stopping the patrol in its tracks. He then took advantage of this change in momentum and he advanced. He continued shooting and moving, killing a total of 25 German Soldiers and capturing an additional 132 by himself.

York was promoted to Sergeant and awarded the Medal of Honor.

Sometimes greatness is thrust upon you. This was one such time.

Samuel Whittemore

Samuel Whittemore (1694 - February 3, 1793)

Whittemore was an eighty year old farmer living in Menotomy, Massachusetts (present-day Arlington) when he became the oldest known colonial combatant in the American Revolutionary War.

On April 19, 1775, British forces were returning to Boston from the battles of Lexington and Concord, the opening engagements of the war. On their march, they were continually shot at by colonial militiamen.

Whittemore was in his fields when he spotted an approaching British relief brigade under Earl Percy, sent to assist the retreat. Whittemore loaded his musket and ambushed the British from behind a nearby stone wall, killing one Soldier. He then drew his dueling pistols and killed another. He managed to fire five shots before a British detachment reached his position. Whittemore then attacked with a sword. He was shot in the face, bayoneted thirteen times, and left for dead in a pool of blood.

He was found alive, trying to load his musket to fight again. He was taken to Dr. Cotton Tufts of Medford, who held out no hope for his survival, but Whittemore lived another eighteen years before dying of natural causes at the age of ninety-eight.

Account from F Company, 506th PIR - D-day

This was something that I found when searching for something else. It is a firsthand account of the famous battle that was portrayed in Band of Brothers. In real life, it wasn't shock and easy pickings. It was a long, very difficult fight where the Germans did put up a fight.


F Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne in the D-day battle at Brecourt Manor:

Len Hicks was one of the older members of F/506th. He wrote his war memoirs before he died. Thanks to Bill True, also of F Co., we have excerpts of what Len had to say about the famous fight at the 105mm gun battery. This reminds us that elements of other 2nd BN companies were also involved in the fight to take out those guns. Len wrote:

We passed through the edge of one or maybe two small towns. Very little fire until we had passed the 2nd or 3rd, right beside some barn-like buildings and a high hedge. The krauts really showed what an '88' could do. Some of the (2nd) Bn officers did some scouting of this situation, because this emplacement was not on aerial photos and neither was it on the sand table. Capt. Winters told me to take a detail down and clear it out, so we could go on to our objective. There were more E Co. troopers in this group, about 12 to 14. They were right by me when Capt. Winters was briefing them. I told Capt. Winters I would like to have some of that action. His reply - "Would anyone else like to go?" I walked over and asked for volunteers. Sgt Julian Houck was the only one interested. (During the battle) We were lying very near each other, when he suggested he would throw a grenade over to the #4 emplacement. I told him to be very careful, we did not have much cover, in case they wanted to throw some back. I'm sorry to say that "Rusty" was killed instantly by a burst of burp gun fire. He was hit across the top part of the shoulders, all internal bleeding. The little amount of external blood could have been wiped-off with a cigarette paper. He did not suffer. I can say Thank God, for "Rusty" was one of the good ones. I do not know if it was Rusty's grenade or my shot that got that guy. About 2-3 minutes later, Lt. Compton crawled up to check on us. After a few minutes, he suggested that I try to work my way over toward this 4th gun. The only way I could see was the trench between the two guns. For the first few feet, I could walk bent-over then the trench became too shallow. I had just started to get down, when I was hit in the right shin bone. I stopped. Lt. Compton asked "What's wrong?" "I think I slowed one down a little" was my reply. Luckily, I could walk back to a spot near him. He brought out his jump knife (very sharp,) ripped my pants leg up to near the crotch, and proceeded to be the best aid man who ever worked on me. Later, I did have others. He used all my bandages and some of his. Most of my calf muscles were blown away and I had started to bleed. He wanted me to lie down there, but I told him I only had two rounds left and would not be much help. When I crawled past Capt. Winters he asked about how serious it was, and could I get out, because we were all out of ammo. By the time I crawled to the end of this trench, everyone had passed me. The trench here was about 4' deep, and no matter how I tried, I just could not make it. I sat back against the wall and waited for whatever came around the corner. It would be rough. I was damn good snap shooting with a rifle. I heard someone running and figured this was it. I have thanked God many times, because I am not an excited person. It was "Red" Kimberling from HQ Co, 2nd Bn. He had been up in front of me. No one knew this and had not notified him to pull back. He had run out of ammo. He helped me out of the trench and then carried me back to a fence and rolled me under. Here was another trooper giving us some cover fire. There was an open field to cross. They figured to use my arms to tow me and let my butt absorb the shock. These guys may never have won any medals for running, but they were going so fast that my butt never touched the ground until we stopped. They were not even winded! I think the final count on the number of krauts that made up the crews for these guns was 52-53. I think there were 15 of us. When the tanks came, they went down to these emplacements for a checkup. We had done a pretty good job.

[Story edited for grammar. Content is as recounted.]

2LT Frank Luke Jr.

In WWI, both sides used dirigibles (or balloons/blimps) for a number of purposes. The use of airplanes in military operations was in its infancy and the balloon was a tried and true method of observing as well as doing limited offensive operations. As such, they were very heavily guarded and very valuable targets.

On 29 September, 1918, Second Lieutenant Frank Luke Jr., of the United States Army's 27th Aero Squadron, flew out on patrol, flying low over an American forward position and dropping a note, “watch for burning balloons.” This was interpreted as “lookout for burning German balloons just behind the enemy lines.”

As predicted, observers saw the explosions of three balloons. Luke did not return. It was not until after the war that a grave registration unit learned the conclusion of 2LT Luke's attack and pieced together the following information:

In destroying the three balloons, Luke was seriously wounded and his Spad fighter was so shot-up that he could barely control it. Nevertheless, upon regaining control of his aircraft, he identified significant enemy movement. At this point, he had to realize that he would not be able to fly home. Having no parachute, which was the practice of the time, he also had to have known that he would not survive. Regardless, he was a fighter. He was focused and he had his duty.

Luke then maneuvered his airplane to strafe German infantry columns. Taking ground fire, he crash-landed. He was mortally wounded and immediately surrounded by Germans. Rather than stop fighting, he drew his .45 pistol and started firing at the Germans. They returned fire, finally stopping him.

2LT Frank Luke was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.