82nd airborne vets

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Woose hails from Dallas and attended Highland Park High School. He joined the 508th Airborne, which became a part of the 82nd. He told me that he had 3 combat jumps; the first in Normandy, the second in Holland, and the third out of the back of a truck in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a platoon sergeant when he jumped at Normandy. I remember him stating that he pulled one dead 82nd para out of some water that drowned on landing. Note the 2 jump stars on his jump wings. His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation, note above his right pocket. After the war, he was in General Eisenhower's honor guard in Frankfurt. He recently passed. As with so many of these men, he was very kind and also very humble about his achievements and service to our country. His lovely wife Lynn gave me the uniform in which he is pictured. It is one of my prized pieces!

I had the great honor to meet General Gavin's daughter, Barbara, when I was invited to the 505th PIR reunion by Col. Ed Sayre. She was kind enough to give me this copy of her father while in combat in Sicily. He jumped at Salerno as the C.O. of the 505 PIR. I read his book...he was one tough man...an American hero. Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy has recently published a book of her father's letters home during the war.

I had the honor to visit Mr. Clark in California. He jumped at Sicily, Salerno, and Holland; a 3 jump veteran that was wounded by a mortar in Holland during Market Garden. It tore up his arm; the million-dollar wound. He was on HILL 424 at Salerno, which was a long bloody fight. The 504 basically saved the Salerno invasion. He stated that they were briefed on the mission as the planes took off from Sicily. The mission was to take Hill 424 and create a fighting retreat to give the 36th div. time to board their landing crafts and retreat from the invasion. They were to fight their way down the hill, across the plain of Salerno, and then when at the water's edge, they were to drop their weapons and swim out into the ocean, hoping to be picked up by PT boats. He said they knew if they got pushed off the hill, they were dead, hence they put up stiff resistance. One other thing he mentioned was that they had an American in the outfit that was born and raised in Germany. When the Germans were making a push, this fellow started hollering orders in German. The German soldiers followed the orders and came into the field of fire, where the Americans shot them and dropped mortars on them. Clark stated it saved the battle.

Trooper Larsen jumped at Sicily and Salerno. Here he is pictured on Hill 424. He was KIA at Anzio by artillery. I have this picture from Albert Clark, his buddy. God rest Trooper Larsen's soul...

Trooper Hanning jumped at Sicily and Salerno. Here he is pictured on Hill 424. One of the keys to the Salerno invasion. 

Trooper Bram jumped at Sicily and Salerno. Here he is pictured in Alte Ville. One of the keys to the Salerno invasion.

As a member of A Company, 504 PIR Fred jumped on Sicily where he was staffed by a ME109 while in the back of a truck. He was lucky and was able to go back into the line within a week. The other 2 troopers who were hit by the same plane were not so lucky. He then jumped on Paestum (Salerno beachhead) on the night of 13 September 1943. He was part of the group that attacked Hill 424 while under intense German fire. They took the hill and kept possession of it. This helped save the Salerno invasion. He fought in the mountains of Italy and at Anzio. The unit got back to England too late for the Normandy jump. His next jump was Operation Market Garden on 17 September 1943 where he was one of the men that rowed a boat across the River Waal while under German fire. They took the bridge! He was later wounded by a German mortar with a million-dollar wound.