Knihobot

Linda Dudik

    Sacrifice and Service a World War II Paratrooper's Story
    • 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 war s 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.

      Sacrifice and Service a World War II Paratrooper's Story2012