NcDeuce
06-04-2004, 08:32 PM
101st paratroopers to jump in Normandy for D-Day anniversary
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. --The stories of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers descending on Normandy during the D-Day invasion are proudly told to the unit's soldiers even today.
So it is with pride that many current 101st soldiers are preparing to re-enact the famed division's historic first jump Saturday in France as part of the 60th anniversary of the World War II battle. They said they want to make 101st veterans proud.
"This is the biggest thing," 1st Sgt. Tom Coleman, 37, of Pittsburgh, said at Fort Campbell before leaving for France earlier this week. "I've been in the Army 19 years, on jump status for 11 years, that's one of those things you want to do is jump Normandy."
The opportunity is especially gratifying for the 120 soldiers participating because most spent time in Iraq as part of the Fort Campbell-based division's grueling one-year deployment that ended in February. Sixty-one soldiers from Fort Campbell, 50 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., died in the war.
"I just think it will be an awesome experience," said Staff Sgt. Brad Eudy, 33, of Concord, N.H. "Just the history behind it is overwhelming. We're real fortunate to be able to make this trip."
The soldiers selected are being rewarded for positive actions either in Iraq or back home, said Maj. Glenn McRill, who is overseeing the 101st attendees.
Sgt. Donald Thornton, 26, of Nicholasville, Ky., said "I did a lot of begging" to get to go. Thornton said you can't even compare this trip with his four months in northern Iraq instructing at an air assault school the division built to teach soldiers skills like rappelling from helicopters.
"Like I said, this one I begged to go," Thornton said, joking.
On D-Day -- the 101st's first mission -- 101st troops cleared the way for the 1st and 4th Infantry Division at Omaha and Utah beaches. The division claims its pathfinders were the first Americans to set foot in occupied France.
Current 101st soldiers learn about the division's history in World War II and often hear about the words its first commander, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee told his men. Lee said in 1942 that "the 101st ... has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny."
After World War II, the division fought on Hamburger Hill in Vietnam, fired the first shots of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, battled terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan in Operation Anaconda and participated in major combat in Iraq.
The 101st is now an air assault unit that uses helicopters to move troops and attack the enemy, and not all of its soldiers are paratroopers. However, soldiers such as instructors at Fort Campbell's air assault school and within a couple specialized detachments remain "jump qualified" or eligible to parachute from planes.
Of the 120 attending, 56 soldiers are participating in non-jumping capacities to represent 101st units there on D-Day that are no longer paratrooper units.
The paratroopers will jump Saturday along with soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps, both based at Fort Bragg, N.C. On Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the invasion, they will participate in memorial services.
"All of our direction on this said we're there for the veterans," McRill said. "We are really looking to honor our veterans during their last visit to Normandy."
American D-Day Vets Arrive in Paris
PARIS (AP) -- With armfuls of gifts, France on Friday welcomed back American veterans who helped free Europe from Nazi occupation when they landed on Normandy's beaches 60 years ago.
One hundred former World War II fighters saluted and waved as they climbed off a chartered Air France plane that brought them from Washington, D.C., to receive France's highest honor at D-Day anniversary commemorations this weekend.
Several leaned on canes as they walked down a red carpet on the tarmac at Charles De Gaulle Airport outside Paris. Many wore military caps and medals on their chests, some toted video cameras and all placed hands over their hearts when a French military band played "The Star-Spangled Banner."
They sang along, too, to "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, whose words they had practiced on the flight.
"I'm really humbled by the whole thing," said Rocco Moretto, 79, of the New York City borough of Queens. "The buddies that we left behind were the real heroes. I often think of them."
French Veterans Minister Hamlaoui Mekachera promised the Americans they'd find a warm, grateful welcome here.
"For the French people of 2004, just like for the French people of 1944 ... you are true heroes," he said.
"We are fully aware of what we owe you, we have not forgotten the immense sacrifices that you have made for the liberation of our country."
France is to bestow the Legion of Honor, its most prestigious civilian and military award, on the 100 veterans who were chosen by U.S. officials. France says it wants to honor them as representatives of all the Americans who fought against Nazism.
The 100 veterans are among thousands arriving in France for a weekend of ceremonies marking the 60 years since D-Day. Many are now in their 80s or older and this year's commemorations are likely to be the last major anniversary attended by large numbers of those who participated in the June 6, 1944 landings.
More than 20 national leaders are expected in Normandy to mark the occasion, including President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. It is the first time Russian and German leaders are attending a D-Day anniversary.
On Sunday, President Jacques Chirac will bestow the coveted award on Charles Hostler during a Normandy ceremony that will draw the heads of state.
Hostler served with the OSS - Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA - in its effort to lead Nazi spies in France to feed false information about Allied plans back to their German commanders, said his wife, Chin-Yeh Hostler.
The honorees and their relatives traveled for free on a flight paid for by Air France and other French businesses. Some of the top hotels in Paris are putting them up without charge.
Joseph Kuhar, 87, of Washington, D.C., said French kindness had been overwhelming.
"If they keep giving me souvenirs, I'm going to have to hire a truck," he laughed. Many of the veterans carried shopping bags full of gifts, including bottles of champagne.
Howard Baugh, 84, of Midlothian, Virginia, who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen, said the Legion of Honor was particularly sweet for him since the all-black 332nd Fighter Group did not get widespread recognition for decades after the war.
"I was raised in the South, I was raised with segregation and discrimination," he said.
Unlike many of the veterans, Baugh was on his first visit to France. He was based in Italy and flew bombing missions over France to weaken German defenses before the D-Day landings.
Moretto saw the anniversary as a welcome chance to remember the ties that bind America and France together despite bad feelings between the allies over the Iraq war.
He said he was distressed by anti-French sentiment in the United States, noting that many Normandy civilians have carefully tended the graves of America's war dead.
"The French have always been good to us," he said. "And now we're going to toss that aside? I don't think that's right. It's not from the World War II veterans."
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/LON81806041532-big.jpg
Cyril Ager, 79, a former Royal Enigneer, talks to Michael Sheehan, aged 4, as they watch the British Army's 17 Port and Maritime Regiment ramps boats dock at Arromanches, France, Friday June 4, 2004,m during rehearsals for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
Very cool stuff
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. --The stories of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers descending on Normandy during the D-Day invasion are proudly told to the unit's soldiers even today.
So it is with pride that many current 101st soldiers are preparing to re-enact the famed division's historic first jump Saturday in France as part of the 60th anniversary of the World War II battle. They said they want to make 101st veterans proud.
"This is the biggest thing," 1st Sgt. Tom Coleman, 37, of Pittsburgh, said at Fort Campbell before leaving for France earlier this week. "I've been in the Army 19 years, on jump status for 11 years, that's one of those things you want to do is jump Normandy."
The opportunity is especially gratifying for the 120 soldiers participating because most spent time in Iraq as part of the Fort Campbell-based division's grueling one-year deployment that ended in February. Sixty-one soldiers from Fort Campbell, 50 miles north of Nashville, Tenn., died in the war.
"I just think it will be an awesome experience," said Staff Sgt. Brad Eudy, 33, of Concord, N.H. "Just the history behind it is overwhelming. We're real fortunate to be able to make this trip."
The soldiers selected are being rewarded for positive actions either in Iraq or back home, said Maj. Glenn McRill, who is overseeing the 101st attendees.
Sgt. Donald Thornton, 26, of Nicholasville, Ky., said "I did a lot of begging" to get to go. Thornton said you can't even compare this trip with his four months in northern Iraq instructing at an air assault school the division built to teach soldiers skills like rappelling from helicopters.
"Like I said, this one I begged to go," Thornton said, joking.
On D-Day -- the 101st's first mission -- 101st troops cleared the way for the 1st and 4th Infantry Division at Omaha and Utah beaches. The division claims its pathfinders were the first Americans to set foot in occupied France.
Current 101st soldiers learn about the division's history in World War II and often hear about the words its first commander, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee told his men. Lee said in 1942 that "the 101st ... has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny."
After World War II, the division fought on Hamburger Hill in Vietnam, fired the first shots of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, battled terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan in Operation Anaconda and participated in major combat in Iraq.
The 101st is now an air assault unit that uses helicopters to move troops and attack the enemy, and not all of its soldiers are paratroopers. However, soldiers such as instructors at Fort Campbell's air assault school and within a couple specialized detachments remain "jump qualified" or eligible to parachute from planes.
Of the 120 attending, 56 soldiers are participating in non-jumping capacities to represent 101st units there on D-Day that are no longer paratrooper units.
The paratroopers will jump Saturday along with soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps, both based at Fort Bragg, N.C. On Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the invasion, they will participate in memorial services.
"All of our direction on this said we're there for the veterans," McRill said. "We are really looking to honor our veterans during their last visit to Normandy."
American D-Day Vets Arrive in Paris
PARIS (AP) -- With armfuls of gifts, France on Friday welcomed back American veterans who helped free Europe from Nazi occupation when they landed on Normandy's beaches 60 years ago.
One hundred former World War II fighters saluted and waved as they climbed off a chartered Air France plane that brought them from Washington, D.C., to receive France's highest honor at D-Day anniversary commemorations this weekend.
Several leaned on canes as they walked down a red carpet on the tarmac at Charles De Gaulle Airport outside Paris. Many wore military caps and medals on their chests, some toted video cameras and all placed hands over their hearts when a French military band played "The Star-Spangled Banner."
They sang along, too, to "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, whose words they had practiced on the flight.
"I'm really humbled by the whole thing," said Rocco Moretto, 79, of the New York City borough of Queens. "The buddies that we left behind were the real heroes. I often think of them."
French Veterans Minister Hamlaoui Mekachera promised the Americans they'd find a warm, grateful welcome here.
"For the French people of 2004, just like for the French people of 1944 ... you are true heroes," he said.
"We are fully aware of what we owe you, we have not forgotten the immense sacrifices that you have made for the liberation of our country."
France is to bestow the Legion of Honor, its most prestigious civilian and military award, on the 100 veterans who were chosen by U.S. officials. France says it wants to honor them as representatives of all the Americans who fought against Nazism.
The 100 veterans are among thousands arriving in France for a weekend of ceremonies marking the 60 years since D-Day. Many are now in their 80s or older and this year's commemorations are likely to be the last major anniversary attended by large numbers of those who participated in the June 6, 1944 landings.
More than 20 national leaders are expected in Normandy to mark the occasion, including President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. It is the first time Russian and German leaders are attending a D-Day anniversary.
On Sunday, President Jacques Chirac will bestow the coveted award on Charles Hostler during a Normandy ceremony that will draw the heads of state.
Hostler served with the OSS - Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA - in its effort to lead Nazi spies in France to feed false information about Allied plans back to their German commanders, said his wife, Chin-Yeh Hostler.
The honorees and their relatives traveled for free on a flight paid for by Air France and other French businesses. Some of the top hotels in Paris are putting them up without charge.
Joseph Kuhar, 87, of Washington, D.C., said French kindness had been overwhelming.
"If they keep giving me souvenirs, I'm going to have to hire a truck," he laughed. Many of the veterans carried shopping bags full of gifts, including bottles of champagne.
Howard Baugh, 84, of Midlothian, Virginia, who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen, said the Legion of Honor was particularly sweet for him since the all-black 332nd Fighter Group did not get widespread recognition for decades after the war.
"I was raised in the South, I was raised with segregation and discrimination," he said.
Unlike many of the veterans, Baugh was on his first visit to France. He was based in Italy and flew bombing missions over France to weaken German defenses before the D-Day landings.
Moretto saw the anniversary as a welcome chance to remember the ties that bind America and France together despite bad feelings between the allies over the Iraq war.
He said he was distressed by anti-French sentiment in the United States, noting that many Normandy civilians have carefully tended the graves of America's war dead.
"The French have always been good to us," he said. "And now we're going to toss that aside? I don't think that's right. It's not from the World War II veterans."
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/LON81806041532-big.jpg
Cyril Ager, 79, a former Royal Enigneer, talks to Michael Sheehan, aged 4, as they watch the British Army's 17 Port and Maritime Regiment ramps boats dock at Arromanches, France, Friday June 4, 2004,m during rehearsals for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
Very cool stuff