Harris Johnson
been trying to outline, filling in the blanks wherever
possible, the record of the Service Company of the 517th PRCT from Italy
forward. My interest is founded in the fact that my father in law, EM
Larry P. Shipp, was a member of the Service Company but he is more than
reluctant, for reasons of his own, to talk specifics about his time with
the 517th PRCT. Part of his reluctance is probably problems with his
memory. My objective in trying to tie in the Service Company Records of
Events of the 517th PRCT to his experiences is so that his descendents, much
like the descendents of Civil War veterans with some sort of written record
available, can better understand what their ancestor was like and how his life
was changed by his military experiences.
He has said he will leave his papers with me
upon his death; however, I am trying to gain an insight to the 517th Service
Company activities through the period Italy to VE Day so that I, or someone, can
tie it all together some day.
My
main source of information comes from a "propaganda" article appearing
in THE NORFOLK LEDGER DISPATCH, date unknown but probably mid summer
1945, and what little I have gotten from Larry and the 517th web site, its links
and its publication references. I should point out that Larry says the
news paper article is "hog wash" fostered by his Army handler, but surely part
of it is true. If interested I will send you a copy as an example of what
was given to the US public at the time.
Larry has told me that members of the Service
Company were routinely assigned to various Companies for a particular job
and that he is unable to remember the specific Company names he was
with even for his major activities.
Jolene Devaney
Good Morning
Ben,
I wanted to let you
know how much Mark & I are enjoying the book. It’s so amazing to
see “real life” photo’s of the guys and locations.
It’s truly amazing and we appreciate you letting us borrow
it.
I wanted to let you
know that this was in my home town paper this morning so maybe
you’ll see some traffic on the site from Bradford and the surrounding
area.
THAT
SITE: Our Memorial Day edition included a story about Jolene Devaney, a former
Bradford woman, who met a man who knew her uncle during World War II.
In her
research to find more information about her uncle, Patrick Michaels, Jolene
stumbled upon a Web site for the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team.
The Web
site - www.517prct.org - includes information on reunions, soldier stories and a
history of the group.
Those
looking for information will find this Web site helpful.
Jolene
Devaney
Jolene is the niece of Patrick Michaels KIA.
Dennis Sura
Ben, I just got off the
phone with Dick Hugler of Alpena, Michigan. He and my father Mike Sura
were in Company H of the 2nd Platoon 517th PRCT. He and dad were both
wounded on February 6th 1945 in a very large mine field in Germany and both
taken out of the war on that day.
Dick sends his best to
his Band of Brothers, he and his wife don't travel very far these days. I
visited him last summer and he was a wealth of info on dad and their
adventures. I also talked to Sgt. Harmon who remembered many including my
fathers.
Dennis Sura
Novi, MI
Dragoon - After Action Reports
Company C
"D" DAY
Company C enplaned at Campine Airfield, 30 miles NE of
Rome, Italy at 0030 hours, 15 Aug 44, with a total strength of 121 EM and nine
officers. The planes took off at 0200 hours and after circling the field
for an hour headed NW for France. Most of the men settled down and went to
sleep. The trip over the sea was uneventful. Twenty minutes from the
DZ all pilots gave the parachutists an oral warning and the men buckled on their
equipment. There was a heavy fog lying close to the ground. It was
later revealed that the Pathfinder group had missed the field, thereby resulted
in having the pilots use their own judgment for the drop. The results were
that the Co. was scattered. The majority of the Co. landed approximately
one mile S and W of Trans-en-Provence,
France. One stick of the 4rd
Platoon under Lt. Cook landed near La Motte, and the Company Commander landed in
the center of Trans-en-Provence proper. The Company assembled by sticks
and in groups of three and four and began to find their way toward the 1st Bn.
assembly area. Enroute there were several minor clashes with German
patrols with no casualities to ourselves and 20 or 30 Germans were killed.
Because they were widely scattered it was necessary for each of these groups to
take a different route to the Bn. assembly area (which was near Chateau St.
Rosseline) and noon of "D" day found the Co. disposed as follows: (A)
Majority under Lt. Dugan in positions around Chateau St. Rosseline, (b) a group
of 15 under Sgt. ?????? with Major Boyle in Les Arcs where they were helping to
defend a road block. (c) Captain La Chausse plus the stick that jumped
with Lt. Cook at La Motte, was on the Co. objective (Roche Rousse,
France). Throughout "D" day there were not any clashes with German troops
on a large scale. A few minor clashes occurred. Outside of these
skirmishes there was no section, but it was
517th Prcht. Inf. with
relief that the Company saw reinforcements arrive by parachute and glider early
in the morning.
CHARLES E. LA
CHAUSSE
Capt., Commanding
Record of Events
Headquarters 2nd Battalion
At 0200 hours, 15 Aug 44, the 2nd Battalion, 517th Parachute
Inf., enplaned at Ombrone Airfield, Italy, located at eight miles S of
Crossette, Italy. The battalion mission was to spearhead the Airborne
Invasion of Southern France. To land on a pre-designated dropping zone,
located 1-l/2 miles Southwest of LaMotte, France. Then after assembly to
seize and hold high ground commanding the approach to the beaches where our
amphibious forces were to effect a landing a short time later. The
Battalion loaded in 34 planes of the 440th TC Group commanded by Lt. Col.
Krebs. At 0235 hours the planes took off and after serial assembly
proceeded NW to the designated objective. The Battalion was preceded by
Pathfinders consisting of 10 men, 1 officer, Lt. Waddle who jumped at 0255 with
the mission to precede the Battalion, and set up at the drop zone. The
order of drop was to be "D" Co., Hq. Co., "E" Co., and "F" Co. The actions
in the earlier phases of the campaign will be described by Company units because
of the independent nature of the activity.
RICHARD J. SEITZ
Lt. Col. 517 Prcht.
Inf.
Commanding