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By WOOLSEY TELLER
It was the
greatest dinner-dance party I ever attended because of the people that
were there, veterans of of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which
held its sixth annual meeting at Indianapolis Sheraton West Motel last
weekend. The regiment had heavy casualties in World War II in the
airborne invasions of Normandy and Holland and in the Battle of the
Bulge.
I met some great
guys. One offered his left hand when introduced. His right arm had been
shot off in the war. Another had a silver plate in his head to cover the
hole enemy fire left in his skull. He still has lapses of memory at
time^. Another veteran danced energetically with his wife to old Glenn
Miller wartime tunes.
"He sure jitterbugs great," I said.
"Yes," replied James J. Murphy of Indianapolis, a regiment veteran,
"and he has an artificial leg."
You'd never know it to watch him dance. These men bear their wounds
without self-pity.
A LAST-MINUTE change of assignment on his plane on D-Day shifted
Murphy from No. 7 to No. 10 jump position. It spared his life. Jumpers
6. 7, |
They put their lives on the line for 'friends' |
Maj. Gen. Sinclair L. Melner,
United States Army Soldier Support Center commander at Fort Benjamin
Harrison, also felt the electrifying climate. He spoke briefly of the
discipline, dedication and bravery these men displayed when our
country's chips were down.
The widow of the wartime mayor of a French town liberated by parachute
troops sent a message, hand carried by the wife of a leader of a French
resistance movement that they
would
always be considered part of the French family. Youngsters in that town
every year march, dressed in U.S. parachute uniforms to honor the
airborne liberators.
BUT THE EMOTION
that most charged the atmosphere was love — the real love that Jesus
spoke of when He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends."
It was the
greatest thing about these Americans. Their gallantry was born not of
selfish bravado but of love for their country and for their compatriots.
Because of
people like these, America is still a free country.
Teller is a member of The Star editorial
staff.
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8 and 9 were
killed by the Nazis before they hit the ground.
You could feel
the
camaraderie
among them, and there was no braggadocio,
there was no beating-on-the-chest,
no offer to tell what they
did in
the war. On the contrary, I
had
to
drag
wartime
experiences from them,
as one
must with true
heroes, and then they'd
talk about what a comrade did,
not
about themselves. To get their story, you had to ask some other guy.
These are no
warmongers. They detest war. They know what it's like. "War is hell,"
Gen. William T. Sherman said. |
They went through hell, several hells, in
fact. They won't dispute Sherman.
so, there is no jingoistic
posturing. Yet your bones tell you that these middle-aged to
going-on aged Americans would, without hesitation enter hell again for
our country if need be.
I SPOKE TO some of the wives. One said she knew that if she ever
had a problem, any problem at all, she could go anywhere in the world a
regiment veteran lives and "he'd drop everything else to help because
I'm the wife of a comrade."
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