wondered if I had stood up and challenged them, if the Germans would have surrendered. I would have loved to capture a Tiger tank and a pack of Germans all by myself.”
Eventually, the 508th PIR reached the Roer River, and broke contact with the Germans, and returned to Sissonne, France.
Charles Turley continues. “In Sissonne we held memorial services for the comrades we lost in the Ardennes and started preparing for another mis-sion. We made a battalion parachute jump and then moved to airfields near Paris, prepared to parachute into prisoner-of-war camps to rescue allied prisoners. Our war ended before we could execute the mission.
The 508th PIR joined the Occupation forces and was assigned to provide security forces and honor guards for General Eisenhower’s headquarters.”
In November 1946, Charles Turley left his comrades in Hq1 and traveled to the United States to participate with the 82nd Airborne Division in the WW II Victory Parade in New York City.
The 82nd Airborne Division prepared for the parade at Camp Shanks, NY, and marched down 5th Avenue on January 12, 1946. The parade was exciting and the men appreciated the warm reception.
After the parade, Charles Turley was sent to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas and was discharged from the Army on January 18, 1946.
Charles Turley was a courageous and competent soldier. He earned:
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Bronze Star medal
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Combat Infantry Badge
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Parachutists Qualification Badge
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Three battle stars
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The Belgian Fourragere
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Numerous defense medals including the World War II Victory Medal, and the Occupation Medal with Germany Bar
Charles Turley says. “Back home in Nashville, AR. lacking a High School diploma, I worked at odd jobs wherever I could.
I married Mattie Lee Puryear (deceased) in 1946, and we raised two children Tommy Dean and Debra Sue. I was a good, steady worker and when Cooper Tire and Rubber of Texarkana hired me in 1964, I knew I had found a home. | 
