Now that I have sailed past the ripe young age of 87, I think it is time to put on paper some memories of my experiences in World War II. My time in the service - in retrospect it seems very short - spanned a couple of months short of four years, beginning on the 7thof February 1942 with induction at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
SOME IMPORTANT DATES
Feb 7, 1942 Enlist in US Army; induction at Carlisle, PA
Aug 5,1942 Qualified Parachutist, complete training in Parachute Packing, Ground Training and Jumping from a plane in flight, Fort Belvoir, VA
Nov 21, 1942 Graduate Officer Candidate School, Fort Belvoir, VA Assigned to 56th Engineers, Camp Polk, LA
June 26, 1943 Graduate Second Army Mine School
Sept 5-0ct 18, 1943 Sail from Camp Shanks, NY to Liverpool, England aboard the Strathnaver, changing in St. Johns, NFL to the John Ericson
Dec 5, 1943 Promoted from 2nd Lt to 1 st Lt
June 6, 1944 Normandy jump, "Overlord"
July 9, 1944 Promoted from 1 st Lt to Captain
July 19, 1944 Return to England by boat
Sept 17, 1944 Holland jump, St. Odenrhode, "Market Garden"
Oct 1, 1944 Move to area between the Rhine and Maas rivers
Nov 26, 1944 Return to Mourmelon, France
Dec 19, 1944 Bastogne, Belgium (25 days in Bastogne) Alsace-Lorraine, France (build bridge in Pfaffenhafen)
Jan 16, 1945 Mourmelon, France
Feb 24, 1945 Lt. Eisenhauer, Major Mozley, Birdlegs Dixon Capt. Crilley
April 2, 1945 Neus-Dusseldorf Germany (night swim in the Rhine)
May 4,1945 Berchtesgaden, Germany (Smiley - Goering's Mercedes Benz)
May 8, 1945 Lofer, Austria - War in Europe ends (8 cases cognac, oil ptg)
July 25, 1945 Assigned to Battalion HQ as S-3 (Operations & Training)
July 31, 1945 Auxerre, France (rest, wine & water skiing)
Sept 27, 1945 Boston, MA, USA
Dec 9, 1945 Separation from Army Service at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, P A
