|
Of course, at that time no one could
have possibly imagined eighteen years in the future, this new baby boy,
would be a member of the "The Red Devils" of world famous 82nd Airborne
Division, or that he would be one of the ninety troopers who answered the
call when volunteers were needed to make that "first time" in history,
jump from a glider and to become one of the very first soldiers in history
to jump from a plane, deep behind enemy lines, ready for battle upon touch
down.
I learned from Charles Strong,
General Eisenhower himself was on hand the night before that first history
making jump into Normandy, gave a big speech (to get the troopers pumped
up) on the history they would be making. But the troopers were not too
impressed as they had been well trained and knew they wouldn't be going to
"no" dance.
Louie was a boy of seventeen when he
left for army training at Camp Roberts, California. From there his
training took him to Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina and Panama. The
Louie who came home on furlough in September 1943 was no longer the kid
who had left the farm.
It was hard to believe this six-foot
- 2 inch, 180 pound soldier wearing the wings and boots of a United States
paratrooper was "our Louie." More training overseas followed in Northern
Ireland from January 8, 1944 until March 11, 1944.|
On April 3rd of this year, I learned
the men in I Company referred to him as the gentle giant, due to his size,
temperament and wonderful disposition. "He was easy going, slow to lose
his temper but when he did, he was a one-man tornado," wrote Bob Chisolm
to Zig Boroughs.
Recalling our last moments with him,
gentle giant that he was! His furlough had come to an end. He, our mother,
sister Kathryn, I, and baby Janice, climbed into the family's 1936
Plymouth for the trip to the bus station. He was driving and he purposely
parked the car uptown on North D Street, in from of the Montgomery Ward
store, several blocks away, as he wanted no goodbyes at the station.
For a time we sat quietly, each with
our own thoughts, dreading that last goodbye. Soon it was his time to
leave. This gentle giant scooped up baby Janice in his huge hands and ever
so gently and lovingly held her to his cheek for one last time as he said,
"bye-bye, baby." Our mother started to cry, in soft-spoken Italian he
said, "Ma, non piange" (Ma, don't cry). My sister and I walked to
the corner of D and Yosemite with him, a final good-bye was said, he
turned the corner onto Yosemite and walked on alone, in that now known
famous walk of all paratroopers. |
