In the winter of 1945,1 and 4 other troopers from fort Bragg, N.C. were shipped out to Le-Havre and then onto Paris, Marburg and then to Frankfurt, Germany.

One of the 4 troopers with me had jumped in Sicily, North Africa and Italy, and was one of a very few men in his company who survived all 3 campaigns.

A truck load of I Company men had just finished a simulated combat jump from a C.47 just south of Frankfurt in sugar beet fields, and were headed back to Heddernheim when the left rear panels broke loose and spilled all of us on the concrete down the highway.

I was Captain F. H. Dillon Jr.'s radio man at that time.I had the radio slung over my left shoulder, and a steel helmet buckled under my chin [while] enjoying the beautiful hills in the background, and the summer scenery along the highway when the panels broke.

I was very lucky. I shredded a walkie-talkie and made a dent in my steel helmet. I received a cracked left elbow and minor injuries in comparison to the more serious injuries some of the troopers received.

This accident made front page news of the Stars and Stripes newspaper in the summer of 1946.