1945

ALVIN E. NUNES (1945)

   It happened last September and the details can now be freely given It was on the 17th of that month that paratroopers and glidermen of the 82nd Airborne Division — battle-seasoned veterans of Sicily Italy and Normandy — dropped out of the peaceful Sunday afternoon skies over Holland to liberate the key Nijmegen sector and pave the way for the sweep of powerful units “northward from Belgium through Holland to the threshold of Germany itself.
   With the Airborne Division was the 504th Parachute Infantry and with the 504th was Alvin E Nunes of Newman who has been jumping out of planes almost ever since he entered the Armed Forces right after the war broke out.
   The All-American Paraglide in a special brochure published in Holland tells the story this way:
The paratroopers battle-wise from an airborne invasion of Sicily and hard ground fighting near Anzio in Italy organized speedily and had accomplished almost the entire mission before dusk of the first day. Principal objective was the Grave road bridge over the Maas River which was taken after a sharp firelight lasting several hours/ They also captured another important bridge and took command of high ground vital to the attack.
   Like other airborne units the 504th was re-supplied by air during the early phases of the campaign. The unit made contact with the advance elements of the British forces on September 19th.
   With the 307th Engineers the 504th played a vital role in seizing and holding the railway and highway bridges over the Waal River in Nijmegen. Under the supporting muzzles of British tanks the 504th crossed the river downstream from the railroad bridge under heavy fire and knocked out stubborn German defenses on the north bank and on the bridges. The engineers carrying on in the face of withering fire moved wave after wave of paratroopers across the river in canvas assault boats.
   Once across the river the troopers flanked the Nijmegen bridges and assaulted and took medieval Fort Lent. Three hours later members of the 504th were fighting 1000 yards north of the river. Hundreds of prisoners had been taken and hundreds more Germans had been killed. Two hundred and sixty-seven German dead were counted on the railway bridge alone. Capture of the bridges permitted British units to pass northward to relieve hard-pressed British airborne forces near Arnhem.
   Since these assaults the 504th has held a wide front against frequent German counter attacks and conducted numerous strong combat reconnaissance patrols.
   That’s the story the Paraglide tells. After that the boys did some more jumping — right into Germany itself And then Alvin was hurt according to a letter received by his family — a wound that put him in a hospital in France and brought him the Purple Heart which he was mailing home But he was getting along fine he said. [11 Jan 1945]

Details on the wounds received by Alvin Nunes, parachute infantryman, came in last week to his father. The injuries were received some time ago and Alvin returned to action afterwards proving complete recovery. His letter contained this paragraph: “The day I got hit in the hands and arms with shrapnel I thought I’d never get out of it alive. How my helper on the machine gun and everybody got out with what we did is something only God can explain. But I assure you' that the Germans paid for every 88 shell they threw at us trying to knock our position out. They shelled us for four and a half hours straight before we got a chance at them so you can imagine how much praying I did in that time.” Alvin’s unit is being prepared for embarkation home and he thinks maybe a day in September will find him in Newman — and glad of it! [23 Aug 1945]

The boys are coming home! Alvin Nunes whose experiences with the paratroops as intense battle action swept across Europe into Germany contained more thrills than the most exciting adventure novel arrived home Sunday with his honorable discharge in his pocket. And very, very glad to be home, he says, for there were times when it looked as though his chances of ever returning were rather slim. But luck was with him even though he does wear a Purple Heart.
.An interesting sidelight on his Army career was the fact that the chap who became his buddy entered the Army the same day Alvin did They went through basic training together and likewise into the paratroops. Over to Europe making the same hops — and both wounded the SAME DAY. Back to the states they took different planes to the Coast — yet each received -his honorable discharge at almost the same moment. [27 Sep 1945]

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