The 508th PIR was activated October 20, 1942. At that time, it had only enough officers and enlisted men to activate the Headquarters & Head-quarters Company, a Service Company, and the First Battalion. During the activation ceremony, we recruits stood in the back of the formation.
However, a few days later, we were up front for arduous basic infantry and pre-airborne school physical training.
In February 1943, we moved to the Parachute School at Fort Benning, GA. Three weeks later I proudly pinned on my wings, I was a qualified parachutist.
After a few days furlough, my first days off since October 1942, the regiment moved to Camp Mackall, NC for advanced infantry and air-borne operations training. We participated in parachute operations and in large-scale maneuvers in South Carolina and Tennessee. We also mastered the art of "beautification of the area" - picking up debris, cutting weeds, painting rocks, etc., skills we often used in Europe “beautifying” our tent camps in England and France.
After the Tennessee maneuvers and a short pass, the regiment packed up and moved to Camp Shanks, New York for overseas processing. On December 28, 1943, we sailed from New York aboard the USAT James Parker -- bound for Belfast, Ireland.
In Ireland, we trained for a few weeks, and then moved by boat and train to England. We were lucky; the regiment occupied a tent camp only a short walk from the city of Nottingham.
After about 17 weeks of vigorous unit training, night parachute jumps and field exercises, we packed our equipment and moved to an airfield, and prepared for combat somewhere on the continent.
As a Corporal, LMG Squad Leader, I supervised my squad’s preparat-ions. Our light machinegun and ammunition was rolled into equipment bundles and parachutes were attached to them. These valuable bundles were dropped from pararacks under our C-47s, or pushed out the door as we jumped.
On June 5, we had a steak dinner and were watching a movie in the han-gar, when we were told to fall out, and blacken our faces - - we were on our way! |
