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THOMAS A. HORNE

D-Day Paratrooper: 'No Heavy Weapons'
By Barbara Williams
Town Talk Staff Writer

 OAKDALE Men with blackened and knives  boarded troop carrier planes, .Green net and bits of foliage covered their steel helmets,  Most were dressed in fatigues and carried guns and knives.  Each wore two parachutes, one on his chest, one on his back.
   The men were soldiers of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The date: June 5, 1944, one day before D-Day. The mission: To reach Normandy, France, before other troops and destroy German communication lines.
   Today is the 35th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy, known as Operation Overlord. The biggest military operation in history, it was the beginning of the final phase of a carefully-planned campaign to bring about the destruction of the German military machine and the end of World War II in Europe. More than one million troops took part.
   Thomas A. Home of Oakdale was a member of 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
   His story follows:
   When the planes left England at midnight, June 5, heading for France, Home was aboard.
   The paratroopers awaited the signal that the plane was over the drop zone.
   The Germans fired anti-aircraft guns, forcing the paratroopers to jump prematurely.
Ammunition
   "They told us to get out of the plane if we were able to because we had ammunition that was needed on the ground."
   Smoke surrounded them as the enemy fired parachute flares. Home was forced to land in water. Of the 13 men who jumped with Home, 10 -died, many by drowning.
   Maps and compasses were water-logged. Equipment had to be discarded. As the men approached the shore, the enemy opened fire and the paratroopers were forced to retreat further from shore.
   Soon after daylight, the soldiers made it to shore and hid in a thicket. It was hard to tell enemy fire from friendly fire.
   "I had a carbine and when I tried to use it, it wouldn't, fire. The only other thing I had with me was a bunch of water-logged hand grenades
   The small group of soldiers came upon a crashed American glider. Its crewmembers were dead and all but one rifle ruined. Home picked it up along with four bandoliers of ammunition.


   "Not too long after that we ran into about 20 or 30 men from my company. We had no heavy weapons no machine guns at all."
Machine Gun
   As the soldiers made their way toward the drop zone which, they found out later, was 17 miles away, a German patrol opened up on them with machine gun fire.
   "Lt. Mike Bodak told me and three other guys to capture the gun. One of our men was killed in the assault and the gun we were after was messed up. That left three of us and we still had no gun.
   "When we got back to the spot where the rest of our group was supposed to be, we couldn't find anybody. We found out later they were captured."
   The Germans had put the soldiers in trucks for transportation to prisoner of war camps. American fighter planes spotted the German trucks and fired on them, not realizing the trucks were loaded with POWs. The Americans knew they had to escape before the trucks were destroyed. They had to jump. Only a few made it.
Memory Unclear
   Home's memory of the rest of the invasion, which lasted 33 days without relief or replacements, is unclear. In fact, he doesn't even like to talk about it.
   As for Home's war mementos, some are framed, some are kept in boxes, some are in scrapbooks and one in particular is kept in his pocket.
   Medals, which include a Purple Heart and a Bronze star, are framed along with ribbons and photographs. Home keeps a Bible the standG.I. version in a box. The Bible, which was always with him during the invasion, now protects the flag emblem worn on the shoulder of his uniform. Scrapbooks contain snapshots and letters.
   His pocket is home for his wings. Like most other paratroopers, he carries them at all times for luck.
   The 58-year-old retired pipe fitter spends much of his time fishing on Toledo. Bend Lake where he owns a camp...

[The Town Talk, Alexandria, LA, 06 Jun 1979, Wed, Page 25]

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