ATTENTION STUDENTS DDAY

Transcription

1 NUMBER 1 On May 29, the Unted States wll dedcate the World War II Natonal Memoral on the Natonal Mall n Washngton, D.C. On June 6, the world wll observe the 60th annversary of D-Day. In ths Newspaper-n-Educaton seres a paratrooper re-lves the D-Day operaton that led to the end of the war n Europe....NOTHING CAN STOP IT NOW! By Don Reland We ddn t know where we would be jumpng, except that t would be several mles nland of the nvason beaches and n the mddle of German defenders. As we prepared to board our planes on the evenng of June 5, 1944, t was stll lght because of Brtsh Double-Daylght Tme. The arport n England was a ggantc sght as hundreds of planes churned ther motors wth a roar that shook my already nervous stomach. Strapped nto a parachute harness, barely able to walk under the weght of a hundred pounds of weapons and explosves, then pushed up nto the plane, I was overwhelmed by the enormty of the event that would propel us that evenng. Nothng could stop t. I felt nfntesmal, as astronauts must have felt later as they were about to roar nto space. The astronauts, of course, knew a good deal about where they were gong. My comrades and I n the 82nd Arborne Dvson knew nothng about what awated us. General Dwght D. Esenhower was repeatedly advsed that he was sendng two fne Arborne dvsons to almost certan annhlaton the 82nd and the 101st. Fortunately, word of ths never reached my comrades and me. When Esenhower bade farewell to the 101st Arborne paratroopers just before they boarded ther planes, they could see the stran n hs face. They told hm: Don t worry about us General, worry about Paratrooper Don Reland of the 82nd Arborne n December the Germans because they won t know what ht them! In both dvsons, all of us had blackened our faces, and some had added warpant. Wth our jump suts bulgng wth ammunton, enough plastc explosves to blow up a small brdge, grenades hangng everywhere, we were surely a sght n the twlght as we grunted up the ladders nto the planes. Wth tears appearng, Ike turned to Maxwell Taylor, the commander of the 101st Arborne, and sad: Max, I don t know f your men wll scare the enemy, but they scare the hell out of me! After the last plane was arborne, Ike observed: It s on, and nothng can stop t now! On D-Day paratroopers provded an nland front for the Normandy beach nvason by engagng and dsablng German troops behnd enemy lnes. Mltary operatons often nvolve coordnaton of dfferent knds of troops and equpment. Fnd an example of mltary acton n the newspaper. Wrte a descrpton of the knds of troops and equpment needed to make the operaton a success. Then wrte what each type adds to the effectveness of the operaton.

2 NUMBER 2 WE WERE ON OUR WAY By Don Reland As soon as we took our place n the plane most of us promptly dscarded our spare parachute, because jumpng at 500 feet dscounted any second chance. As usual, I used the spare as a pllow as I crunched up on the floor for a nap. The churnng up of hundreds of planes overwhelmed conversaton, but I don t thnk anyone felt lke talkng anyway. The enormty of t all was begnnng to snk n and everyone was soon deep nto ther own thoughts. One of my concerns was that I mght chcken out. The only thngs that allevated that horrble prospect were the tact expectatons of my famly and frends and my determnaton not to let any of them down. As our plane taxed down the runway and swung around to get n lne for the takeoff, we could see planes everywhere, the entre arport packed wth planes. Ths was many tmes more planes than durng our fve rehearsal jumps. Now, seemngly overnght, they had been panted wth three whte strpes for dentfcaton on each wng and the fuselage. It was all so dfferent, and thus upsettng. The roar of hundreds of motors was absolutely deafenng. For the frst few years after the war my stomach would churn whenever I went to an arport. But Courtesy: Ar Force Photo Lbrary. t was GO, and there was no turnng back. We were on our way to who knows where and n a couple of hours we would meet the enemy. It was ggantc and I felt small and vulnerable. As our plane crcled for hour after hour I fnally assured myself that nothng would deter me I was gong out that door. By now, my fear of jumpng was mnor. But t ddn t help to recall that ths jump would be my 13th. In the D-Day nvason of Normandy, the mportance of the operaton was far greater than ndvdual solders or unts. In many actvtes or undertakngs today, the overall goals are greater than the roles that sngle ndvduals play. Fnd an example n the newspaper today or ths week. Wrte a short comparson of D-Day and ths actvty or undertakng. Draw a Venn dagram to ad your comparson, f you lke.

3 NUMBER 3 THE SKY LOOKED LIKE THE FOURTH OF JULY By Don Reland As soon as our plane crossed over nto Normandy, we stood up and hooked up. Of course, we ddn t know t was Normandy. It could have been Holland or anywhere. Standng n the door just behnd my leutenant, I could see the ground, but as t rushed by at 500 feet t was dffcult to recognze anythng. Every so often a thck cloud would obscure the moon for a few seconds a scary sght. As ant-arcraft bursts lt the darkness and bullets pnged nto the fuselage, I was shaken by the fact that someone was tryng to kll me. That trggered a new fear: I wanted to lve at least long enough to make t all worthwhle and that translated nto kllng a few of the enemy. That smple urge, I soon learned, was about the only thng that lessened fear. Shootng back became the relef pll. My good frend Maro Parletta sad that whle shufflng toward the door to jump, he felt lke a zombe gong through a routne he knew well yet wth no feelng but fear. For the very frst tme I was overwhelmed wth the urge to get the heck out of the plane now! The sky looked lke the Fourth of July. The pngs of bullets httng the fuselage ncreased, and the plane began lurchng badly. I am sure all of us felt we would be better off on the ground somewhere, anywhere than beng blown out of the sky. My leutenant had hs hands on each sde of the door and was posed to jump. Then, as the plane made a partcularly heavy lurch, he reached nsde and groped for somethng substantal to hold. The crunch of 17 paratroopers behnd us made me feel that one more lurch and the leutenant and I both would be hurled out the door. My eyes darted from the freworks outsde to the lght panel just over my rght shoulder. When several bullets ht the plane, I felt sure that someone would be ht. It was torturous watng for the lght to jump. At last, t went on, the leutenant shouted Let s go! and as he dsappeared I dove out of the plane. Courtesy: The Natonal Archves. The paratroopers who jumped on D-Day needed courage, determnaton and dscplne. These qualtes are called character trats. What other character trats make people strong or admred? Fnd examples among newsmakers featured n the stores and photos n the newspaper. Pck three and wrte out how the trats beneft the ndvduals nvolved. Were any of those trats also dsplayed by solders on D-Day or n another mltary operaton?

4 NUMBER 4 THE BRUTAL REALITIES OF WAR By Don Reland After the openng jolt of the jump, my attenton was dstracted by watchng a C-47 engulfed n flames, yet seemngly flyng level. Forgettng that I was carryng extra weght, I felt I was plungng too fast and looked up to see f my parachute had fully opened. We must have jumped below 500 feet, because just as I looked up I landed. In the terrfyng confuson, some planes flew so low that there was not enough tme for anyone s chute to open, and one plane was back over the Englsh Channel when the paratroopers jumped. I plunged nto about four feet of water n a feld flooded by the Germans. I was dragged backwards underwater by my chute. Parachutes often have an uncanny way of remanng full wth ar and draggng you wthout mercy. Every tme I struggled to my feet, gaggng and wobbly on the uneven bottom, the chute would jerk me under agan. My rfle pushed up under my neck, and I could not reach down to the knfe strapped to my boot. Desperately, I reached nto my collar pocket and pulled out my swtchblade knfe and frantcally cut my harness to freedom. It was more than a week later when we were gven fresh underwear that I saw my nner thghs caked wth blood, a testmony to the numbng effect of fear. Apparently, I self-nflcted a wound barely an nch from a place I would rather not harm. Another paratrooper, facng the same dlemma, cut off a fnger and ddn t realze t untl several hours later. It was devastatng to hear the gurglng cres for help from drownng comrades as I sloshed toward the nearest embankment but, sadly, t was my ntaton nto the brutal realtes of war: objectve frst. Off on the far embankment a tran was burnng furously, and later the troopers who set t ablaze told us they took off when they saw t was loaded wth land mnes. Later we learned the land mnes were Norman cheese. All over Europe, U.S. solders had to show vglance n ground fghtng after D-Day. Courtesy: The Natonal Archves. Don Reland s account of hs landng on D-Day s full of acton words and vvd detal. That makes readers feel a part of the events he descrbes. Newspaper wrters n the news, sports, features and entertanment sectons also try to take readers nsde the acton of events. Fnd an example n the paper. Crcle all the words and detals n the story that make the acton come alve. Then wrte a sentence or two takng readers nsde some acton you have been part of.

5 NUMBER 5 TO CONTINUE AND DISRUPT THE ENEMY By On a small road, I joned about 70 paratroopers who were from dfferent companes, regments and even dvsons. We had been scattered all over the countrysde and were tryng to get organzed. We fully understood that our msson was to kll as many of the enemy as possble. Our commanders repeatedly remnded us that there were No Lmts! and that No One Is Countng! If only a few of us encountered a much larger force, we were to quckly shoot as many as we could, take off nto the thck hedgerows, regroup, and then hunt down some more of the enemy. There were dozens of ncdents n whch one, two or three paratroopers used ths ht-and-run method, wpng out hundreds of Germans before dawn. The purpose of ths bloody polcy was to confuse and dsrupt the enemy. There s ample evdence that t was hghly successful. Whle sporadc fghtng went on all nght, the Germans bult up ther superor forces at dawn and were determned to deny us our objectves. Adolf Htler had ordered the Germans to fght to the last blood! and D-Day became very bloody. It soon became clear the Alles job was made more dffcult by loss of much needed equpment. All rados had been lost, and our commanders had no contact wth the assault forces. Depressngly, we had no way of knowng f the D-Day landngs from the sea had succeeded. Don Reland Despte our desperate stuaton, the out-n-front leadershp of the offcers enabled us to hold on and prevent a dsaster. General James Gavn observed n hs book that at some of the locatons of the most vcous battles that raged on D-Day t was dffcult to walk wthout steppng on bodes. Gradually, I learned that I was not a gung-ho hero but, thankfully, was able to do my duty and carry out orders from my captan. I wtnessed many extraordnary feats of courage by many paratroopers, but on the few occasons when my comrades sad I acted wthout regard for myself, t was probably lke the majorty because I was ordered to do so. The paratroopers who landed on D-Day had to adapt quckly to changng events. They had to make fast decsons when stuatons changed and try new approaches. In today s world, solders, poltcans, busness leaders and others often have to change approaches when stuatons change. Fnd an example n the newspaper. Wrte a sentence descrbng how the stuaton changed or s changng. Wrte a second sentence descrbng a new approach that mght be taken and why.

6 NUMBER 6 THE RIDGE HAD TO BE TAKEN By Don Reland The Alles success n gettng ashore and holdng a few square mles on D-Day stll left them n the tenuous poston of beng bottled up on a narrow pennsula. It would take many weeks to get all the men and tanks ashore to create General George Patton s Thrd Army that would break out and defeat the Germans all across France. Thus, the 82nd, along wth other unts, had to keep fghtng to expand our hold on Normandy. After over a month of vcous combat, wthout relef or replacements, the 82nd Arborne was exhausted and badly depleted, wth losses from klled and wounded of about 65 percent. General Dwght Esenhower, lookng ahead to a determned stand by Germany at ts borders, envsoned a crucal need for the Arborne. He thus ordered an mmedate wthdrawal of the Arborne, and a return to England for rebuldng of strength. However, Patton s Thrd Army was now ashore, ready to break out of the confnes of Normandy and push the enemy across France. Unfortunately, a commandng rdge was stll held by the Germans, and the feld commanders wanted t taken. It was Hll 95, better known as La Potere Rdge, and t comprsed the largest and thckest woods we had seen n Normandy. The enemy was determned to hold on to ther last major advantage. Don Reland (second from left) n late The Alled army troops had already tred and faled. My company, Company G, 507th Parachute Regment, was hastly assgned to attack and secure the Eastern end of the rdge. About 45 of us, the exhausted remans of the 164 who jumped on D-Day, gathered along a sunken drt road leadng to a farmer s barn at the edge of the woods. There was barely an hour of daylght left, and those of us who were famlar wth a thck forest knew that t was already dark under the hgh trees. In total slence n the twlght, you could see the grm faces starng at the omnous woods. Ffty years later, all of my comrades would vvdly remember everythng that happened. After the Alled forces landed on D-Day, they stll faced great challenges securng the area and pushng the enemy back. The U.S. mltary today faces smlar challenges after wagng wars n both Afghanstan and Iraq. Fnd a news story about actvtes of U.S. forces n one of these natons. Wrte a paragraph descrbng the bggest challenges faced by the mltary so far. Wrte a second descrbng what you thnk wll be the bggest challenges to be faced n the future.

7 NUMBER 7 A BARRAGE UNLIKE ANY WE HAD EXPERIENCED By Don Reland As we arrved, the army troops were stragglng out of the woods carryng ther wounded, lookng blank and beaten. Nary a word was exchanged. Whle we felt for them, ther slow wthdrawal meant we would have to attack n the dark. It also meant we had to stare at the woods for another 30 mnutes or so. All of us knew that, despte the odds aganst us, our beloved Captan Ben Schwartzwalder, the only offcer left, would not falter n hs duty. In return, we vowed we would not let hm down. The captan, sufferng wth a wounded hand that was later found to be serously nfected, had lttle to say n vew of the dsmal scene. It was obvous that the defeated, retreatng troops were consderably larger n number than our tattered remnants. Those of us who were famlar wth a forest at nght could readly vsualze the perls of coordnatng an attack. The only way we could stck together would be by loud vocal communcaton. From ths, the enemy would know where we were, whle we would have no dea of where they were. They would know exactly when to begn ther artllery and mortar barrage. By the same token, from our experence, we would then learn where they were. The ntense German dscplne dd not allow for much varance, and we would know the exact dstance from the barrage area to where they were entrenched. Nevertheless, when the barrage began t was unlke any we had ever experenced. Many of the shells exploded when they ht branches hgh up n the trees, and you could hear the fragments smashng through leaves and branches on the way down. Most of us responded nstnctvely to the barrage by flattenng on the ground. Unfortunately, durng ths barrage my comrade, Maro Parletta, suffered a massvely shattered leg. After all hs close brushes wth death on D-Day, he was wounded less than 30 mnutes from the end of our last battle. At La Potere Rdge, Alled forces overcame a great challenge by breakng down the problem and thnkng through a soluton. Ther use of vocal communcaton put them n danger, but t also enabled them to locate the enemy. Problems often can be solved by breakng them down. In the newspaper, fnd a problem faced by government, busness or sports leaders. In teams, break the problem down nto at least three parts. Branstorm an approach for each part. Then wrte a possble soluton to the problem as a whole.

8 NUMBER 8 WE WERE A MERE 10 YARDS APART By Don Reland As we moved forward, the enemy let loose and revealed ther locaton by ther muzzle blasts. In the darkness they could not see us, thus losng ther advantage. We would reveal our locaton when we opened up, but t would be too late for most of them. A member of my company, whom we called the Wyomng sheepherder, just stood uprght and sprayed ther postons wth hs Thompson.45 sub-machne gun. He had always wanted one and fnally got one when the prevous owner was klled. I had my usual two extra clps n my hand and probably blasted over 25 rounds n a few seconds. We were a mere 10 yards apart, and we just couldn t mss. Then the Germans tossed a concusson grenade, and the captan, myself and two others were knocked to the ground. I don t thnk any of us were unconscous, because as I got up the toe-to-toe frng was stll ferocous. However, I could barely hear. The captan grabbed me and shouted to go down the hll and tell the group he had sent to crcle behnd the enemy to come For months after D-Day, U.S. ground troops came under ntense fre securng terrtory. Courtesy: The Natonal Archves. back wth the Brownng Automatc, our only bg weapon. Mostly deaf and groggy, I staggered downhll, followng a small stream, fallng nto the water several tmes. Fndng the group, they told me they could see an open feld and that the survvng enemy had retreated. We must be shootng at the dead and dyng, I thought. The nghtmarsh battle was over and we had carred out our msson. When Don Reland s company fought toe-to-toe wth German forces, t requred great courage by ndvdual solders. In assgnments around the world today, U.S. solders also must show courage n carryng out ther dutes. In the newspaper, fnd an example of a U.S. mltary operaton takng place n the world. Wrte out three ways solders nvolved show courage. Then fnd a non-mltary example of someone showng courage and explan the sgnfcance of ths knd of courage.

9 NUMBER 9 THE FIRST CIVILIZED THING...IN A MONTH By Don Reland When daylght mercfully arrved, thankful that no counter-attack had occurred, I got up from my foxhole and walked about. I counted 43 of our company left. Sttng on the edge of my foxhole, I cred uncontrollably. I thnk my tears were from exhauston, or perhaps for the end of Company G, knowng that a counter-attack would surely wpe us out. Suddenly, I saw the captan standng before me. Had he seen me cryng? Or was he sad about the near-total destructon of hs command? If he was, he dsgused t perfectly. All he sad was that for some unfathomable reason a real Red Cross truck was parked at the bottom of the hll and would I care to accompany hm to take a look at what goodes we could enjoy. I thought, he never ceases to amaze me. In hs own specal way, he cares. I am convnced of that. But, he had to mantan the strong, calm pose of a commander. Ths s hs way of sayng thanks, or maybe sorry I had to scream at you last nght. He was a football coach at a small college and later would gan natonal attenton and affecton as the recordbreakng coach of Syracuse Unversty. You ve seen coaches on the sdelne, who grab a player by hs shrt, pull hm close to shout nto hs ear then, roughly shove hm onto the feld. Well, that was Captan Ben. Of course, he knew from headquarters that the enemy had pulled way back, thus dscountng any major counter-attack. Sure enough, there was the Red Cross truck managed by two of the most beautful Amercan women I had ever seen. One had slver n her har but, to me, she was a move star. Lfe stll went on n the world, and I was exalted. Ths was the frst cvlzed thng we had seen n over a month. When the captan asked for cgars, he was told they were avalable only to enlsted men. I was gruffly grabbed and pulled to the sde to rekndle my memory: You smoke cgars!! I got my captan a handful of cgars and hs eyes sparkled. Get that hand looked at, I sad to hm. As a favor, please, sr. As he lghted up, he smled. Reland recoverng from D-Day njures. In war, and n lfe, people often experence great emotonal stress. Fnd an example n the newspaper from coverage of U.S. mltary forces or from other news events. Wrte a lst of emotons people mght experence from the event. Then wrte a paragraph or two explanng ways the person could deal postvely wth the emotons experenced.

10 NUMBER 10 WE DESPERATELY SOUGHT LIFE By Don Reland The rest of the day was unusually quet except for Germans comng by to surrender. They had been stragglng n all day, totally confused by the 82nd s four-pronged attack. Two 15-year-old German solders came through and we stopped them to talk. We had heard about Germany s bottom-of-the-barrel desperaton n draftng teenagers. Lke most German youth they could speak some Englsh. However, when they learned we were paratroopers, one of them started to cry. They sad they had been told that we dd not take prsoners. I was amazed how gentle my comrades acted n tryng to calm ther fears. It confrmed what I had been feelng all day concernng my comrades and myself: We were sck of kllng and desperately sought lfe. The next mornng as we were havng coffee and breakfast out of cans, some 300 new Alled solders swarmed all over the rdge. None of us could recall seeng that many solders snce D-Day. They looked lke they had just arrved from a parade, so clean and well-attred. I looked around at my comrades and was shocked. We looked lke flthy bums! And probably smelled worse. They had lots of offcers who were smartly arrangng where everyone should dg n and place all ther weapons. Such marvelous bg weapons and boxes of ammunton. It all looked so organzed and West Ponty that we just stared n wonder. That Don Reland wth a street sgn thankng troops for lberaton. s, untl a flurry of artllery shells whned overhead, and our newcomers madly dove for cover. We just spped our coffee. Then one of us yelled: That s outgong men. They re ours! As we started to leave one trooper sad: Do you thnk we should warn them about the poor Germans wanderng by? We dd, and they thanked us, and we sad goodbye and good luck. And that was the end of our war n Normandy. On May 29 n Washngton, D.C., the naton sad thank you to World War II veterans wth the dedcaton of the World War II Natonal Memoral. A newspaper can say thank you n many ways from feature stores to edtorals to photos to thank you ads. Study the dfferent features n your daly newspaper. Then choose one and use t to create a thank you for World War II veterans. Dsplay or read your thank yous for the class and explan why you pcked the approach you dd to say thank you.

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