551st Parachute Infantry Association

2 weeks ago

As we've been attempting to run down all morning reports for the 551st PIB the National Archives is helping out. They are currently working to digitize all WWII morning reports while making them available to the public. Currently, the only months we are missing are for January/May for 1944 and December for 1943. The August '44 and April '44 reports were just released, several of them are shared here as a small sample. An added detail that was unexpected was handwritten situation reports included throughout from the likes of Marshall Dalton, Tims Quinn, Jim Evans and others. One additional surprise, that I don't recall reading or hearing about, is that the 551st was reviewed by "plane loads" by Gen Frederick on 10 August 1944 ahead of their jump. It's also great going through these knowing that they were in these places, to include the USS Abraham Lincoln for Quinn, when creating these reports, and likely written that evening, following the events of the day.

A link to the Archive's morning reports is below. I searched on "551st"AND"1944"AND"Prcht", for example, and then sorted by [most relevent]. They are sorted by rolls and once you find the correct roll, you have to then search for the 551st reports within that roll. There are morning reports for multiple units on each roll.

The 551st rolls that we've discovered so far are below, and as we locate/(they are released) we'll reflect the updates in this post:

1943:
August - Roll 489 (4 of 4)
September - Roll 278 (2 of 4)
October - Roll 307 (2 of 3)
November - Roll 217 (3 of 4)
December - haven't located

1944:
January - haven't located
February - Roll 33 (2 of 4)
March - Roll 262 (2 of 4)
April - Roll 557 (2 of 4)
May - haven't located
June - Roll 538 (1 of 4)
July - Roll 742 (3 of 3)
August - Roll 487
September - Roll 665
October - Roll 450
November - Roll 519
December - Roll 385

link to the Archives site:
catalog.archives.gov/search-within/85713825?page=2&q=%22551st%22AND%221944%22AND%22Prcht%22&sort=...

GOYA!

- Eric ... See More from 551See Less from 551

551st Parachute Infantry Association

1 month ago

It was about this time 81 years ago that the 551st was landing in southern France, at this place. Pictures are from the Association's 75th and 80th anniversary trips...GOYA!! ... See More from 551See Less from 551

551st Parachute Infantry Association

1 month ago

"Oh God, Commander of all men, we stand before Thee asking Thy help in the execution of the many tasks which confront us. Give us the strength, courage, daring, intelligence and devotion to duty, so that we may perfect ourselves as fighting men. And, oh God, if the price we must pay for the eternal freedom of man be great, give us strength so that we will not hesitate to sacrifice ourselves for a cause so sacred. All of this we ask in Thy name. Amen."

LTC Joerg was KIA on 7 January 1945 and found in his pocket at Rochelinval was the above prayer, that he had written just before departing Italy for their jump into southern France on 15 August 1944...

When LTC Joerg’s 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion jumped on 15 August 1944 the strength of the command was 842. In the picture of the 551st arriving in Juslenville on 10 January 1945, following Rochelinval, the strength of the command had fallen to 110 men who could continue. When it came time to pay that great price for eternal freedom, that LTC Joerg spoke of in his prayer, there was no hesitation from the GOYAs. Many heroes of the 551st remain in France and Belgium today after paying the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, some were returned home, like LTC Joerg was to his wife and two young daughters. To all of those that paid the price for “the eternal freedom of man”…SALUTE!

Much gratitude to all of our friends in southern France for remembering our heroes and their sacrifices on this 81st Anniversary of the invasion of southern France…GOYA!! ... See More from 551See Less from 551

551st Parachute Infantry Association

1 month ago

Interesting analysis of the DOVE mission put together by Martin Wolfe in 'Green Light!: a troop carrier squadron's war from Normandy to the Rhine.' Many paratroopers of the 551st had stories regarding the gliders coming in just behind them at Valbourges, of having to dodge them, of gliders standing up on their nose on landing and cargo/jeeps slamming forward into the cockpit and crew, of them crashing into trees...most of the stories were not pleasant ones.

From Martin Wolfe in 'Green Light!':

"The next missions were a paratrooper operation (CANARY) and an immense glider operation (DOVE). These afternoon missions had dramatically contrasting fates. The 437th TCG, which ferried the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, scored an almost perfect jump into DZ “A,” west of Le Muy, for CANARY. But DOVE turned out to be a wounded bird-because the operation failed to achieve the delicate precision required by large-scale glider missions, and because somehow the last remnants of German resistance near DZ “0” managed to put up a good deal of ground fire.
DOVE involved four and a half times as many gliders as our morning BLUEBIRD operation: 332 CG-4As compared with our forty CG-4A’s and thirty-five Horsas. DOVE carried more than 2,000 glider troopers plus an immense amount of equipment and supplies. No less than six troop carrier groups were needed to tow all those gliders.
Trouble plagued DOVE from the start. Clouds of thick dust were stirred up at some of the airstrips in Italy when planes and gliders took off. This made several groups dangerously late in forming their skytrain. Because of this delay, the lead group, the 442nd, forced planes in back of it to stack up dangerously in their efforts to maintain a safe towing speed. Some planes ended up towing their gliders twice as high as the designated 1,500 feet. Three gliders of the 441st had to ditch in the sea. Then the leader of the 442nd had to free his glider because it had developed trouble in its stabilizer controls. In the process the C-47 pilot turned away from the proscribed flight path and, for a few very confusing moments, all the rest of the planes in the 442nd TCG followed him, possibly expecting to be sent back to Italy
By the time the 442nd got back on track, at about 6:OO p.m. of DRAGOON’S D-Day, DOVE was hopelessly jammed up. One of our Navy’s cruisers added to the chaos by firing at a segment of the glider train which had been navigated slightly off course and out of the clear channel guaranteed as “fire free.” As each following serial approached the LZs, it found other planes arriving there out of sequence, still releasing their gliders. The congestion at both “0” and “A” was frightening. There were several layers of gliders desperately maneuvering over the same turf. One horrified glider pilot said the only comparison he could imagine was “Picadilly Circus at high noon with the traffic being directed by an insane policeman.” It seemed a miracle there were only two collisions in the air.
Both LZs had had some areas planted with “Rommel’s asparagus”-tall poles connected with trip-wire for detonating land mines. Some glider pilots, diving any which way to get out of that traffic before they ran out of air, opted to glide into other fields a few miles away. Others took the “Rommel’s asparagus” head on. Fortunately, some of the French who planted these poles had deliberately installed them only a few feet deep; also, the Germans had not been able to install the mine fuses in time.
The main danger to the gliders was not these obstacles but each other. Glider pilots coming into impossibly small open areas on these LZs at ninety miles per hour were, as it turned out, lucky to have their wings hit these poles: this helped slow them down with only minor damage. Those not so lucky stopped only when they crashed into other gliders on the ground. DOVE looked more like a demolition derby than a milk run." ... See More from 551See Less from 551

551st Parachute Infantry Association

2 months ago

On 12 August, 2002 members of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion completed their final mission...to hang their hat where it all began for the 551st in late fall of '42 at Fort Benning. They fought heroically against the enemy, the extreme cold, and being forgotten, as they went on and also fought valiantly for their own recognition, including for those heroes they lost...and they did all of it all the way!

That last mission was broken up into two phases for the 551st Parachute Infantry Association just prior to suspending operations...the creation/dedication of the monument at Fort Benning on 14 September, 2000, and two years later the addition of their mascot, Furlough, on 12 August, 2002. Their last order of business was transferring what funds were left over to the National Infantry Museum. The meaning and significance of the monument, and addition of their mascot, was shared in their applications...in their own words as follows:

"The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion was assembled at Fort Benning, Georgia in December 1942 after the paratroopers graduated from the Airborne Course. The Battalion was activated for a combat mission to seize the Island of Martinique from the French Government however, this was negated by the transfer of loyalty to the Free French Government. The Battalion returned to the United States, completed advanced combat training and departed for Europe where it was positioned along the Maritime Alps on the border between France and Italy. The Battalion was on the line for approximately 110 days without relief. The Battalion was then transferred to the 82nd Airborne Division in northern Europe. It participated in the Battle of the Bulge and suffered casualties so severe during the Battle of Rochelinval in Belgium on January 7, 1945, that the unit was inactivated and all the troopers reassigned throughout the 82nd Airborne Division. For the action in southern France the unit was awarded the French Croix-de-Guerre. The Battalion Commander was killed on January 7 at the Battle of Rochelinval. In perpetuating the memory of the gallant service of the paratroopers of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion and to honor its Commander, who was killed in action, we request this living memorial be erected on Fort Benning's grounds in memory of the sacrifices made by the Great Outstanding Young Men, or the GOYA's, as the Battalion was known."

**Two years later their mascot, Furlough, was added to the Monument. The following is quoted from additional correspondence with Fort Benning regarding that addition:

"When the Monument was dedicated in September 2000 one element to be a part of it could not be completed in time for the dedication. Of course additional funds also were necessary that contributed to the problem.

The 551st Parachute Infantry Association raised the funds and had the addition to our Monument completed and ready for placement on our present Monument. It consists of a stone replica of our "Beloved Furlough", the Dachshund that our Battalion found at the Port of Embarkation, Hampton Roads, VA, in December 1942. Furlough accompanied the Battalion to Panama, Camp Mackall, NC, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Belgium. As the Battalion entered the Battle of the Bulge, Furlough was feared to become a casualty of the weather. A decision was made to allow a returning Army Air Corp to bring Furlough back to the States and give her a home. Unfortunately, we lost track of her for which all the GOYAs feel sad about it to this day.

We propose the stone replica in size of Base 8"x16" and Hight 12", in medium brown color be placed on the concrete pad, centered and up against the front side of our existing Monument with a small engraved marble plate that contains the following wording:"

"FURLOUGH THE BELOVED GOYA MASCOT"
"SERVICE WITH THE BN. DEC 42-DEC 44"

**Regarding funding, below is a list of those individuals/families who donated financially to the monument at Fort Benning as of 20 September 1998, while others assisted in other ways...and perhaps even financially, toward the addition of Furlough:

Emory Albritton Evelyn Kosowski
T.A. Anderson Richard Mascuch
Vincent Artz Randall Meador
Roland Barhyte John Morgan
Pat Casonava William Olson
Joseph Caudal Stanley Pakal
Esther Critcher John Pidgeon
Douglas Dillard Urban Post
Richard Field Joseph Preziootti
Inez Garretty Charlotte Sauget
Edward Hartman Howard Scanlon
Elizabeth Higgins Bill Smith Jr.
Fred Hilgardner Stanford Strong
Paul Kajar Don Thompson
Ethel Joerg Patricia Walsh
Joe Killgore Susette Wilson
Elaine Young ... See More from 551See Less from 551

551st Parachute Infantry Association

2 months ago

A couple of days ago I came across some incredible documents that I felt are worth sharing here. They are archived at the Carlisle Barracks Library in Carlisle, PA. Many individuals on this page might recall GEN Zais speaking the exact words in the first six pages of the presentation shared in this post...that's in all caps. Likely the actual copy he used to read from for that presentation. Zais presented the address at a 551st reunion in August of 1980, less than a year before he passed away in May of 1981.

GEN Zais was the company commander of C company for the 501st in Panama, and under him during that time were four future company commanders for the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. Their names were Jungle JIM Evans, Tims Quinn, Bill Smith, and Marshall Dalton. For later context, regarding the General's remarks about Dalton...when the 551st jumped into southern France Dalton was about 500' above ground when an equipment bundle collided with him and collapsed his chute. His only option at that point was to grab onto the equipment bundle and ride it down, in which he did. It is a long read, but it's a great read if you're a fan of the 551st or paratrooper history in general. The last two sentences of his address to the 551st goes:

"We look back on what we did and how we did it--we look back on the challenges we met, the hills we climbed, the loads we carried, the fears we overcame, the suffering we shared and we are proud. We seek some way to return and draw sustenance from each other, to recapture the glory and the pride that comes to us for very short periods in a lifetime, to relive those halcyon days and to say to ourselves, 'No matter what today or tomorrow brings, yesterday I was a man.' "

The next paper, also included in this post and filled out on notebook paper, is from an interview a few months following GEN Zais's address to the 551st. I'm certain it was conducted, and later transcribed, by Dan Morgan. In that interview GEN Zais, an original paratrooper, goes into an airborne history lecture starting with their presence in Panama and then on into Africa and Europe, to include the glider battalion who joined the 501st in Panama, the 550th GIB.

I took the Arlington photos back in 2021 and the 551st insignia shared here was also archived at Carlisle Barracks Library...

-eb ... See More from 551See Less from 551