By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.245.230.239 - 209.245.230.239) on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 05:27 pm:
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.245.230.239 - 209.245.230.239) on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 05:27 pm: |
Lt. Bobek and 3rd Bn, 506th PIR on the eve of the Normandy invasion, 5 June 1994 in Exeter, England
Courtesy of Ivan Mehosky
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.244.95.77 - 209.244.95.77) on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 04:22 pm: |
H Company, 506th PIR - 1942
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (64.157.127.144 - 64.157.127.144) on Friday, December 07, 2001 - 01:21 pm: |
Ike with the 101st
This article was prepared for Eisenhower Birthplace State Historical Park by Wallace C. Strobel, 1st lt. Company E, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Strobel is pictured with Ike and the paratroops preparing to take off for the invasion of Normandy. He gives the story of how the photo came to be.
THE PICTURE
The picture was taken at Greenham Common Airfield in England about 8:30 p.m. on June 5, 1944. My 22nd birthday
It was shortly before we were to leave the tented assembly area to which , for security reasons, we had been confined for about 5 days. We had darkened our faces and hands with burned cork, cocoa and cooking oil to be able to blend into the darkness and prevent reflection from the moon. We were all very well prepared emotionally for the operation.
The drop packs, that were to be attached to the planes and contained our machine guns, mortars and ammunition, had been prepared earlier, marked with our plane numbers and delivered to the plane. Our plane number was 23 and I was the jumpmaster of that plane. This fact accounts for the sign around my neck in the picture which carries the number 23. The planes and jump sticks were so numbered for ease in locating the planes and crews as well as the attachment of the drop bundles to the correct planes. We were waiting for orders to leave for the planes when the word was passed, "Eisenhower is in the area." At that point in time this did not cause a great deal of excitement because all of us had seen him before when he had visited the division and, in addition, we were all pretty well preoccupied with our thoughts of our equipment and the operation ahead.
A short time later we heard some noise and we all went into the streets between the tents to see what was going on. Down the street came the General, surrounded by his staff and a large number of photographers, both still and movie. As he came toward our group we straightened up and suddenly he came directly toward me and stopped in front of me. He asked my name and which state I was from. I gave him my name and that I was from Michigan. He then said, "Oh yes, Michigan…great fishing there…been there several times and like it." He then asked if I felt we were ready for the operation, did I feel we had been well briefed and were we all ready for the drop. I replied we were all set and didn't think we would have too much of a problem. He seemed in good spirits. He chatted a little more, which I believe was intended to relax us and I think that all of us being keyed up and ready to go buoyed him somewhat.
You must remember that the men of the 101st and the 502nd Parachute Infantry especially were exceptionally well trained. We all felt we had outstanding senior and field grade officers. We had the best arms and equipment available and we had been very well briefed for the operation. We were at a peak physically and emotionally. We were ready to go and to do our job.
While I think the General thought his visit would boost the morale of our men, I honestly think it was his morale that was improved by being such a remarkably "high" group of troops. The General's later writings confirmed this.
Within minutes of his visit we gathered our equipment and walked to our planes. I especially remember that as our plane took off at dusk and as I stood in the open doorway of the plane I could see a group of men watching and waving at the planes and I understood later that it was General Eisenhower and his staff.
I forgot about the incident because of our activity during the next few weeks. Later when we were in a rear area I happened to look at a copy of a "Pony" edition of Time Magazine and I saw a very poorly printed copy of the picture. I couldn't make out the faces but I saw the 23 sign around the next of one of the men and I realized it was the picture taken the night before D-Day when we were ready to take off.
Later, in July, when we returned to base camp in England one of the men at base camp gave me a number of English newspapers which had used the picture. He had recognized some of us in the picture and had saved the issues. It was also used on cover of Yank magazine's 30 June issue. I don't believe it was used again during the war.
Our regiment photographer, Mike Misura, gave me the original negative of the one shot he had taken. This is the one with the General speaking directly to me with his hands down. The other shot was apparently taken by an official Army photographer and is the one with the General's arm raised as he spoke. This apparently is the official Defense Department photo as it seems to be the one used most often.
I didn't think about the picture again until the 1952 Presidential campaign when the General ran for President. That fall, General Eisenhower visited Michigan and the Saginaw area on a "whistle stop" trip by train. During his visit he was shown a copy of the picture by a friend of mine, Harvey Walker, who was the Saginaw County Republican Chairman. Harvey said the General recalled the incident and he signed a copy of the photo which I still have.
The picture has been used as a standard for anything connected with the European Theatre of Operations of World War II. As the years have passed it seems to be used more and more to show our Army as civilians like to envision it and to those who serve with the 101st Airborne Division it represents what we know our Division was. A fine well trained dependable group of men who were prepared for the invasion of France.
The picture was used in the Eisenhower postage stamp issued in 1990. It was depicted in the background of the stamp and while some changes were made in an attempt to follow postal regulations, there is no question the picture was used by the stamp artist.
I have always been proud of my service with the officers and men of the 502ND Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 101st Airborne Division.
(Eisenhower Birthplace would like to identify the men shown in the photo. Any information may be e-mailed to eisenhower@texoma.net or mail to Eisenhower Birthplace State Historical Park, 208 East Day Street, Denison, TX 75021)
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (64.157.127.144 - 64.157.127.144) on Friday, December 07, 2001 - 01:25 pm: |
Paratrooper w/ full gear, including leg bag
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (64.157.127.144 - 64.157.127.144) on Friday, December 07, 2001 - 01:32 pm: |
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (64.157.127.144 - 64.157.127.144) on Friday, December 07, 2001 - 01:35 pm: |
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.246.134.166 - 209.246.134.166) on Tuesday, December 11, 2001 - 03:03 pm: |
506th Infrantryman (reenactor)
Courtesy of Chris Cloes
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.246.134.166 - 209.246.134.166) on Tuesday, December 11, 2001 - 03:07 pm: |
Drawing by someone in the 506th while in Austria.
Courtesy of Chris Cloes
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (209.246.134.166 - 209.246.134.166) on Tuesday, December 11, 2001 - 03:09 pm: |
Unknown 506th paratroopers in Austria
Courtesy of Chris Cloes
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (65.56.122.93 - 65.56.122.93) on Friday, December 14, 2001 - 01:27 am: |
The morning of June 6, 1944 about 1:00 a.m. as they were waiting in their C-47 to take off for France to make a D-Day drop. S/Sgt John Taylor is the one standing at the right rear. He was in F Company , 501 Parachute Regiment - 101st Airborne.
Courtesy of Buck
| By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (12.239.86.117) on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 04:10 pm: |
Warren E. Cobbett recieves the DSC from General Gillmore. From the Screaming Eagle Vol. 1, Number 1 on Sept. 17, 1945.
| By Ilja Buschman (Bobandluzfan) (212.129.207.209) on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 09:28 am: |
I found a picture of Easy company just like H company above only it's not a very good picture.
I would like to know the names of everyone and maybe someone have a better one? Also how can i post pictures?
| By Angelo Miguel Nunes (Angelo) (194.65.100.8) on Monday, August 05, 2002 - 04:56 pm: |
This is not a photo, but rather a paratroopers "greeting card" for the germans: 
| By Ebeth (Ebeth) (199.174.65.27) on Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - 06:17 pm: |
That didn't work, so I'll attempt one more time
| By Ebeth (Ebeth) (199.174.65.27) on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 11:50 am: |
I copied the article from Life Magazine shown above, but the results weren't very clear. Instead of posting a poor copy, here is the text from the article. I'm hoping at least one or two of the photos will scan clearly enough to be posted.
"US Trains More Parachute Troops"
From 48 men last summer, number will have increased to eight battalions of 4,084 men by fall
Last summer, in the dusty Georgia air above Camp Benning, there were 48 U.S. Parachutists, who day after day, at peril of their lives, jumped from Army transport planes 750 ft. in the air. Last week there were 521 such parachutists, jumping, going to ground school, learning a dangerous job. By fall there will be 4,084 of them, divided into eight battalions, as well as about 400 in the Marine Corps. In another year there may be several thousand more. In an amazingly short time, the U.S. will have organized and trained an effective parachute force, ready for action.
A parachutist must be tough. Because the job is dangerous, all must volunteer, and entrance requirements are strict. A man must be between 21 and 32, unmarried, athletic, have a high I.Q. He must realize that he is likely to get hurt. Speaking before the House Military Affairs Committee, Major W.M. Miley, Commander of the 501st parachute battalion, said that his battalion had suffered one death, seven leg fractures, four ankle fractures, one toe fracture, one rib fracture, one leg sprain, one back sprain, two shoulder sprains, 35 ankle sprains, eight knee sprains, one hip dislocation.
Before he is allowed to jump, a parachutist must go to ground school. He must run, tumble, and do calisthenics until he is in better shape than a football player. Then he must learn how to jump off a 12 ft. platform without getting hurt, how to guide his falling parachute to right or left, how to squirm quickly out of his chute if he finds himself landing in water. Long after he makes his first jump, his studying goes on, for a parachutist landing in a strange country must be ready to read maps, operate a radio, seize an airfield, blow up a bridge.
Most practice jumps today are from an altitude of 750 ft. A human body, falling from that height, will take about 8 1/2 seconds to hit the ground. As a parachutist jumps, his static line, attached to the plane, opens his parachute before he has fallen 100 ft. As he jumps, however, he starts to count- one...two...three...four...If by the time he reaches "four", his regular parachute has not opened, he pulls the ripcord on the emergency parachute strapped to his chest. This should open in two seconds- giving him 2 1/2 seconds of leeway before death.
Although the U.S. Army experimented with parachutists as long ago as 1929, the model for present U.S. paratroops are the Germans. The Americans, however, according to Army officers, are not copying every detail of Nazi practice. They will not, for instance, need a jump master, whose job is to see that all men actually jump. The Americans, they say, will be "so highly trained" that they will not have to urged to jump.
| By Ebeth (Ebeth) (199.174.65.27) on Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - 06:31 pm: |
Pictures from the Life magazine article above. 
| By Bravoehe (85.21.125.100) on Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 06:04 pm: |
| By tecybyfyo (131.158.223.4) on Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 08:54 am: |
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