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Posted on 12/21/2004 10:38:14 PM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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The daring parachute drop by 20 pathfinders was critical to the defense of the town of Bastogne in December 1944.  Jake McNiece In December 1944 the weather around Bastogne had been consistently foul. Day after day, visibility had been very low -- too low to risk dropping supplies into the perimeter surrounded by the besieging Germans. Nearly 60 years later, it is still most commonly believed that a fortuitous break in the heavy cloud cover made a drop possible. In truth, the drop's success had more to do with the skill and bravery of a handful of pathfinders than a break in the clouds. Prior to the Battle of the Bulge, McNiece and the other pathfinders had been members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment's demolition section. Their antics on and off the battlefield had made them regimental legends. They wore Mohawk haircuts and war paint when they jumped into Normandy in June 1944. They were proud to be called the "Filthy 13." Combat during the 101st Airborne Division's grueling 72 days on the line in Holland in the fall of '44 had reduced the 13 to three. When McNiece, always something of a rebel, returned to the 101st's camp at Mourmelon, France, in December after overstaying a three-day pass, his military superiors decided something had to be done. And it was not enough to demote him to private first class as they had done after his first extended absence without leave following the Normandy invasion. As McNiece threw his gear on his bunk, his friend Frank "Shorty" Mihlan ran into the tent to tell him that the 506th Regimental Headquarters Company commander wanted to see him. "They want to send you to England," Mihlan blurted out. "Oh, is England where they are going to hang me?" McNiece quipped to his friend. "That's not exactly it, Jake," Mihlan replied. "It's almost that though. They would like for you to volunteer for parachute pathfinding service." McNiece reported to Captain Gene Brown, his company commander, as ordered. The first thing he did after saluting was ask his commander, "What happened to all those guys who volunteered for this BS up in Holland?" "When they came back, they un-volunteered," Brown explained.  Brown admired McNiece, but after disciplinary problems in the regiment in Holland, pressure had mounted to clean house of troublemakers. In fact, the division commander, Maj. Gen. Maxwell Taylor, had just flown back to Washington to report on, among other things, the conduct of some of his men in Holland. When Brown asked McNiece to volunteer for the pathfinders, he promised McNiece that he could retain his rank (if he ever attained any) and leave the 506th with a clean record. The offer did not impress McNiece, but he told the captain he would think it over. He returned to his quarters to ponder his options. Although pathfinder operations were considered suicide missions, he figured that the war was nearly over and there would be little need for further airborne drops. An added benefit was that the pathfinder school was located at the 9th Troop Carrier Command's base at Chalgrove, England. The idea of sleeping between clean sheets and eating good Army Air Forces food was appealing. He quickly returned to Brown and accepted his offer. Brown then asked McNiece if he would talk Max Majewski into going with him. McNiece said he had his own reasons for volunteering but would not try to convince anyone else. As it turned out, he did not have to. McNiece had considerable influence in the company. When Majewski asked why he had volunteered, McNiece explained his logic and before long Majewski also signed up.  Upon receiving word of the German's Ardennes offensive, men of the 101st Airborne were given 24 hours notice to move to the Bastogne area in Belgium. This print commemorates the efforts of the Artillery of the 101st in stopping the German offensive cold. Soon Jack Agnew heard that McNiece had volunteered, and he did too, no questions asked. "Hell, he's not going without me," Agnew said. He was one of the original Filthy 13 and had joined McNiece's section back in the States. The Irish-born Agnew could fly a plane, drive a boat or fix any engine. He was also the company's crack shot. As word of McNiece's new assignment spread through the company, others quickly volunteered. William Coad and John Dewey, who had been assigned to McNiece's section for the Holland jump, signed up. Finally, Lieutenant Schrable Williams, who had been with the platoon since its training days in Toccoa, Ga., came in to ask why half of his demolition platoon had volunteered for pathfinder training. McNiece explained their reasoning and the lieutenant also joined the group. The volunteers reported to the 9th Troop Carrier Command's pathfinder group at Chalgrove in December 1944 to begin their training. Shortly after their arrival, McNiece reported to Captain Frank L. Brown, commander of the pathfinder detachment. To McNiece's surprise, the captain offered him first sergeant's stripes.  "Boy, somebody's been pulling your leg," replied an amazed McNiece. "What do you mean I've been recommended? I've been in here for nearly three years now and ain't even made pfc yet. I'm not first sergeant material; I'm the biggest goof-off in the Army." "I'm in here for the same reason as you," Brown said. "I'm a goof-off. I don't care about military discipline, saluting or picking up cigarettes and all that. We've got 400 goof-offs here. They told me that you have been through this thing since Normandy and that you can whip this group into shape and get it right and ready quick."  The members of the 101st Airborne Division, right, are on guard for enemy tanks, on the road leading to Bastogne, Belgium. They are armed with bazookas. 23 Dec 1944. "It sounds like we might be dealing right on the table," McNiece said, and he accepted the captain's offer with some conditions. "I want good food. I want good, reasonable quarters and I want these people to have an almost permanent pass as long as they will respect it. The first thing they're going to do is take a three-day pass to London." "How many of these guys do think we'll get back?" Brown asked. "You'll get back all of them except the ones that are in jail, and just as quick as the police notify us, we'll go get them," McNiece answered. "They are a good bunch of men. They're just field soldiers -- combat men, not garrison. They have been behind enemy lines for 72 days. They need to get into town and let some steam off." "Well, I'll tell you what I'll do," Brown said. "I'll get you a pass book and you can let everybody in here have a three-day pass without destination, but you've got to stay here and get these sticks organized and a training program set up. When they get back then you can go."
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Hi Sam.
USA = Uncle Santa to All
HO HO HO miss Feather
This Day in Naval History - Dec. 22
Story Number: NNS011212-10
Release Date: 12/12/2001 4:09:00 PM
From the Navy News Service
1775 - Congress commissions the first Naval officers: Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the fleet, Capts. Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle and John Hopkins. Lieutenants appointed included John Paul Jones.
1841 - USS Mississippi, the first U.S. ocean-going side-wheel steam warship, is commissioned in Philadelphia.
1942 - Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Thomas A. Moore performs an appendectomy on Fireman 2nd Class George M. Platter aboard USS Silversides (SS 236).
1942 - Sue Dauser takes the oath of office as Superintendant of the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first woman with the relative rank of captain in U.S. Navy. She was promoted to the rank of captain on Feb. 26, 1944.
1944 - The first two African-American Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service officers, Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances F. Wills, are commissioned.
1960 - USS Valley Forge (CV 45) helicopters rescue 27 men from oiler SS Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge was breaking up in heavy seas off of Cape Hatteras.
For more information about Naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.
Hiya Sam
You've corrupted our intern!
She walked in while that was playing.
She's only 18, and now ruined for life. Once she finishes laughing that is. ;-)
You can keep the brisk weather to yourselves up there.
I like to be above 10,000 feet when it's that cold outside my tent.
They had a tough time 'round these parts. Those cute little huts with the pot bellied stoves just sink in liquid water.
What a moment it must have been to have members of the 506th PIR meet with members of the 101st Airborne 60 year later at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France. Stories like these are so inspirational.
There won't be a gathering like again . . . thanks for sharing that!
Read your profile, FWIW, I'm originally from South Austin, TX.
Served my country in the early-mid 70's in the military & intelligence communities in places & ways that are best left unsaid. ;>)
Darn . . . yours is the kind of military mind I love to pick. Perhaps you can throw us some crumbs from time to time. ;^)
LOL!
Brrrr. No thanks. It's been in the 40's here and I think that's cold!
I was a Forward Observer attached to a company of Grunts and we had a Pathfinder temporarily attached to the company as well. ( FO's and Pathfinder's are kinda temporary things)
One morning at about 4:30 am, everyone was rousted out of their fart sacks and put on defensive posture expecting a predawn attack. (It was a clear, colder than $%^*$ night)
Anyway, this Pathfinder somehow got turned around in his fart sack during the night and couldn't seem to find the zipper or the small hole that your face normally sticks out of.
So, there he was making these weird mumbling sounds, thrashing, and flopping around on the ground trying to get out. This seemed to go on for five minutes. The guy was really in a fix. We were laughing our butts off at this poor guy's predicament.
Finally, someone grabbed his fart sack and said, "Hey, hey, hold on a minute. Let me help you". They got him unzipped and he crawled out looking kinda confused and pissed. No one really said anything, just went on about their business gathering their gear, keeping their snickers to themselves.
I wonder if after the fact he didn't have to laugh himself.
Pathfinders are something else. I've seen those guys jump from the back of C-130's so low their chutes barely had time to open before they were on the ground.
Merry Christmas Everyone
Wooden model of the Daimler-Benz proposal
LOL!
That's my math anytime of day. :-)
We "build" em good in America. :-)
I've heard "Everything is strange" in Texas. :-)
LOL! Takes a better man than me to jump out of a plane. :-)
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