Dear FRiends, We need your continuing support to keep FR on the air. [FReepathon thread XIX]

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Regarding a donation from a Freeper from Georgia, which was noted on an earlier thread.

Thank you, Georgia!
Georgia ~ Where Heroes Are Forged *

Georgia's Stone Mountain

Georgia's Stone Mountain has
its lights on at night...

Jacks River
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest
Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests
Georgia

Dockery-Lake
Chattahoochee National Forest
Georgia

Red Top Mountain
Cartersville, Georgia

* Georgia ~ Where Heroes Are Forged

Close-up out of respect for a National Hero

The Col. Robert Sink Memorial Trail
Currahee Mountain
Toccoa, Georgia

Lieutenant General Robert Frederick Sink

aka Bob, Five-Oh-Sink

Born April 3, 1905
Lexington, North Carolina
Died December 13, 1965 (aged 60)
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery

Education:

Trinity College which is now known as Duke University
West Point Class of 1927
United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia

Commands Held:

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
7th Armored Division
44th Infantry Division
XVIII Airborne Corps
Strategic Army Corps (STRAC)
Caribbean Command, Panama Canal Zone

World War II:

Operation Overlord (Battle of Normandy D-Day)
Operation Market Garden
Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne

Korean War:

Asst. Div. Cdr. 7th Infantry Division

Awards:

3 Silver Stars
2 Legions of Merit
2 Bronze Stars
2 Air Medals

World War II

In 1940, he was assigned to the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion at Fort Benning. Sink became one of the four percent of the Army's paratroopers qualified as a master parachutist and celebrated his birthday each year by making another jump.

He later commanded the 503rd Parachute Infantry Battalion and (later) Regiment. In July 1942 he was named Commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Toccoa, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Sink commanded the 506th throughout World War II, turning down two promotions during the war to remain with the unit (the regiment sometimes being referred to as the "Five-Oh-Sink").

Sink was also a close personal friend of Major Richard Winters.

"When I first met Sink I was in awe. He was sitting behind his desk smoking a cigarette. He came across as having this West Point attitude. You know, 'You are not any big deal.' But I learned pretty quickly that my first impression was wrong. Sink was a terrific leader, and he stuck with the regiment from the beginning to the very end of the war.

... This was his first regiment. And if you look at it through his eyes, and you see these troops coming from civilian life, direct from school, from work, maybe a few of them with a little college, and he is supposed to make a regiment out of this group?

It makes it even tougher when you look at the officers he was assigned — and I include myself here. Here I am, a year out of college. I go through basic training as a volunteer. I signed up for Officer Candidate School.

So a 90-day wonder, and now I am a second lieutenant. And this is the kind of stuff he was assigned and told to turn into a crack airborne unit. He had a heck of a job.

To make it worse, he had nothing there at the camp. There were no buildings when he first reported in. He had to build an obstacle course. He had to beg, borrow and steal what he needed.

He had to search for men who knew even the basics of their job. Of the cadre that he started with in Toccoa, not one of them was around by the time we got into combat. They were all good enough men, they were just not fit enough to be in the airborne.

They came in and were there to teach us, give us basic training and construct the camp, put it together, but not one of them was around by the time we were ready to go to France.

Sink did a terrific job from start to finish. He stuck with us throughout the entire war." Major Dick Winters

Sink made two combat jumps in command of the 506th during D-Day and in Operation Market Garden, and commanded the Regiment at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Lt. General Sink Stories

A Bridge Too Far (1977): The character of "Colonel Robert Stout" in the film A Bridge Too Far (1977), played by Elliott Gould, is based on Sink.

Band of Brothers (2001): Lt. Gen. Robert Sink was portrayed in the HBO/BBC miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) by Vietnam veteran and retired U.S. Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye (also the military advisor on the series).

Lt. General Robert Sink

"Three Miles Up and Three Miles Down"
Currahee Mountain
Toccoa, Georgia

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