101st Airborne Research Papers

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Can you define freedom? A Dutchman in Europe said, “You can’t. You don’t know what freedom is until you lose it” (Guarnere xxii). Freedom is what American soldiers fought for in WWII. The 101st Airborne was on the front line of every major battle in the European theater with enough men, weapons, artillery, ammunition, supplies, and trooper clothing to survive. The 101st was the army’s elite paratrooper division and was always on the front lines. During WWII, Easy Company, the best and the toughest, a part of the 101st, froze, starved, got covered in filth, became exhausted, and lost good men every day. They inflicted more casualties on the Germans than the Germans inflicted on the Americans or their Allies (Guarnere XX). The 101st Airborne …show more content…

He also painted his face as camouflage so he would not have to use twigs and other things once he landed. He had professed to Indian religion and that was just the way it was done where he came from. The other men in his unit loved the idea and had him cut their hair the same Mohawk way and put paint on them. Jack said he had no idea that there were pictures being taken for “The Stars and Stripes” until he saw the pictures later after the battle (Killbane 70). This contributed to the German idea that American airborne troops were recruited from the toughest jails in the U.S. (Beever 25). President Eisenhower came to see the paratroopers the day before the battle. He felt bad because of the projected high mortality rate. He knew most of the men would die. On the eve of battle, he interviewed a 101st Airborne soldier. When asked if he was afraid, the soldier admitted that he was. Eisenhower then said, “Well, you’d be a damn fool not to be. But the trick is to keep moving. If you stop, if you start thinking, you lose your focus. You lose your concentration. You’ll be a casualty. The idea, the perfect idea, is to keep moving” (Beever

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