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…
Division was called the Screaming Eagles. That name was patched onto the uniforms. This paper is going to cover the unique training of the 101st Airborne Division, 506th paratrooper infantry regiment (PIR) -- Easy Company, the Filthy Thirteen, and the sergeant in charge: Jack McNiece. The paper will also describe how Easy Company contributed to the battle for Normandy. The 506th was made up of 3 battalions plus headquarters, and each battalion had 3 companies plus a headquarters company. Each company had names, and there were 48 platoons plus headquarters in each company (Guarnere 16). The main reason that the 506th was so important and considered one of the best in the 101st Airborne Division was that of their unique training. Captain Herbert Sobel was in charge of the 506th PIR (Guarnere 21). Sobel trained them to be the best of the best. One of the ways he did that was by doubling every physical training activity the paratroopers had to do. Anything the other regiments had to do, Sobel made it harder and longer. He was not well liked by his men. The motto of the 506th was, “We stand alone together” (Guarnere 18). One example of Sobel’s training was to force his men to crawl through mud, guts, pig innards, blood, and everything (Guarnere 22). The men would train from 4:30 A.M. until midnight. He was fanatical about the men’s guns. He told them, “You’re gonna sleep with your gun. Twenty-four hours a day, your gun will be with you; you’ll sleep with it, eat with it, make it your wife. Leave your gun for a minute, and you’re gonna be sorry.” Each soldier had to know the serial number of his gun. Sobel tried to steal E company’s guns one time as a drill. The next day he called for E company’s gun numbers, and he was confused to find out that the men in his company still had their weapons. It turned out that he had stolen F company’s guns. Boy, were they mad, but it taught them a good lesson. In real life, they would have been dead (Guarnere 30-31). Just before the 506th left for England (August 1942) they were assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles. Major General Bill Lee said, “We have no history, but we have a rendezvous with destiny.” He never made it into battle with the men, because he had a heart attack before they left (Guarnere 33). The men who planned the invasion calculated that there would be an 80-90% mortality rate for the paratroopers. Once in England, a coupe occurred. The Screaming Eagles Easy Company did not like Sobel. He was inept when it came to battle. The sergeants got together and unanimously decided that he had to go, otherwise he might get them all killed in battle. Each man removed his stripes and handed them to Sobel. There can be no battle with no one to do the fighting, right? Sobel was furious, but there was nothing he could do. That action would not have worked if even one sergeant had not participated (Guarnere 41). Sobel was removed from his position and sent back to the states to Chilton Foliat jump school. Training was his strength, not battle (“War Remembered” 1). Major Winters replaced him and many say that was probably the best move made. Major Winters saved many lives. He really cared about his men (Guarnere 41). It was in England that the group known as the Filthy Thirteen really earned its name. The sergeant in charge was a man by the name of Jack McNiece (Killbane 44). Jack joined the military because he beat up someone and the police were looking for him. He joined the paratrooper division so that the police would have no jurisdiction. He was 22 years old (Killbane 10). Jack was put in charge simply because of his age. He was in amazing physical condition. He had no belief in the military structure of authority. He was there to fight and kill Germans. He believed that anything that did not further those two things was a waste of time. Nearly thirty men passed through the demolition paratrooper section known as the Filthy Thirteen. Physical fitness seemed to be the top priority for combat readiness. Because the regiment expected such high casualty rates in Normandy the commanding officers ignored the bad behavior of men like those found in this unit (Killblane 236). Every time a soldier came that a sergeant couldn't handle they were sent to this unit because it had absolutely no discipline (Killbane Intro). The Filthy Thirteen earned their name because they showered once a week and they never cleaned their uniforms. They never cleaned their barracks. They never did anything to pass inspections. When the officers came in they would just tell those officers to help themselves. They had no discipline. They had no respect for authority. They respected ability. They never saluted. They never did anything that one would consider “normal” behavior in the military. They were always in trouble because of this. However, they were extremely good at their job. And because they were so good, they were needed (Killbane 48). One member of the group once said, “We weren’t murderers or anything, we just didn’t do everything we were supposed to do in some ways and did a whole lot more than they wanted us to do in other ways. We were always in trouble” (Killbane 28). The day before the invasion of Normandy, the leader of the Filthy Thirteen, Jack McNiece, decided to give himself a Mohawk haircut to fight the lice problem.
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
27). The 101st job in the battle for Normandy was: 1) To secure 4 causeways that ran up from the beaches so the seaborne troops could get supplies, equipment, artillery, tanks, jeeps, and people up on the beaches. 2) To destroy German artillery positions trained on the beach. 3) To keep Germans from stopping the troops. 4) To kill all Germans and take no prisoners (Sheehan 60). Nothing went right at the drop, because there was a heavy fog and the anti-aircraft fire was really heavy. Men had to make jumps early and fell short or far from their targets. Germans were shooting as they dropped, and the equipment they carried and needed, landed on them if they didn’t look up. The planes had to fly way too low, and some paratroopers didn’t have time even to open their shoots. They died on impact. Confusion was everywhere (Sheehan 60-63). The only good thing was that the Germans were more confused than the Americans. Some men of the 101st 506th PIR landed as far as 20 miles from their target (Bliven 48). The Americans began to attack their objectives, even though they had no communications with division headquarters. Cutting telephone wires by the paratroopers and the resistance proved to be an invaluable tactic. That kept the Germans from being able to communicate and kept them more confused during the invasion. They had no idea where the main American paratrooper forces were concentrated, and they lacked leadership (Beaver 114). With so many men missing, men got promotions on the spot. The men in Easy Company had to attack to achieve their objectives, and they needed a leader, so Major Winters was made commander. He took his men and cleared the German artillery from Utah Beach. He also secured the causeways for the troops there. Men were needed to lead in other areas, but because of death, mis-drops, and lack of communication, there were not any officers, so a lot of promotions were made on the battlefield (Sheehan 65-66). For some American paratroopers, the sound of the naval bombardment of Utah Beach provided the first reassurance that the invasion was proceeding according to plan (Beaver 117). No German prisoners were taken, because that action would have slowed the soldiers down. The fighting became pitiless on both sides. In fact, that night probably saw the most vicious fighting of the entire war on the western front (Beever 67). Jack McNiece achieved his assigned mission of securing the bridges. He had to find men to help him, because he was separated from some of his unit. He also had to disregard orders from another officer to do it, but he followed his original orders, much to the surprise of his men. He had the furthest to travel to achieve his objective, but because of him and the Filthy Thirteen, and because of Easy Company and the 101st Airborne, 506th PIR, the invasion of Normandy was a success (Killblane 240.). In conclusion, if it had not been for the strict training the men had received from Herbert Sobel they might not have been as successful in their objectives that training prepared them for the blood, carnage, and physical demands that were made of them during the invasion of Normandy. The Filthy Thirteen was a demolition unit within the 506th PIR Easy Company that was under the unique leadership of Jack McNiece. These men succeeded in their objectives because of their very disregard for military structure. Finally, Easy Company contributed to the battle for Normandy by achieving their objectives of securing the causeways, destroying German artillery trained on the beaches, keeping Germans from stopping the troops, and taking no prisoners. “Courage isn’t about fear; it’s about overcoming it. Everybody has fear“ (Guarnere 27). This is the mantra that the men from the 506th PIR learned the hard way. It is a lesson that is good for all people to learn. People also need to remember that freedom is not free. It is bought with human lives and sacrifice. Works Cited Beevor, Antony. D-day : The Battle for Normandy. New York: Viking, 2009. Print. Bliven Jr., Bruce. Invasion: The Story of D-Day. New York: Sterling, 2007. Print. Guarnere, William, and Edward Heffron, with Robyn Post. Brothers in Battle: Best of Friends. New York: Berkley, 2007. Print. Killblane, Richard, and Jack McNiece. The Filthy Thirteen: From the Dustbowl to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. The 101st’s Airborne’s most legendary squad of paratroopers. Harvertown, PA: Casemate, 2003. Print Sheehan, Sean. D-Day, June 6, 1944. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003. Print. “World War II Remembered: Herbert M. Sobel.” . WWII Remembered. 2007. Web. 27 January 2014. (-- removed HTML --)
The United States Army has been through many changes since its start in 1775, yet it remains the greatest, most disciplined all volunteer fighting force in the world. Like the service members of the past and present, many Army units have contributed to the success of our military, and like those service members many have been lost. Even though these units are not as well known as the divisions they have belonged to, they have enriched the history of our Army just the same. The achievements of the 123rd Aviation Battalion have contributed to the history and success of our nations battles.
Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is something that every American should be willing to do anything in order to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living in a peaceful, American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon.
Yes it indeed bears repeating, “Freedom Is Not Free!” Its acquisition from King George’s England involved struggle, its maintenance throughout the first two and a quarter centuries of our Great Republic required sacrifice and its continuation demands perseverance. Wise people fully realize that struggle, sacrifice and perseverance are the vital characteristics of freedom, democracy and independence. In the late 1930s complaisant European nations were lulled into the jaws of the very dangerous “victim/slave mentality.” Weak democracies tried placating and accommodating the tyrannical proponents of the Communist, Socialist and Fascist ideologies and Europe soon found itself in jeopardy with maniacs like Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini threatening the existence of taken-for-granted freedom and human rights.
...bed the flag and shortly after he is killed. One solider after another picked up the flag after the flag bearer falls. It demonstrated the love and dedication they had for their country even when their country at this time wasn’t showing appropriate gratitude toward the 54th regiment and all the other black men and woman. In the heat of the fight, men were color blind.
Repressed vs. false memories has been a critical debate in criminal cases and daily life problems. Throughout the years many people has claimed to recover repressed memories with the simplest triggers varying from a gaze to hypnosis. However, a large number of repressed memories claimed are considered as false memories because the images were induced through hypnosis and recalled during a therapy sesion. In the film “divided memories” the main intention was to inform the audience the importance of repressed memories and how those memories can change the lives of the people involved, whether the memory was considered repressed or false. It shows different cases of women being victims of sexual abuse in childhood and how they had those memories repressed. Additionally, the film
speech, Patton also makes the statement, "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his
In conclusion, freedom is having power to inflict a positive change on the world. The ability to be yourself and not change for anyone. The right to choose who rules and who doesn’t rule. Having a chance to get out there and show the world what your all about and who you really are. These are all definitions of freedom and what it truly means to be
Freedom is open to anyone who will fight for its existence, even if that fight is only to say that they yearn for it. On the most part, we see freedom as free. If we want to go out at 3:00 a.m. for ice cream and shotgun shells, we are "free" to do just that. We, as American citizens, are accustomed to many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted, such as the freedom to speak out against anyone who is trying to infringe upon our civil liberties, the right to choose who will represent us to the rest of the world, and the freedom to make and change any rule set forth if it does not apply."
Freedom is not a reward or a decoration that is celebrated with champagne...Oh no! It's a...long distance race, quite solitary and very exhausting." -Albert Camus. The dictionary defines freedom as the condition of being free from restraints. Freedom is not just a word one can say without meaning. It is a privilege, a privilege not everyone is granted. Freedom gives the liberty to choose what should is done and how.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
Freedom is having the right to own, act, think, and speak without any restrictions from the outside. Ever since the New World was discovered, people have been fighting for their independence till this day. People of other colors and race have been forced to do labor without their consent. Today, those same people have been blamed or accused of crimes that were not committed by them despite of being free. Freedom has different meanings and those meanings change overtime; however sometimes the significance of freedom does not change.
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
The history of Air Defense Artillery dates back to the early nineteenth century. Air Defense’s introduction in World War 1 allowed for more diversity in terms of furthering joint, air, and missile counteractive operations. Like any other branch, air defense has gone through trial and error before actually finding its appropriate space in the army. The Air Defense Artillery branch continues to increase its technical ability and steadily improves its success, especially during Desert Storm and Desert Shield, all while keeping true to its humble beginnings.
Freedom is often spoken of in what can be referred to as a loose sense of the word. One country has more freedom than another; a twenty-one year old has more freedom than a fifteen year old. What exactly does this word mean? For different people it may mean different things, but there has to be an equilibrium that can be reached in order to determine the meaning of freedom itself. In one form, freedom can mean that a person has "exemption from an obligation."* If only the root (free) is looked at, it can be interpreted that one is "not under the control or power of another."*
One example that shows Americans have freedom is what freedom is in specific and certain situations. In What is Freedom? by Jerald M. Jellison and John H. Harvey, it states “Freedom means doing