Introduction

[rgrpuck]

He tells me stories about dropping into a warzone, with men being picked off in the air .

Welcome to the site.

Was your grandfather a Paratrooper as well?

[Jim]

is your grandfather involved with the Marauders veterans? If he wishes, I will pass on his e-mail to them.

[Lefty]

Welcome to this site.

Many thanks to you and your grandfather for all you and he have done for our country.
I have only met one Marauder, and that was COL Wilson of the JFK Center in 1969. As hard charging SF aspirants at the time, we were truly in awe of COL Wilson.
I am in awe of your grandfather - a true asset of this nation's history.
My recommendation is that you record, however you can, by transcription, tape, whatever, EVERYTHING your grandfather tells you, from his childhood on.
I regret I did not do that with my grandfathers, WW! veterans, but I did with my father, a WWII veteran of the North Atlantic, before he passed.

God Bless You and Your Grandfather.

[Adam81]

"Was your grandfather a Paratrooper as well?"

My grandfather is an Airborne Ranger. He wears an Airborne tab above his Ranger tab, and told me that he dropped into the jungle. In fact, he told me that was one of the scariest parts, b/c he said the Japanese were firing at the men as they were dropping, and the soldiers were basically floating targets until they landed

I assume he is active with the Marauders Association, he receives their newsletter but does not go to the reunions. He doesn, however, point out men he served with if they are mentioned in the newsletters and has even shown me pictures of men he knew in the book Spearhead.

I never actually recorded anything he's told me, but i remember it all. He faked his birth certificate to enlist when he was 17. I don't remember what unit he was initially assigned to but he volunteered when they put together the 5307th Composite (I think I got that right, going off the top of my head). He said they were all volunteers, and dropped into Burma first, i believe, where they underwent a short period of training before forming smaller units.

But most of his stories deal with actual encounters with the Japanese and the conditions in the jungle. He said there was very little food, and that the Japanese were ruthless. He remembers finding men strung up in the jungle. He's also spoken about boobietraps set by the Japanese, about the monsoons and the diseases the men caught in the jungle. He said a lot of the combat was very close. He talked about being led through the jungle by some indiginous people, and how he offended them by shooting a Peacock during patrol. He was hungry, and his platoon sgt ordered him to bring back some more for them men, but apparently the Peacock held some sort of religious significance to the indiginous people, and they wouldn't go near him. I think he said his unit was codenamed Galahad.

He said during the monsoons the foxholes were filled with water, and when a man in a hole was killed he was quickly pulled out so another man could get in while the water was still warm. Again, he doesn't talk much about it at all, so I get these stories in little bits over many years.

He said the book Spearhead is the best account of what they went through, but the book is about 3 or 4 inches thick so I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Oh, and i just send him an email and it got there fine. Again, his address is burmaranger@aol.com.