Screaming Eagle Found in Louisiana
A WWII gliderman (glider crew member) with a heavy Cajun accent is still alive and living in Louisiana. As a member of a glider crew (n this case, the 321st “Screaming Eagles” Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 101st Airborne Division), delivering troops and supplies into Normandy, he might have been found sitting in a Jeep, waiting for the glider to land so that he could drive the Jeep out of the hold.
His story is below. He seems to be quite a character. He is one of two found to still be with us. The article doesn’t say what kind of glider he helped to crew, but I would guess either a Waco CG-4A, which ferried troops and supplies, or a Horsa, which did the same but was slightly larger than the CG-4A.
He has been awarded the French Legion of Honor, along with another gliderman from WWII. May he have many more days ahead of him.
Category: Geezer Alert!, Historical, War Stories
Perhaps not “lost”. He, like millions he served with, simply went back to their lives, finished with what they were asked to do.
That generation didn’t raise braggarts or glory hounds, and they refused participation trophies.
“That part of my life is over. Now I gotta get a job, go to school, raise a family. Got no time to tell war stories”.
^This^
From the article “…the real heros are the ones that didn’t come home.”
Great post Ex. Thanks for a different kind of “Feel Good Story!” Wonder if he ran into later to become SGT MAJ Basil Plumley during Market Garden. Plumley was in the 320th FA Glider Bn 82nd AB during Normandy and Market Garden. “Ride to work in a vehicle that you know is going to make a, hopefully, controlled crash landing.”
*Slow Salute*
A true cajun
Morte du chud chawee
A loose translation – Death by Coonass
Salute!
Nice to know that there’re still a few of ’em around.
And Messkit said it best, that they just went back to livin’ their lives. Not to say that he might not’ve let somethin’ slip if he’d had a beer or two around some of the other guys from those days.
Did these guys trail a second glider to hold their ginormous brass cajones? Much respect.
Nah, they just carried them in their own pockets.
And these guys got no special pay.
Unlike the airborne.
My Father was glider qualified, we buried him with his glider “wings”. He thought jumping out of an airplane with a parachute was too dangerous. Go figure.