Airborne summer reading list
And well into the fall too… It’s a big stack of unit history books that landed on my doorstep last week. It started while looking for a used copy of ‘Put Us Down in Hell’ by Phil Nordyke. I received … Continue reading →
Category Archives: History
Soldier’s Medal for paratroopers – looking for stories
I’m looking for accounts of US paratroopers who earned the Soldier’s Medal. I recently bought an original WWII slot brooch Soldier’s Medal and case, and I thought it would be interesting to create a kind of ‘hall of fame’ of … Continue reading →
Updates on John Urbank
My earlier post about SSgt. John (‘Jack’) Urbank from 2017, and again in 2020 has just been updated with some new (old) information. The information I received from Gary Grand included some newspaper clippings from Jack’s local newspaper, the Akron Beacon … Continue reading →
Ed Shames dies at age 99
Announced in the media worldwide today, Col. Ed Shames passed away on Friday at the age of 99. May he join his brothers and rest in peace. We all know Ed Shames from the epic HBO series ‘Band of Brothers’, … Continue reading →
Origin of the parachute training football helmet
Timothy Brown is the author of the very interesting story “When West-Point’s Football Helmets Went to War“, which was published last week. He used some of my own research, which is how I heard from him. Timothy has uncovered a … Continue reading →
Jack Beatty, 513th PIR service record?
In 2009, I first wrote about John M. Beatty’s purple heart. When visiting the Margraten American Cemetary I could not find his grave, even though I knew my family had tended to it when she was young. There are crosses … Continue reading →
John Urbank of 3rd platoon, G Company, 501st PIR
5 years after my initial post about John Urbank, I finally find out more about his wartime history and the men he fought with.
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