Following basic training as a medical corpsman, I was assigned to the 13th Airborne Division. This special unit was the 222nd Medical Detachment and was a glider outfit.
The glider is an aircraft made of plywood, aluminum tubing and glue, and was manufactured by the WACO Company. You had to be ‘wacko’ to go up in a WACO it was like a flying coffin.
Instead, I volunteered for parachute jump training. Five jumps, and you had your wings, jump boots and $50 extra per month.
After jump school, I was assigned as a medic to the 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment. After two more training jumps, we embarked to northern France where we encountered German resistance.
Lo and behold, the Krauts must have heard I was coming and they fled. Now, with the war in Europe over, my buddies and I were able to see France and Belgium as tourists.
The balance of my time in the Army was spent as a surgical technician in the MOS - Military Occupation Specialty.
Recently, I was contacted by a 17 year old Belgian student who is establishing an Airborne Museum. He thanked me for my part in liberating his country.
I will never regret my decision that “I would rather jump.”
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