Veterans Day - November 11th

[Walt's Daughter]

From Howard Huebner, WWII paratrooper!

 

Hi all:

 

Forwarding an important message and testing my newsletter address file.

 

It is Memorial Time to honor those who had fought in World War II

and had defeated our enemies to preserve freedom for people

the world over.

 

The people in Europe, for example, is now enjoying peace for three

generations already with promises of many more generations to

come.

 

Had we lost the war in 1941 to 1945, you will now be speaking only

German or Japanese -- behind barbed wires --perhaps..

 

Bill

 

 

 

AIRBORNE VETERANS DAY CEREMONIES, ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY , NOVEMBER 9, 2007

 

The following prepared remarks were delivered by John Kormann, Colonel, AUS Ret., at the 17th Airborne Memorial Marker at Arlington Cemetery. Also present were two other surviving members, and the President of the Ladies Auxiliary :

 

Thank you for your presence today at this memorial service honoring the 1,480 paratroopers and glidermen of the 17th Airborne Division who were killed in the service of our country in World War II. Sadly, however, the number on this marker does not reflect the totality of the Division’s sacrifice, which when including the wounded, injured and missing in action numbered 6,292. For those of us who served with the 17th Airborne, it seems fate constantly reminds us of the great cost which was paid for our nation’s freedom. A number of years ago, I stood just beyond the McClellan Gate over there, when we buried with full military honors a highly decorated sergeant who had served with our division in the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. His remains were found in his foxhole in the thick Ardennes forest 55 years later. During that funeral, I stood next to his 57 year old son, a son whom the sergeant had never seen.

 

As our Association’s historian, I have had to answer letters from family members wanting to know about my comrades. I have had to write about the tragedies of war, tragedies of which our Division knew more than its share. I have had to tell how at Christmas in 1944, the 17th Airborne was thrust into the Battle of the Bulge to stop the onslaught of two German panzer armies. With light weapons they performed heroically against German Tiger tanks, taking many casualties in the snows and deep woods. The stand they made at “Dead Man’s Ridge†lives on in the military history of our nation.

 

On March 24, 1945, men of the 17th and the 6th British Airborne Divisions, totaling in number 17,500, were dropped across the Rhine River into the very heartland of Germany itself in “Operation Varsity.†Not much is said in the history books about this action, other than it was the most successful Allied airborne operation of the war. Coming so close to the end of that conflict as it did, however, there was a tendency to paper over what actually took place, and the heavy casualties. Landing on top of 85,000 waiting German troops, fighting for their homeland, the losses in killed alone on that day amounted to 1,070 men, while the number of wounded was well over 3,000. “Varsity†was the worst single day for the Allied airborne in World War II. Let me put this in perspective: The severity of “Operation Varsity†may be understood when compared to the much-heralded losses of the 20,000 man Marine Second Division, at Tarawa , where 894 were killed in three days of intense fighting.

 

During its relatively short, but violent life in combat, 65 days, the 17th Airborne served in three campaigns, taking average daily casualties almost double that of any other airborne division. (However, combat for other airborne divisions stretched over longer periods). Four of the 17th’s members received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the most of any airborne division in World War II. All were posthumous. As war in Europe drew to a close, what was left of the heroic 17th Airborne Division was deactivated, many of its members being sent to other airborne divisions. In recent years, however, our nation has chosen to remember the 17th Airborne Division by reactivating one of its combat regiments, the 507th Parachute Infantry, to act as the training unit for the U.S. Army’s Airborne School at Fort Benning , Georgia , and to serve as an inspiration to fledgling paratroopers.

 

So as we stand here in this time and place, let us, and let America , reflect with reverence and gratitude upon the sacrifices of the men of the 17th Airborne Division. Our Association, which this year has cased its colors, (we are in our middle eighties) deeply appreciates the opportunity to participate in these meaningful ceremonies. I say to you now, though our Association is no more, in coming years we will continue to be represented. Our thanks go to Colonel DeVries, the 82nd Airborne Division Association, The Reuben Tucker Chapter and all those who worked so hard to make these observances a reality. May God bless all those here today and may God bless our beloved country.

 

 

John Kormann, Colonel, AUS, Ret.