US Army & National Guard
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Mel Trenary, Paratrooper in the Airborne, 517th Regimental Combat Team, 1st Battalion, Company A, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad. Mel saw battle all throughout Europe, suffered frozen feet, and is proud of the fact that the first time he ever flew in an airplane he had to "jump" out of it. Over 50 years later a portion of his military "half-tent" was found in France, near the location where he left it when he was injured. Paratroopers had an average of 1 1/2 jumps due to the high risk of being killed from the danger of jumping out of an airplane or landing during combat.
Clyde Miller, one of 3000 "Merrill's Marauders" serving under General Frank. D. Merrill in the 5307th Composite Unit.
Clyde lost over half of his unit, suffered from Malaria, lack of food and water during their mission. To this day he suffers problems with his feet due to the intense walking that the Marauders had to endure. Many of the Marauders were "volunteers", but Clyde Miller was actually assigned to the unit.
Pictured here, Clyde holds the shovel that he used to dig the fox hole that he would stay in while being surrounded by the Japanese for 17 days. "We couldn't even go out and claim our dead or get a drink of water from the stream as the Japanese would shoot us or our ankles."
No other American force except the1st Marine Division had as much uninterrupted jungle fighting. The Marauders had marched 1000 miles over the ranges of the Himalayan Mountains into Burma through the jungles, mountain roads, and tracks, carrying all of their own equipment and supplies.* After the war the Marauders unit would become the first Army Ranger unit.
* http://www.marauder.org
Choctaw, John Brown joined the Army National Guard at the age of 15 serving in the 45th Infantry
Amphibious Division (the Thunderbirds), 157th Infantry, under General George S. Patton's 7th Army.
Also served under General Mark W. Clarks in the 5th Army. Of the 45th Division General Patton stated
“Your division is one of the best, if not the best division in the history of American arms.” On April 29, 1945, John along with the rest of the 45th Infantry would liberate Dachau concentration camp.
James Everly, one of the legendary 3000 "Merrill's Marauders" serving under General Frank. D. Merrill in the 5307th Composite Unit.
No other American force except the1st Marine Division had as much uninterrupted jungle fighting. The Marauders had marched 800 miles over the ranges of the Himalayan Mountains into Burma through the jungles, mountain roads, and tracks, carrying all of their own equipment and supplies.*
* http://www.marauder.org
Legendary Jake McNiece, paratrooper in the 506th, 101st Airborne division and founder of what became known as the "Filthy Thirteen". Jake made an unheard of 4 combat jumps. During his Army career he was constantly in trouble, so much so that regardless of the fact that he was in charge of men on the ground and technically an acting Sergeant, was pivotal in these campaigns, and earned numerous awards and medals, never made it past Buck Private, something he is still very proud of.
A paratrooper (demolition/saboteur) had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army, in fact so dangerous that initially it was all voluntary. The Army estimated that the average life span of a paratrooper was one and a half jumps, or 50% casualties. That's because for the most part when they were jumping out of those planes, they were being shot at from the ground. Jake said their unit actually experienced up to 70% casualties. When he was in the Pathfinders they had a casualty rate of 80%. The Army would put ten men in a "stick" as Jake liked to call it, because they figured they would lose 8 of the men which would leave 2 to do the job efficiently.
The picture on the front of the Filthy Thirteen book, taken the day before the D-Day drop, immortalized Jake and his unit and spawned inacurate stories from "a band of dirty Indians", "convicts", and even as far as a movie being made titled "Dirty Dozen." For the record, none of that information is correct. The only one who was close to Indian was Jake who has Indian ancestry, and none were convicts. The movie was highly inaccurate mostly because Jake refused to endorse the movie as he didn't want to earn blood money on his dead comrades. Hollywood in its usual manner created its own war story sprinkled with a few facts.
True to Jake's antics and constant wild ideas and behavior, the reason for the mohawk was simple. If Jake was going to fight in this war he was going to make the best of it. Coming from Oklahoma Jake figured that if Indians painted their faces before going into battle, he could to. Thus, shaved his head and put war paint on. One can imagine that this must have also helped with the anxiety of the men who within hours may or may not be alive.
* ref: "The Filthy Thirteen" by Richard Killblane & Jake McNiece, and personal conversation with Jake, 2010.
J.W. Watson was drafted into the Army at the age of 18 and served in the 100th Infantry Division, 397th Regiment, Company 397, Company B. The 100th Infantry was nick-named "The Century". J.W. served all over France & Germany, and remembers vividly that the winters were tough and bitterly cold. When asked if he would do it all over again, J.W. remarked "Yes, if it was necessary."
