PARATROOPERS ARE A SPECIAL BREED.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The kid was working behind the counter in his uncle's restaurant back in '42 when the Army Airborne trooper walked in. The soldier was finally getting out in public after being laid up in a Cambridge, Ohio Cambridge is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Guernsey CountyGR6. The municipality is located in southeastern Ohio and is in the Appalachian Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains. , veterans hospital for more than six months to recuperate re·cu·per·ate v. To return to health or strength; recover. from combat wounds. ``He walked into the restaurant dressed in full regalia - the jump boots, dress uniform, the whole thing,'' Roy Schervish said. ``I thought to myself, wow, does he ever look sharp. I asked him what kind of outfit he was with, and he told me Airborne. It was the first time I had ever heard of it. ``He had been wounded in Africa serving with the 82nd Airborne Division, making the first combat jump ever. He always stuck in my mind, that guy and how sharp he looked.'' Two years later, when the kid was finishing up his own Army basic training to enter World War II, an officer asked his unit if anyone wanted to volunteer for parachute school. ``There were probably 200 guys in the room, and only myself and a few others raised our hands,'' he said. ``That's how it started.'' ``Two weeks later, I was in jump school at Fort Benning Fort Benning, U.S. army post, 189,000 acres (76,500 hectares), W Ga., S of Columbus; est. 1918. One of the largest army posts in the United States, it is the nation's largest infantry training center and the home of the Army Infantry School. , Georgia. When the Normandy invasion Normandy Invasion Allied invasion of Europe during WWII; D-Day (June 6, 1944). [Eur. Hist.: EB, VII: 391] See : Battle guys from D-Day returned home, we went to England as their replacements. ``By mid-August (1944) we were headed for Holland on Operation Market Garden - 15,000 guys jumping out of planes. They made a movie out of it called `A Bridge Too Far.' ``Why did I volunteer for Airborne? Because of that guy. Those boots and uniform. Man, they were beautiful,'' Schervish said Monday. The kid's 73 now, and like a lot of local ex-Airborne troopers from World War II through Desert Storm, he'll be stopping by the Los Angeles National Cemetery The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in West Los Angeles, at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard. The cemetery was dedicated in 1889. this Saturday at 11 a.m. to pay his respects to fallen comrades Fallen Comrades is a first season episode of Beast Wars which first aired on September 30, 1996. Plot The Axalon's cargo of Maximal protoforms in stasis pods had been launched into orbit before the crash, but eventually one of the pods fell to Earth in the northern who never made it home. Officially, it's called National Airborne Day, and by congressional resolution it's supposed to be on Aug. 16. But that's a Thursday this year, and a lot of these guys, like Schervish, are still working, so they pushed the ceremony at the Airborne Memorial to Saturday, the 18th. ``It's our day,'' said Manny Manny may refer to: In nobility:
``We're like a brotherhood,'' he said. ``Not everyone wants to volunteer to jump out of an airplane. It's in your blood.'' It was Aug. 16, 1940, at Fort Benning, Ga., that the parachute test platoon made its first jump and the Army Airborne Division was born, DeJesus said. Men like himself, Schervish from Newbury Park, and Willie Williams This article is about an executed murderer. For other uses, see Willie Williams (disambiguation). William James Williams, Jr. (November 9, 1956 – October 25, 2005) was a murderer executed by lethal injection in the U.S. state of Ohio. over in North Hills had followed in the test platoon's footsteps. It took a special breed and still does, the men say, to want to jump out of an airplane. ``Even the pilots said they wouldn't leave a perfectly good airplane,'' Schervish said, drawing a laugh from Williams. ``I went up in an airplane 106 times and landed in one only once, when the weather was just too bad to jump,'' said the 72-year-old Williams. Like Schervish, it was the boots and uniform that drew him to Airborne service back in 1947. ``I was just finishing basic training at Fort Dix Fort Dix, U.S. army training center, 32,000 acres (12,950 hectares), central N.J., SE of Trenton; est. 1917 as Camp Dix and named for U.S. statesman John A. Dix. In 1939 it was made a permanent garrison and renamed Fort Dix. , New Jersey, when this guy came up on stage standing tall, wearing boots that were so shiny they blinded you,'' Williams said. ``He didn't even have to ask. I just put my hand up right then and there and volunteered.'' Last year, the ceremony was hosted by the 82nd Airborne Division. This year the 101st Division plays host. ``We're expecting a few hundred Airborne troopers from throughout Southern California, and the public is invited to join us,'' said Bill Hessen, 101st Division coordinator for the 11 a.m. memorial ceremony. The Los Angeles National Cemetery is located at 950 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. |
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