Three of the Last WWII Screaming Eagles describes the personal stories of three U.S. paratroopers of the renowned 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles. The book depicts their exploits and acts of valor during the harsh battles across the European continent in an in-depth and fascinating way. Proceeds benefiting US veterans and their families.
As part of the famous 101st Airborne Division (the Screaming Eagles), the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion saw nearly constant action during World War II, from assisting the infantry by landing supplies and providing combat support to fighting on the front lines.
A minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of the elite 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing behind enemy lines at Normandy is accompanied by firsthand accounts from Airborne veterans and forty incredible, previously unknown (let alone published) color photos of the “Screaming Eagles” at Normandy and in Great Britain prior to the invasion. Accompanying these remarkable D-Day color Kodachromes—which were unearthed in the attic of an Army doctor’s daughter—are more than two hundred black-and-white photographs from 101st survivors and the author’s own private collection. This is an unprecedented look at an elite fighting force during one of the last century’s most crucial moments.
A member of the famed Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division, Donald J. Rich went ashore on D-Day at Utah Beach, was wounded in the bloody conflict at Carentan, landed in a flimsy plywood-and-canvas glider on the battlefields of Holland, and survived the grim siege with the "Battling Bastards of Bastogne" during the Battle of the Bulge. Glider Infantryman is his eyewitness account of how he, along with thousands of other young men from farms, small towns, and cities across the United States, came together to answer the call of their nation. It is also a heartfelt tribute to the many thousands who gave their lives in this struggle. Coauthored by Kevin Brooks, the son of Rich's best friend and World War II comrade, Glider Infantryman covers a span of nearly three years; his return home, five months after the war's end, as a toughened bazooka gunner and veteran of five campaigns. Rich's first-person narrative includes vivid coverage of the action, featuring an especially rare account of arriving on a combat landing zone by glider. Detailed, day-to-day depiction of some of the heaviest fighting in Holland follows, including the action at Opheusden, the center of the infamous "Island." Later highlights include the Battle of the Bulge, where Rich recounts his experiences in some of the hottest defensive fighting of the European Theater, including the epic tank battles at Marvie, Champs, and Foy.
The History of the 101st Airborne Division is the epic story of the Division from its activation in August 1942 through the completion of Operation Desert Storm in April 1991. The Division's progression through the sky took decades of hard work and tens of thousands of dedicated soldiers. In World War II, the 101st became the first American troops to set foot in occupied France, when, on 6 June 1944, its paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines, clearing the way for the 4th Infantry Division landing on Utah Beach. The Division would become famous for its work in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and for its successful defense of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. In Vietnam, the "Screaming Eagles" engaged in battle from 1965 to 1972, when they began their evolution to Air Mobile by deploying by helicopter. In the Gulf War, the Division fired the first shots of Operation Desert Storm by destroying Iraqi radar sites, and during ground war of the operation, they made the longest and largest air assault in history. In every engagement and during the training periods in between, the 101st Airborne Division has honored the words of its first commander, General William C. Lee, that it has a "rendezvous with destiny." This book is a fitting record of that history, and of the men who are proud to be called "Screaming Eagles."
A member of the 101st Airborne’s Glider Infantry recalls WWII, from the horror of D-Day to the despair of Nazi captivity, in this compelling memoir. As World War II broke out, Robert Bowen was drafted into Company C, 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Soon afterwards, he found himself storming Utah Beach amid the chaos of D-Day, through unfamiliar terrain littered with minefields and hidden snipers. Bowen was wounded during the Normandy campaign but went on to fight in Holland and the Ardennes, where he was captured. That’s when his “trip through hell” truly began. In each of Bowen’s campaigns, the 101st “Screaming Eagles” spearheaded the Allied effort against the Nazi occupation of Europe. At Bastogne, they stood nearly alone against the onslaught of enemy panzers and grenadiers. His insights into life behind enemy lines after his capture provide as much fascination as his exploits on the battlefield. Written shortly after the war, Bowen’s narrative is immediate and compelling. An introduction by the world’s foremost historian of the 101st Airborne, George Koskimaki, further enhances this classic work.
The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division had just finished the battle for "the bridge too far", and, as Christmas 1944 approached, they were settling in for some hard-earned R&R. Then Hitler ordered a massive Nazi counterattack through the Ardennes Forest. The Screaming Eagles were rushed to Bastogne, a small Belgian crossroads where seven roads met and where the lightly armed and under-supplied division became the "cork in the bottle" of the Nazi onslaught. Burgett's stirring memoir (he was 19) recounts how epic courage bought the time needed for Patton's Third Army to redeploy.
“Intense . . . anyone familiar with the Band of Brothers story will want to read this book” (Military Review). Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division has become one of the most famous small units in US history. But fewer people are aware of Fox Company of that same regiment—the men who fought alongside Easy Company through every step of the war in Europe, and who had their own stories to tell. WWII vet Bill Brown decided to research the fate of a childhood friend who had served in Fox Company. Along the way, he met Terry Poyser, who was on a similar mission to research the combat death of a Fox Company man from his hometown. Together, the two authors proceeded to locate and interview every surviving Fox Company vet they could find. The ultimate result was this book, a decade in the making, offering a wealth of fascinating firsthand accounts of WWII combat as well as new perspectives on Dick Winters and others of the “Band.” Told primarily through the words of participants, Fighting Fox Company takes us through some of the most horrific close-in fighting of the war, beginning with the chaotic nocturnal paratrooper drop on D-Day. After fighting through Normandy, the drop into Holland saw prolonged, ferocious combat and even more casualties; and then during the Battle of the Bulge, Fox Company took its place in line at Bastogne during one of the most heroic against-all-odds stands in US history. As always in combat, each man’s experience is different, and the nature of the German enemy is seen here in its equally various aspects. From ruthless SS fighters to meek Volkssturm to simply expert modern fighters, the Screaming Eagles encountered the full gamut of the Wehrmacht. The work is also accompanied by rare photos and useful appendices, including rosters and lists of casualties, to give the full look at Fox Company that has long been overdue.
The true story of the 101st Airborne Division’s most notorious squad of combat paratroopers—the inspiration for the classic WWII film, The Dirty Dozen. Since World War II, the American public has learned of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, one unit attained truly legendary status. Known as the Filthy Thirteen, they were the real-life inspiration for The Dirty Dozen. Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy Thirteen became notorious within the elite Screaming Eagles for their hard drinking and savage fighting skills. From D-Day until the end of the war, the squad’s heart and soul—and its toughest member—was a half Native American soldier named Jake McNiece. McNiece made four combat jumps, was in the forefront of every fight in northern Europe, yet somehow never made the rank of PFC. The Filthy Thirteen offers a vivid group portrait of hardscrabble guys whom any respectable person would be loath to meet in a dark alley: a brawling bunch whose saving grace was that they inflicted more damage on the Germans than on MPs, the English countryside, and their own officers.
