US AIRBORNE

All my thanks to Dick Field for answering all my questions as for his kindness and his availability.

Richard Field was born on August 20th, 1924 in the town of Liberty upstate New York. Dick was the youngest in a family of four children, one girl and three boys.

My parents got divorced when I was quite young which was kind of hard but I still manage to have quite a happy childhood in a very pleasant small town."

His dad was a mechanic working on any kind of cars.

"I was still a student when I used to give my dad a hand at work." "By the end of basic training, an officer from the airborne school came to our camp and asked for volunteers to join the Airborne." "I volunteered for the Airborne at the end of my Infantry Basic Training in August 1943. It sounded like something that I wanted to do and they paid $50.00 more a month for jumping out of airplanes." "My parents thought I was a little crazy for joining the paratroops but they accepted it. I was very young and full of life. I was 18 years old at the time."

Dick Field joined B Company 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion. He went through basic training there, doubtless the toughest of all the Airborne. On November 23rd, 1943, the Battalion was sent to Fort Kobbe in the Panama Canal Zone in anticipation for a jump on the island of Martinique. US authorities feared at the time that the island could shelter U-Boot. However, the French "governor" in charge of the island joined Charles de Gaulle Free French and the airborne mission was aborted. In August, 1943, the 551st PIB was sent to camp Mackall in North Carolina where it stayed until March, 1944. The battalion participated in trials which contributed tremendously to the build up of the US Airborne. One of these tests consisted of dropping paratroopers from gliders to evaluate the efficiency of such a mass jump. C-47 pulled two gliders loaded with parachutists. But the tests were considered ineffective by the Airborne Command at Camp Mackall. During a night jump an accident cost the lives of 8 paratroopers who drowned in a lake.

"I was in B Company and yes, I did jump out of gliders and I also made the jump where we were dropped over a lake and 8 paratroopers drowned. These were times I will never forget. Our training was very hard but it turned out to be a great asset later in the war."

In April 1944, the 551st PIB sailed out to Africa.

"Our trip to Europe in April 1944 was uneventful. Some of the ships in our convoy were attacked but the ship that I was on made it to Africa without any trouble. We landed at Oran in Northern Africa. "

Then, the battalion was sent to Italy and participated in field maneuvers in Sicily.

Dick Field gets ready for the operation Dragoon.

Then the battalion was sent to the North of Rome to get ready for operation DRAGOON, the first combat jump to Southern France.

"On the 15^thof August we were loaded in C-47s and flew into Southern France where we jumped about 16 miles inland. I was 19 years old. I was anxious but very eager to jump. All the months of hard training had me prepared for combat.

I missed the drop zone by about 30 meters. I landed in a vineyard but I was not harmed by the wires. Some of the men were hurt. 

Our first mission when we landed was to clear the area of enemy so that the gliders could land."

Dick Field participated in the liberation of Draguignan. The 551st PIB was involved in this liberation.

"People were overjoyed to no longer live under German rule. They hugged and kissed us and gave us wine."

On August 20th, the 551st PIB pursuits the assault along the seaside. The battalion comes to a standstill in front of a small fort in La Napoule, or Hill 105, defended by 105mm gun. After a 24 hours assault, the way is cleared. The battalion accounts for about twenty casualties. On August 24th, the battalion enters Cannes. The men take up defensive positions near Mougin. On the 25th, Cannes is liberated.

"Outside of Cannes, my company came under some very heavy artillery fire and a number of our paratroopers were killed."

Then came Nice on August 30th, 1944. After this successful operation, the 551st was used as mountain troops in the Alps Maritime along the French-Italian border.

"We did a lot of patrol duty in the Maritime alps. We had outposts on top of the mountains. Yes, we did occasionally get weekend passes into Nice. That was very enjoyable."

The battalion was relieved by the 100th Infantry Division on November 17th, 1944. Then, the 551st was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps. It was sent to Laon in the North of France by train then moved to Werbomont. The Battalion had hardly time to resupply when the battle of the Ardennes began.

"In mid November we were sent up north near Rhimes (spelling?) On December the 16th, the "Battle of the Bulge" started and we were thrown into the battle. It was the coldest winter in many years and the cold was very bad."

On December 21st, 1944, the 551st PIB was sent to the frontline and assigned to the 30th Infantry Division strengthening the positions in and around Francorchamps, around Ster and around Stavelot in Belgium. On Christmas Day, the battalion was attached to the 82nd Airborne near Rahier in Belgium in support of the 508th PIR.

On December 27th, on General Gavin’s orders, the battalion executed reconnaissance missions to capture prisoners and to identify which German units the division was up against.

On January 4th, 1945, the A Company made a bayonet charge against German machine guns positions blocking the battalion.

"The bayonet attack was led by "A" Company. I was in "B" company and we were right next to them. We were attacking a number of small towns and over a period of 4 days, I felt no heat in that time."

On January 9th, because of the excessive losses in combat, the strength of the 551st PIB was no more than a company size. After the attack on Rochelinval, the losses brought it down to platoon size. Consequently, the 551st PIB moved to Juslenville where the unity was disbanded.

"When we started out, we had about 825 men and after a four day period, when we took the village of Rochelinval we only had about 115 left."

Marshall Clay and Dick Field – friends for life.

"During the fight, a good friend of mine (a full blooded Navajo Indian) was badly wounded by a mortar. His name was Marshall Clay. He passed away about two years ago. I was able to get him back to an aid station at Dairemont and while I was trying to get my feet warm and my socks dried out, a doctor looked at my feet and discovered that I had very severe frost bite. I was evacuated to Liege and then across France to England where I was in a hospital near Oxford for about two months. This was in early January of 1945."

In March, 1945, the XVIII Airborne Corps was reorganized, the remaining men of the 551st PIB were sent to the 82nd Airborne Division.

"When I came back to France and became a member of the 505, I was in "B" Company. There were a few of my friends from the 551st there but not in my company. I never had much rank. I was just a PFC.

I was very sad to learn that the 551st had been disbanded."

Although from the bottom of their heart, the men remained bound to their original unit, the men of the 551^stPIB immediately fit in and supported faithfully their new outfits.

"When we continued fighting across Germany, the war was winding down and we took many prisoners. I never saw any of the Nazi death camps.

I was in a small village in Germany when the war ended and we were all very happy to see it end.

We crossed the Elbe River and met the Russians then we went on into Berlin. I had acquired enough points and came home in December of 1945. I was discharged from the Army the day after Christmas of 1945. I had been in Europe a little less than two years."

His family was happy to see him home and safe.

"I had gotten married before I went to Europe, so my wife was glad that I returned okay. I had met my wife when I was about 12 years old. I went to school with her brother."

Dick Field resumed working with his father just like before the war in the garage. He made a career in the automobile business and ended up as a salesman.

"I went into automobile sales in 1958 and retired as a General Sales Manager in 1990."

In 1976, Dick and his wife moved the West coast near San Diego.

"As I had told you, I froze my feet in the Battle of the Bulge and as I got older, the cold and snow bothered my feet very much so we moved to Southern California , where the weather is very nice (very similar to Southern France)"

Dick and his wife had 2 children, first a boy and 4 years later, a girl. His son died in 2003, from cerebral cancer. His wife died in January, 2008.

"My daughter and granddaughter live nearby. My granddaughter is in college in the Los Angeles area. My son's widowand their three children live on the east coast so I do not get to see them very often. We do stay in touch with e-mail and telephone."

From the war, Dick brought back with him some German medals, a dagger and some German uniforms. What is left of his former uniform is the "Ike Jacket", he still owns his "dog tags" as well as a piece of parachute which he kept as a memory of his jump in the South of France.

Dick was decorated with the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantry Badge, two Presidential Unit Citation. He was also decorated with the French Cross of War.

Dick Field stayed in touch with some members still alive of his former regiment, the 551st.

"We used to have reunions every year but we had to stop because there were so few of us left and also it was very difficult to travelfor some of the men who were left."

He returns frequently to Europe to participate in commemorations. He visited France and in Belgium in the summer of 2008.

"My daughter and granddaughter and I plan to be in Southern France in August of 2009 for the 65th anniversary of the invasion."

Sports is still one of Dick’s favorite pastime; Dick plays a lot of golf and tennis.

"But I had a knee replacement so I have had to give up any of that kind of sport.I walk and swim quite a lot and enjoy my computer."

Dick Field also receives invitations to schools and High schools to share his experience.

"I try to make them understand that they should not take freedom for granted."