US AIRBORNE

Many thanks to John D Bolderson Junior to have told me everything he knew about his dad. Many thanks to Célia and Hélène for the translator.

John D Bolderson a year later.

John D Bolderson was born on the 17^th of August 1925 nearby West Plain, Missouri. His father was named Frank Bolderson and his mother was named Margaret Emerson Barnett. As it used to be at that time in the area, John’s mother gave birth at home.

He had 3 brothers : George, Marvin (his nickname was Eli) and Ben but he also had 4 sisters : Viola, Nettie, Velma and Willima.

John D Bolderson was already in the army when the United States entered the war. Actually he joined at 18 years old.

Before joining the army, he used to work for the family farm, they were very poor.

He then joined the airborne simply because he wanted to be among the best. He was in the 505^th PIR in A Company.

He did his first jump with Fort Benning Parachutist School. This jump did no go very well, he broke his leg and had to walk about 3 miles in this condition. But then he got his parachutist certificate. John Bolderson jumped over North Africa.

“He told us about the movie Casablanca he saw before the jump. He also told the American soldiers wanted to get a drink at the American Ricks. But they were surprised this kind of place was not where they thought it was”

then he participated in the jump over Sicilia.

“he told us the jump was very painful. And also he kept very bad memories of this time. He did not want to talk a lot about it”.

Before DDday, John spent few days (days on leave maybe) with his brother Marvin in Ireland. It was the last time he saw him alive. Marvin would die of his wounds on the 12^th of July 1944 he got on the 6th of June. He was with the Rangers.

“Dad was really sad he lost his younger brother ! But the family never forgot him ! We still love him !”

John Bolderson kept a very bad memory of the English food

“he told us he complained a lot about the food, the cheese and the toasts : it was not enough to feed him”

John Bolderson took part in the action for the control of La Fiere bridge. John Bolderson and his assistant along with the shooter Lenold Peterson and his assistant Marcus Heim stopped the attack of 3 enemy tanks. He injured his leg.

“dad would never ever knit at Church again. During the La Fiere battle, he also got wounded under the left eye but it did not affect his sight”

I asked John Bolderson Jr about the cricket thing we can see in Zanuck’s movie : “the Longest Day”

“Dad laughed a lot about it ! I do not think he trust this thing that much. When I saw his reaction during the movie, I guess he did not get one”.

After the Nomandy campaign, John was named Staff Sergeant. Then he fought in Holland and Belgium.

“he was even awarded by the Queen Wilhelmina. In Belgium, he got frozen feet to the point he was supposed to be amputated. Luckily for him, the doctors were too busy ! And so, every winter, Dad suffered pain. Actually, Dad got wounded 5 times during the entire war”

“Dad also told he was supposed to be dropped off beyond the enemy lines he could be a war prisoner so far. Once in the camp, he was supposed to organize an escape. However, he couldn’t be caught as he used to tell !”

Once his feet were fine, John joined his unit stationed in Germany.

“As many men who fought during the war, Daddy did not speak that much about this part of his life. The worst picture of the war he kept in mind was his parachutist comrades entangled in their parachut hanging in the trees, moving in the wind. Then he stopped talking about it”

John got the DSC (the highest decoration after the Medal of Honor), the Silver Star, further Bronze Stars, 5 Purple Hearts and some other citations of units. He also got the French War Cross with a ribbon for the operation in Normandy, 2 War Crosses and a Fourragère for the operations in Belgium and the Lanière orange des Pays Bas for the operations in Holland.

“Dad did not see himself as a hero. He just did his duty”

After the war, he worked in a factory, he had 2 half time jobs. John and his wife were baptized, they became Catholics. They got married in 1946. John Junior was born on August 1947.

“Before the war, Dad was a farmer but after the war , there was no future for a poor little farmer from the South of Missouri. Mum told us she refused to get married to Dad until he got a proper job in St Louis. Eventually he got a job at Wagner Electric as an operator on transformer at the Electric central. Mum worked for an aluminium factory. They worked really hard to send us to the Catholic school. It was the most expensive one of the area. By the way, I think because they worked so hard meant their life was shortened. I was baptized the same day as them. To be a Catholic in a little town of Missouri was really brave. Here there is the KKK and not only they hate Black people but also the Jews and the Catholics”

John had 3 sons : John Bolderson Jr who became a priest of the Catholic Church then David who was ordained a deacon and Steve who became a truck driver.

John escaped death several times but he lost his combat against a lung cancer in 1974. he was 52 years old. His wife also died at 52 years old of a heart attack.

John Junior got his father DSC and David the Purple Hearts then Steve the others medals. In June 2007, John Jr and his brother David attended the commemoration at Ste Mère Eglise and they paid tribute to their father and also to all “the band of brothers”.