France in 1944. Good morning. My name is matt holmgren. Im part of a group represent the f company of the 517th parachute regiment. It was short for parachute Regimental Combat Team. A world war ii unit that fought in italy, Southern France. It is a largely overshadowed unit of a war because it was smaller, about 2500 men throughout the war. It was comprised of three smaller units. The 596 airborne engineer company. 460th air battalion. Those three units together made that Regimental Combat Team, which the entire campaign was attaching larger divisions where they were needed throughout the war. We are representing them during their Maritime Alps campaign in the south of france near the italian border. They were test with protecting the right flank of the main advance of the rome river valley. That came from the operation dragoon campaign in august 1944. The second invasion of france, overshadowed by operation overlord, the normandy operation. Both operations were designed to take place simultaneously. They were codenamed hammer and the anvil. Fortunately, due to lack of Landing Craft and aircraft, higher command was unable to have both operations at the same time. Normandy would be the more important operation as we know from history. Operation dragoon, the southern operation, was delayed until august 1944. That originally took place. Troops began to go up the beach. They were prepared for an enemy onslaught. But not a single german soldier appeared. Not even a bomber sort overhead. The detectors quads cleared roads to permit the tanks to go on their way. German prisoners were herded onto the beaches. By midnight of august 16, the french commandos had been contacted. Operations had progressed so smoothly, by noon the following day, a beachhead 20 miles long and nine miles deep had been established. We are representing them during their Maritime Alps campaign which was after the initial invasion when they were protecting the right flank. They were in combat for approximately 90 days from august 1944 until late november, early december 1944. They were on the lines fighting against the germans in the south of france. They were in the Maritime Alps protecting the right flank. It was aggressive patrolling. They were going hilltop to hilltop, getting the germans out of the area. The germans were in there for the entire occupation of france. They had to go hilltop to hilltop to find a well dugin germans. What we have here, we have what is called an outpost which would be ahead of the mainline of the troops that were dug in. It would be an Early Warning system. Twoman foxhole. We have sandbags for more protection from the weather. You would see more instances of logs and tree limbs over to provide more heavyduty protection from artillery and mortar fire. The deeper you would dig in to give yourself more protections. When troops would stop her wouldy time, you dig yourself some protection. When they were in the Maritime Alps, they were in an area they were working from, they had time to dig deeper and more elaborate foxholes because the germans were firing at them with artillery mortar pieces. Soldiersances of the needing better foxhole protection like we have here. To our right, we have a larger foxhole that would hold three or four men. That would be the example of the 517th foxhole behind the o. P. That is where the soldiers were living at that time. We like to do this here because the kids get an opportunity to see what it was like, how some of the soldiers lifes were like during the war. You might be surprised how heavy it is. Dug this for Army Heritage days. It took several hours among the several of us here. We have the trenching holes. We use the sandbags for the dirt we dug up. Portraying,are given they were in the area in the south of france for that prolonged period of time, this gives the idea of the more well entrenched foxhole they would happen that particular campaign. It is as simple as digging down into the earth and building up around you. What that gives you is protection from the german artillery mortar fire they were receiving on their end, where their lines were. You get below the ground level, the more coverage you have on top, that will protect you from any artillery blast or mortar blast as opposed to standing out in the open. You can only waterproof so much. The rain we had last night kept us relatively dry from that rain. In autumn of 1944, the soldiers ran into snow and the end of september of 1944. They had about six or eight inches of snow. They found out because they were in the Maritime Alps, it was much colder than that on the riviera where they had come from. There were days they woke up and they felt like a piece of cold. D on, it got that here. Ne over droll,ould make a better which is essentially one shelter half with one or two blankets tied with a rope that soldiers can carry with them. It would kind of be like a sleeping bag, but you could easily carry what you needed. It would kind of keep you dry and warm. With the 517th, being that they were internet established area for almost 90 days. , they did not carry too much around. If they went out on patrol, they would take their ammunition and rifles with them depending on the patrol. They would be back to their main foxhole. Other units throughout the war, especially towards the end of the war, units were advancing pushing into germany. Soldiers would carry what they needed. They would carry essentially what they would have in their pockets. They may carry a gp bag or gas mask bag, like this. They were not carrying their gas masks but carrying their rations, extra pair of socks. They were on their feet all the time and the more you carry, the harder it is going to be so they wanted to be as light as possible. What we have here is somewhat of a small supply point. We have ration boxes, ammunition creates. Examples of krations, 501 rations, the basic field rations the army had. A kration was a boxed meal. Three meals, three boxes. You had breakfast, dinner and supper. Various menu. Canned ham, canned chicken. Two types of crackers. Four packs of cigarettes in each box. Cigarettes were in issued item. You have either instant coffee, orange to make a drink. Sugar, fruit bars, breakfast bar, maybe chocolate bar. It was designed by a nutritionist. Designed to get the needed calories in the meal from a soldier that is on the field. Some soldiers were eating these for weeks, months at a time that it was not designed for that long of intake where they were having adverse effects. They were not getting that regular meal. They were suffering from that. Level not all soldiers would have us. From our research and photographic evidence, theres instances of the 517th, they almost have a whole field kitchen with them. Where they were established. This would be carried by a squad. It runs on modern camp fuel. It is enough to heat up multiple canteens of coffee. They were fortunate enough to have a pot to make some proper meals. Talking to one of the companies that recently passed away, ray hess, he told us a story one time when they were in the Maritime Alps. They had a can of roast beef they were cooking, actually on a campfire, but they were cooking the can of roast beef. Next thing they knew, they heard german artillery and he had a canteen cup of coffee he just made. They dove into their foxholes just as mortar artillery shells came in. They zeroed in on their fire. He said he dove in, luckily he did not spill his coffee. He came out and they said if they did move, they would have been wiped out because they had zeroed in on the campfire with the roast beef. The roast beef was gone and we were looking forward to it. The field rations, they could eat them cold or heated up. If the soldiers had the luxury of a stove like this, they would heat up their coffee or even canned meat. They would actually rip apart the box. A wax layer, which was a waterproof box. Your outer cardboard layer, they would rip them up and burn them and make a small fire that could possibly heat up their rations. This is an item that you would not see with all soldiers during the war. In the case of the 517th during their Maritime Alps campaign, that was an item we saw that they used. What we have here, this is a standard rifleman m1 garand. Rounds for thehe m1 garand. This is the cover for the folding entrenching tool. You have the carlisle pouch that held the first aid kit which was a bandage which also had a pack of sulfur powder which would be administered to the wounds to fight infection. We have a canteen pouch which we are missing the canteen. Here, we have the m1 carbine, paratroopernd the airborne model of the standard. It was used by paratroopers. It would make holding easy. At the time period, even though they were an airborne unit, they would have initially the folding stock. But through our research, the longer they were on the line due to damaged or lost m1 car bines, they would be resupplied with whatever is available. Hte standard the standard not airborne m1 carbine coming into play for this particular unit. This is a browning automatic rifle. Fired the same route as the m1 garand. Round box magazine. It was not part of their table of organization and equipment. In the case of the 517th, we saw evidence of them using it in the Maritime Alps. They found it was a good weapon no help clear out the dugi germans in that area. For that type of warfare in that theater, it was a good way to put down suppressive fire. We are very fortunate that the has aprct Association Great website that was started by the vets and are run by their family members because many of the vets have passed away or up in years. There is a ton of information. Photographs, history. Personal accounts the vets had submitted. They have a great website. That is one of our resources. We take personal accounts, personal photographs that we are able to build our display based solely on those photograph accounts. There is also a great book. A great history on the 517th. First Airborne Task force, another reference book that covers the first Airborne Task force which was the Airborne Division that took place that was part of operation dragoon. In the normandy operation, you know of the famous 101st division that went in the night before the main beach forces. Operation dragoon was the same way. Forces came in the night before to secure roads and crossroads before the infantry division. At that time, there was no large Airborne Division in the mediterranean because the 101st and 82nd were already in normandy. Multiple independent airborne units, which one of them was the 517th, that were pulled together to make the first Airborne Task force. Another adhoc unit. Other units involved was the 509th infantry battalion. 570th, 550th. An independent British Airborne regiment. Nd you heard of the 442m Regimental Combat Team, the japaneseamerican unit of the war, there was a company of their antitank unit that was quick training. Heres some quick Glider Training and they were merely 517th for a month and a half. The airborne troops, you had paratroopers and glider troops that were trained for that. These were standard infantry, that was not part of their training. They were pulled and said you were going and glider, here are some quick training and you are getting attached to this airborne unit. This vanguard was sit us roy the enemy defenses and ease the task of their comrades at sea. To three top supply attack planes, trains with telling effects. Morning,lm of a summer these bombers rain destruction. While the allied warships were along the french coast within range of enemy batteries. When they went in the night of the invasion and they were jumping out of the aircraft, you hear stories of the nor normandy operation. Planes making evasive maneuvers and that caused many missed drops. The same pilots and planes that dropped in normandy did the operation dragoon drop. Due to the errors during the normandy drop, the pilots wanted to make up for the mistake they had made. They tried their best to stay on course. What happened is there was heavy dropso there were mis because the pilot could not see the pathfinder beacons to zero in on the proper drop zone. Many soldiers, many of the airborne that dropped that night, when they jumped out of the airplane and they saw the heavy fog, they thought they were jumping into the mediterranean ocean. They were starting to strip their equipping off to get the vest in because they were preparing for a water landing. Many soldiers as they were stripping the gear off and their life vests preparing for water landings, preparing to it water, they start going through the fog and the next thing they know they are on the ground. Actually, we unfortunately dont have any because of the campaign we are portraying, but the 517th along with the first Airborne Task force had a unique uniform item. Exterior mental camouflage experimental camouflage for operation dragoon which they literally spraypainted their uniforms. Paratrooperhe m42 the firstrm, what Airborne Task force did, they have their engineers have spray guns with green and black. They have the guys line up, put a Cardboard Box over their head, and the engineers would hit them with the camouflage paint and off they would go. It was from the commander colonel frederick that came down to camouflage their uniforms. We have an example of the helmet. This was over spraying of the green and black. They would put the helmet on and spray for a silhouette. Another example of the 517th helmet, they did not have the proper jump helmet you saw with other airborne units. They have a standard m1 helmet that the infantry had which was not good for jumping. Modified the chin straps which we have an example of here. Back to the camouflage uniforms they had, veteran mediterraneanhe in august of 1944, it was very hot and humid. Thatton uniform with paint actually made it even thicker and heavier and smelled bad. The soldiers did not like that very much because it made them more uncomfortable. A more serious issue they had, at the time with the paint, fresh paint, the soldiers that got wounded, the paint would go into their led streams and they would have blood infections. Once they were on the ground, the paint made the uniform stink, the wound issues, there were accounts of soldiers moving between objectives and they came across a stream, they would try to wash the paint off and get back on the road to get rid of the paint. It was an improvised camouflage system that the ductwork the best. 517th is anhe overshadowed, somewhat forgotten unit because they were a smaller unit in an overshadowed theater of the war, the mediterranean, the south of france. We do that to keep their story alive, to tell the public about their story and keep the memories of the men alive. This is a great way to do it because you can read all the history you can in a book but you do firsthand accounts like this, especially the young kids get the firsthand experiences. Try the helmet on, the equipment. See what the soldiers went through. Teach andher way to another way for us to learn about teach and another way for us to learn about them because we are always researching. There is always something to learn about them and always something coming out of the woodwork to photograph or more personal accounts that we can learn and pass on their stories. So they are not forgotten. The final line had been torched between the forces that landed in Southern France in august 15. Those which had landed in normandy on june 6. This juncture close to the last escape route for the germans in the south and west of france. The fighting qualities of the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the United Nations defeated the enemy in Southern France. Their valor, stamina and devotion to duty were beyond great. You can learn more about the 517th parachute Regimental Combat Team at 517prct. Org. You will find a regimental history, photographs, and a collection of soldier stories. You can watch this and all other American History tv programs online at cspan. Org. Labor day weekend on American History tv. Tonight at 8 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, a discussion about Abraham Lincoln and native americans. Sunday at 4 p. M. On reel america, the 1950 army film invasion of Southern France. Monday, labor day at 8 p. M. Eastern, the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of virginias First Assembly held in jamestown. Explore our nations past with American History tv every weekend on cspan3. The u. S. Senate comes back into session on monday, september 9 with two important issues on their agenda. Passing federal spending bills and antigun violence legislation. But before senators returned to washington, get a behindthescenes look at the senate with cspans History Program the senate conflict and compromise. The very government in which we live was created under this spirit of compromise. Thomas jefferson questioned the need for a senate. The framers believed lets follow the cause addition. The framers established the senate to protect people from their rulers and as a check on the house. The fate of this country and maybe even the world lays in the hands of congress and the United States senate. The senate conflict and compromise. Using original interviews, cspans Video Archives and unique access to the senate chamber, we will look at the history, traditions and roles of the u. S. Senate. Eastern andp. M. Pacific on cspan. Next, on the civil war, author cory pfarr gives a detailed reassessment of confederate general James Longstreets oftencriticized performance during the 1863 battle of gettysburg. Argues that longstreets postwar politics joining with lincoln and advocating for reconciliation put him at odds with the majority of former confederate officers. This made him a target for those picking a scapegoat, to insulate robert e. Lee for responsibility for confederate performance during the battle. The get his birth Heritage Center in pennsylvania posted the gettysburg Heritage Center in pennsylvania hosted the talk. Tammy our next speaker is cory pfarr. Cory works in the department of defense and is in American History author. His works on john quincy adams, john quincy adamss republicanism, and obstacles that stand before us was
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