Early in the Battle of the Bulge elements of the 506 Parachute Regiment, 10th Armored and some tank destroyers were cut off from Bastogne when the German's took the town of Foy.
During the fighting withdrawal, Paratrooper Donald Burgett boards a truck with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted. The driver asks Burgett if he can shoot the .50 to which ne replies "I can shoot anything".
http://www.donaldrburgett.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Burgett
Well Burgett and the men of A Company 1st Battalion of the 506 Parachute Infantry do encounter and shoot a heck of a lot of different guns between landing in Normandy and being sent home after the war.
Burgett carries an M1 Garand and also mans the platoons .30 cal machine gun on occasion. He also carries a nickel plated 1911 .45 that his dad sent him. Twice in combat he's left with nothing but his .45, not something he enjoyed.
In Normandy Burgett comes across a medic armed with a six shooter, who does a quick draw on a German soldier. Later in the battle a buddy shows him a burp gun with the barrel bent at a 45 degree angle for shooting around corners.
Through out the war paratroopers pick up enemy weapons. But their biggest was a 88mm anti tank gun (which they should have left alone.
After Bastonge A Company re-liberates a Sherman tank and keeps it as a pet despite howls of protest from tankers. Paratroopers had already been used to man tanks that had lost their crews during the bulge.
As the 101st moved into Germany the captured a cache of hundred of weapons old and new that German's had taken as war prizes. One of them was a miniature Thompson sub-machine gun, chambered in .25 caliber.
Troopers were ordered to destroy captured weapons. At one point Burgett and his squad destroy a hoard of high priced hunting rifles, including Drillings and other fancy guns.
Of course the orders to destroy were a bit selective when it came to officers. After the war officially ended, A Company was tasked with meeting German divisions fleeing West and disarming them. On the first day the pile of handguns alone was 6 feet high and 12 feet deep. US officers would come up from the cities to hunt through those guns taking their picks.
The last gun Burgett fired in Germany was a muzzle loading shotgun that he'd borrowed from a museum.
Of the men of A Company that landed in Normandy 11 remained by the time the war ended. All of them had been wounded at least three times some twice that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Burgett
I read Currahee first in the late 60's or early 70's. It left a big impression on me. This Christmas I thought I'd make myself a present of it. Imagine my surprise when Amazon showed that Burgett had written 3 other books in the mean time detailing his time in Holland, Bastogne, and Germany. So I bought them all.
For people interested in WWII and fans of Band of Brothers, these books are well worth the relatively small cost.
Burgett's war is more warts and all than Ambrose's retelling of the adventure of Easy company. He recounts horrors and heroics in a straight forward manner.
He enlivens the telling with some truly funny stories, some of them macabre. In Holland Burgett and his squad are taken to an outpost in the middle of the night. There are no lights because of snipers. Burgett and a buddy find a sodden sofa to sleep on while other troopers are on watch. When they wake up, in day light they find there sofa is really a bloated goat carcass.
Burgett is still alive, one of four reaming from A Company. He gave a talk that you can find on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWeDf5IlxR8
There are lots of other stories I could tell you from the books, but it's better you read them yourself.
During the fighting withdrawal, Paratrooper Donald Burgett boards a truck with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted. The driver asks Burgett if he can shoot the .50 to which ne replies "I can shoot anything".
http://www.donaldrburgett.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Burgett
Well Burgett and the men of A Company 1st Battalion of the 506 Parachute Infantry do encounter and shoot a heck of a lot of different guns between landing in Normandy and being sent home after the war.
Burgett carries an M1 Garand and also mans the platoons .30 cal machine gun on occasion. He also carries a nickel plated 1911 .45 that his dad sent him. Twice in combat he's left with nothing but his .45, not something he enjoyed.
In Normandy Burgett comes across a medic armed with a six shooter, who does a quick draw on a German soldier. Later in the battle a buddy shows him a burp gun with the barrel bent at a 45 degree angle for shooting around corners.
Through out the war paratroopers pick up enemy weapons. But their biggest was a 88mm anti tank gun (which they should have left alone.
After Bastonge A Company re-liberates a Sherman tank and keeps it as a pet despite howls of protest from tankers. Paratroopers had already been used to man tanks that had lost their crews during the bulge.
As the 101st moved into Germany the captured a cache of hundred of weapons old and new that German's had taken as war prizes. One of them was a miniature Thompson sub-machine gun, chambered in .25 caliber.
Troopers were ordered to destroy captured weapons. At one point Burgett and his squad destroy a hoard of high priced hunting rifles, including Drillings and other fancy guns.
Of course the orders to destroy were a bit selective when it came to officers. After the war officially ended, A Company was tasked with meeting German divisions fleeing West and disarming them. On the first day the pile of handguns alone was 6 feet high and 12 feet deep. US officers would come up from the cities to hunt through those guns taking their picks.
The last gun Burgett fired in Germany was a muzzle loading shotgun that he'd borrowed from a museum.
Of the men of A Company that landed in Normandy 11 remained by the time the war ended. All of them had been wounded at least three times some twice that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Burgett
I read Currahee first in the late 60's or early 70's. It left a big impression on me. This Christmas I thought I'd make myself a present of it. Imagine my surprise when Amazon showed that Burgett had written 3 other books in the mean time detailing his time in Holland, Bastogne, and Germany. So I bought them all.
For people interested in WWII and fans of Band of Brothers, these books are well worth the relatively small cost.
Burgett's war is more warts and all than Ambrose's retelling of the adventure of Easy company. He recounts horrors and heroics in a straight forward manner.
He enlivens the telling with some truly funny stories, some of them macabre. In Holland Burgett and his squad are taken to an outpost in the middle of the night. There are no lights because of snipers. Burgett and a buddy find a sodden sofa to sleep on while other troopers are on watch. When they wake up, in day light they find there sofa is really a bloated goat carcass.
Burgett is still alive, one of four reaming from A Company. He gave a talk that you can find on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWeDf5IlxR8
There are lots of other stories I could tell you from the books, but it's better you read them yourself.
