2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #1 (4/15)
It’s a long journey from the rank of Supreme Allied Commander to the rank of private. But it’s a journey we can pull off.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Grayson County in 1890. A career military man, Eisenhower became Supreme Allied Commander during World War 2. Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion of France on June 6th, 1944, would determine the course of the war in Europe. Eisenhower planned the operation and wrote two letters on June 5th: one in the event of success, the other in the event of failure:
“Our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.”
Eisenhower made a surprise visit to his rank-and-file on June 5th, 1944. The photograph of Eisenhower and the troops became one of the most famous of the war. Just hours after the photo was taken, the men both pictured and outside the shot would be invading France. Many would never return home.
From author Larry Gomley:
“One of the most recognized photos of World War II depicts General Dwight Eisenhower talking with men of the 101st Airborne division on June 5, 1944, the day before the invasion of Normandy. Previously, Eisenhower had been briefed by Air Marshal Leigh-Mallory that the 101st was one of two units that would suffer 80% casualties during the invasion. Eisenhower decided to visit the division in Newbury and talk with the soldiers. Even though his group arrived unannounced and the stars on his automobile had been covered, word quickly spread of his presence. Eisenhower walked among the men asking their names and where they lived. At some point a photo was taken that captured the humanity of the general and the crushing importance of the moment.”
George W. Firor was an Austin College Kangaroo in 1942-43. Like his Phi Sig active Dr. Clyde Hall, Firor left AC in 1943 before graduation and enlisted. Firor was assigned to the 101stAirborne Division, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 3rd Battalion, Company H. The U.S. Army made him a paratrooper.
Nearly 160,000 Americans were involved in the D-Day invasion of June 6th, 1944. That’s more than the population of Grayson County today. When Eisenhower made his surprise visit, he could have visited any number of outfits preparing to launch. But time required that he choose only one.
Ike could have chosen any Division. But he chose the 101st(~12,000 troops).
Ike could have chosen any Regiment within that Division. But he chose the 502nd (~3,000 troops).
Ike could have chosen any Battalion within that Regiment. But he chose the 3rd (~500 troops).
All of the faces to whom Ike is talking have been identified; all are soldiers from the 101st Airborne, 502nd PIR, 3rd Battalion, Company E (~100 troops). To this company, Ike delivered his message: “Full Victory. Nothing Else.” That same evening, Ike spoke with 3rdBattalion Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole. Cole, George Firor’s Commanding Officer (CO), would later receive the Medal of Honor.
George Firor is not pictured. Firor was not in Company E; he was in Company H (~100 troops). But you better believe it. HE. IS. THERE. Firor, a Roo student in Grayson County, is there listening to the Grayson County born Supreme Allied Commander alongside the other ~500 battalion members of his band of brothers. For all we know, Ike & Firor may have even briefly spoken that evening in England, as the fate of Europe hung in the balance.
The D-Day invasion would succeed. Despite heavy 3rdBattalion losses, Firor would parachute into Normandy behind enemy lines and survive. And Eisenhower was able to publicly release his D-Day victory letter; his letter of failure was sent to the archives. Today, the Eisenhower Veterans Monument graces Highway 75 just north of Austin College.
Yes, it’s a long journey from the rank of Supreme Allied Commander to the rank of private. But it’s a journey we can pull off without ever leaving Grayson County.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Go Roos.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #2 (4/22) – Dr. Clyde Hall
16 million Americans served in the military during World War II. Today, just under 200,000 (~1%) remain. Their stories about the conflict which saved much of the world from tyranny are rapidly diminishing.
The war affected every aspect of life for Kangaroos attending Austin College in 1942-43. By the end of that year, many had enlisted and departed for European battlefields. Most of the students who remained were assisting the country on the home front. As Dr. Clyde Hall mentioned to me, his own undergraduate years in the early 1940s “were significantly influenced by the challenges of the onset of WWII.”
The 2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale will tell the story of PFC George W. Firor, a Kangaroo paratrooper who parachuted into Normandy and died at the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. Other Roos like Firor also never made it back. But many more did, serving their country when it was needed most before returning home at war’s end. Kangaroos such as Dr. Clyde Hall. Before the war, Hall and Firor were Roo classmates and members of the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.
Dr. Hall is an AC legend, and much has been written about his century long tie to Austin College as a student, professor, and distinguished alumnus. Less, however, has been written about his service during World War II. Like the story of Firor, it’s a tale worth telling.
Hall had been an AC student for over two years when he volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor. He joined the Army on October 15th, 1942: his 20th birthday. The U.S. Army desperately needed personnel to treat America’s growing number of wounded soldiers, so Hall began training for medical service. He was assigned to the 8th General Dispensary, a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H)–like unit which would follow America’s advance during the war. That advance began in Africa.
On November 8, 1942, America’s entry into the European theatre began in earnest with Operation Torch. Allied landings in Vichy occupied (and Berlin allied) Morocco & Algeria were eventually successful but came at a high casualty cost. As the Allies began to push east towards Tunisia, the U.S. Army sent Dr. Hall to Algiers in February of 1943. Dr. Hall had a Grayson County neighbor during his time in Algiers; the capital was also the home of the Africa Headquarters of General Dwight Eisenhower.
Hall served in Algiers for over a year, eventually achieving the rank of Medical Technician 5th Grade (similar to corporal). From his base in Africa, he watched the Allied advance through Tunisia, into Sicily, and up the Italian peninsula. Victory in Africa combined with harsh fighting in Italy meant Hall would be moving again. On June 5th, 1944, just after the fall of Rome and just before George Firor parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, Hall’s unit received orders to transfer to the small Italian town of Caserta on the outskirts of Naples.
While in Caserta attending to the medical needs of American soldiers, Hall watched the war come to an end. He was there on VE Day (May 8th, 1945), when hostilities in Europe ceased. He was there on VJ Day (August 14th, 1945) when the global conflict finally came to a halt. From Dr. Hall’s son Christopher Hall: “During his service in two active combat zones, the Army awarded him two battle stars. He arrived back in Sherman on Christmas Day, 1945.”
Dr. Clyde Hall finished his studies at AC upon his return and received his diploma at graduation ceremonies in May of 1946. George W. Firor also earned an AC diploma that same day, despite his death at the Battle of the Bulge. Firor’s mother traveled to Sherman, walked for her departed son, and received his degree in abstentia. Today, all Roos are inextricably tied to that ceremony in 1946. Every AC commencement takes place at the Clyde Hall Graduation Court.
At times, Roo Tales are trivial. Often, they are meaningful. But no Roo Tale compares to the privilege I feel interviewing an AC legend and World War II veteran like Dr. Clyde Hall about the service of his Roo classmate, a classmate who never made it back from a global conflict which changed everything.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Dr. Clyde Hall graciously agreed to be interviewed about his former Phi Sig classmate and about life on the AC campus during the difficult years of World War II. For that, I am grateful. Dr. Hall’s comments will be a part of the story of George Firor.
16 million Americans served in the military during World War II. Today, just under 200,000 (~1%) remain. Their stories about the conflict which saved much of the world from tyranny are rapidly diminishing. I’m honored I get to tell one, while there is still time.
Hey, it’s April 29th! Today is my birthday. That date is a big deal to me. But that date is an even bigger deal for many American soldiers who fought in World War II. April 29th is a topic of today’s Memorial Day Roo Tale Preview.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #3 (4/29) – Austin J. Parrish
Kangaroo George W. Firor came so close to surviving World War II. The same was true for my great uncle Austin J. Parrish.
Firor parachuted into Normandy, liberated the town of Carentan, and secured the Contentin peninsula. He participated in the failed Operation Market Garden offensive in the Netherlands, designed to “end the war by Christmas.” As Christmas approached, Firor was in Belgium was his 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) band of brothers. An episode of the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” mentions that after Belgium, there was growing amazement among soldiers that “I might just survive this war.”
2nd Lieutenant Austin J. Parrish was a pilot of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber during World War II. After earning his wings in 1943, Parrish flew countless missions over Third Reich controlled Germany in 1944. He watched that year as bomber crew after bomber crew failed to make it back to the safety of England. Despite many close calls, my great uncle and his crew were never among the lost. As 1944 gave to 1945, Parrish likely began to think that “I might just survive this war.”
By April 14, 1945, the London papers were declaring that the “war may end at any hour.” B-17 missions did end that week, as there were no more targets to strike; V-E Day would follow three weeks later. Americans had already crossed the Rhine and the Russians were on the outskirts of Berlin. After years of bloody conflict, the flyboys in Parrish’s 306th Bomber Group were making plans to return home. Parrish and his crew flew to Ireland that April 14th for some rest & relaxation as they began to prepare for life after the war.
They never made it. Poor visibility, low altitude, and inaccurate trajectory led to a crash into the cliffs of the Isle of Man. All on board were killed instantly.
The death hit the Parrish family in Kansas hard. Stoic Midwesterners that they were, I’m told that the family NEVER talked about it. After preparing for the bad news of Austin’s death for years and never receiving it, hope had begun to set in. The pain of the news at the same time as the war’s end was just too much to bear. The same was likely true for the family of George Firor.
One of Parrish’s missions took place on December 18, 1944. A surprise German attack in Belgium encircled Firor and the 502nd PIR at Bastogne. Bombing runs by my great uncle kept the Germans at bay, and Patton’s 3rd Army eventually arrived to rescue the Americans the day after Christmas. But it was not enough to save Firor. He died at the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge on December 21, 1944.
After his death in Belgium, the 502nd turned south as winter gave way to spring. German troops began surrendering by the hundreds of thousands, as the 502nd made its way to secure Eagle’s Nest: Adolph Hitler’s command center in the mountains of Germany. Had Firor been able to hold on just a little bit longer, he would have made it to Eagle’s Nest and celebrated the end of the war drinking wine in Hitler’s bedroom with his band of brothers.
Back in 2019, our family visited the gravesite of Austin Parrish at Cambridge American Cemetery in England. Cemetery officials held a small ceremony and allowed our daughter to plant American and British flags near the grave. The cemetery director placed sand in the grave so that it could be read more easily. The sand came directly from Utah Beach in France, where Kangaroo George Firor parachuted into on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Our daughter Ms. M., who was born in China near the air base of Kangaroo pilot David Lee “Tex” Hill fighting the Axis in the Pacific, solemnly honored a pilot from her own family fighting the Axis in the Atlantic.
Hey, it’s April 29th!
On April 29th, 1945, Hitler completed his last will and testament; he then committed suicide amidst the Third Reich demise that was the handiwork of my great uncle Austin J. Parrish.
On April 29th, 1945, George Firor’s 502nd PIR liberated the Kaufering concentration camp, a part of the Dachau complex; the 502nd then made its way to secure Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
On April 29th, 1970, I was born. I suppose that’s something too.
But instead of a 1970 birthday toast, I think I’ll toast the April 29th of 1945 instead. The one that brought the Allies to the doorstep of victory in World War II. And the one that George Firor and Austin J. Parrish should have lived to see.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Go Roos.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #4 (5/6) – Saving Private Ryan
A dramatic scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan, when General George Marshall gives his order to find Ryan and “get him the hell outta there.”
“[Ryan] was dropped about 15 miles inland near Neuville, but that’s still deep behind German lines. There is no way we can know where in the hell he was dropped. General, first reports out of Ike’s [General Dwight Eisenhower] people say that the 101st Airborne is scattered all to hell and gone. There are miss drops all over Normandy. Now assuming Private Ryan even survived the jump, he could be anywhere.”
This line from the movie is an eerily accurate description of Austin College Kangaroo George W. Firor.
Private First Class (PFC) George W. Firor left Austin College in 1943 for the 101st Airborne. He was assigned to the 502ndParachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), an outfit of roughly 3,000 paratroopers. The 502nd was tasked with parachuting behind German lines guarding Utah Beach; their landing target, “Drop Zone A,” was located just 2 miles east of Neuville. Because of poor weather and heavy resistance, the 502nd………more so than other regiments…….were indeed “scattered all to hell and gone” on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
The town of Neuville makes an appearance in the movie. Soon after Captain John H. Miller gathers his company and begins their search, they arrive in Neuville. PFC Adrian Caparzo (played by Vin Diesel) is killed by a German sniper. The company spends the night in Neuville, rewriting Caparzo’s blood-soaked letter to his family while Miller tries to explain how he rationalizes the killing.
Miller: Do you know how many men I’ve lost under my command? 94. But that means I’ve saved the lives of ten times that many, doesn’t it? And that’s how simple it is. That’s how you rationalize the choice between the mission and the men.
Hovrath: Except this time the mission is a man.
Miller: This Ryan better be worth it. He better go home and cure some disease or invent a longer-lasting light bulb or something, because the truth is I wouldn’t trade ten Ryans for one Caparzo.
The movie “Saving Private Ryan” is loosely based on the real-life story of the Niland brothers. “Fritz” Niland, a member of the 501stPIR, also dropped behind enemy lines at Utah Beach. The 501st landing zone was just south of the 502nd, and also not far from Neuville. Niland’s mother learned of the deaths of his three brothers on the same day soon after Normandy. The Army quickly found “Fritz” and sent him back stateside for the remainder of the war.
Despite missing “Drop Zone A” on D-Day, Firor would eventually regroup with his 502nd near Neuville. That process was a time consuming one in the quiet of night that lasted 48 hours and involved chance meetings with many in the 501st. It’s quite possible that Firor’s path crossed just after D-Day with the 501st’s Fritz Niland, whose story is the inspiration for the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
Firor would eventually reach Germany before he was killed in action (KIA) at the Battle of the Bulge. But that is, as Paul Harvey might say, the “rest of the story.” For now, know that when you hear Marshall briefed in the movie about the Normandy landings of PFC James Francis Ryan, they might as well be talking about the experience of Austin College Kangaroo George W. Firor.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Go Roos.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #5 (5/13) – Carentan
In the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) has survived the Normandy invasion and patiently awaits his new assignment. His commanding officer (CO) is on the phone, discussing the next post-landing objective: “But if we don’t offload those dual-drive Sherman [tanks] by 0600, we’re gonna have an entire division stuck at Carentan with its pants around its ankles.” That division referenced is the 101st Airborne of PFC George W. Firor; Carentan is a town in France.
Of the five Normandy landing sites, Utah Beach was unique. It was the only site on the Cotentin peninsula and was physical separated from the other beaches by miles of rivers, tributaries, and marsh. The only roads between Utah and the other landing sites ran through the town on Carentan. Seizing the town was a top Allied objective after the invasion; German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ordered his troops to defend Carentan to the last man.
The task of seizing Carentan fell in part to the 3rdBattalion / 501st PIR (~500 troops) of Kangaroo George W. Firor. Firor’s Battalion was forced to advance along the single road approaching Carentan from the west under heavy Germany fire. The casualty rate was so high along the road that it has since been renamed: Purple Heart Lane.
Upon arrival at the town’s outskirts, heavy fire kept Firor and the Battalion pinned down. The Sherman tanks in “Saving Private Ryan” had yet to arrive and a victory seemed impossible. Undeterred, Firor’s commanding officer Lt. Col. Robert G. Cole ordered a bayonet charge. The charge was successful, as the 3rdBattalion took the western half of the city and reunited with other Allied regiments. The casualty cost, however, was incredibly high.
Due to preparation and good fortune, both Firor and Cole survived “Cole’s charge.” Cole is honored at Carentan with a monument at the spot where the charge was ordered. He’s also honored in his home state of Texas: San Antonio Cole High School. Firor would later receive a purple heart for his bravery on purple heart lane. With the fall of Carentan, Utah Beach was united with Omaha, Gold, Juno, & Sword. The Cotentin peninsula would soon be liberated.
The Sherman tanks mentioned in “Saving Private Ryan” eventually arrived in Carentan, but only after George Firor and his band of brothers had bravely taken the city. After Miller’s CO demands the Shermans be sent to Carentan in the movie, he gives Miller his next assignment: Find PFC James Francis Ryan, who was somewhere on the Cotentin Peninsula………..not far from the town of Carentan.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Go Roos.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #6 (5/20) – The Bridge
In the final scene of the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” Captain John H. Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and his company defend a bridge over a strategic river. Ryan fights alongside, refusing to abandon his Band of Brothers. Americans hold the bridge, but not without cost. Before he dies on the river, Miller encourages Ryan to return home and live a full life. “Earn this.”
The battle is fictitious. But the river is real. The battle is inspired by events at La Fiere Bridge, in the days following the Normandy invasion. In order to hold the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise and secure the Contentin peninsula, holding the bridge was considered vital. The bridge ran over a tributary of a river called the Douve.
Elements of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) faced intense fire from German forces but were able to eventually take the bridge. A German counterattack briefly took it back, until reinforcements arrived which allowed the American to capture it for good. The casualty cost was high. But holding bridges over the tributaries of the Douve was essential.
Kangaroo George Firor was a member of the 502nd PIR. He landed not far from the La Fiere Bridge. But his mission took him south to a town called Carentan. There, he positioned himself alongside a bridge spanning a different tributary of the Douve alongside his Company H band of brothers. With German forces firing from the other side of the river, they awaited an order to cross the bridge and charge.
The “Iron Mike” Parachutist Memorial stands today near La Fiere Bridge, reminding all who visit of the accomplishments of the 507thPIR in securing the bridges of the Contentin peninsula and ensuring the liberation of France. Like Private First Class James Francis Ryan, George Firor would survive his assault over the bridge of a Douve tributary. That act which would later earn Firor a Purple Heart.
The story of Kangaroo George W. Firor is this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. Weekly previews will be shared every Friday until Memorial Day. Go Roos.
2022 Memorial Day Roo Tale: Friday Preview #7 (5/27) – Band of Brothers
In the wake of the successful hit movie Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks embarked on a new project: the combat story of an entire World War 2 company from D-Day to VE Day. The result was the 2001 miniseries “Band of Brothers,” based upon the work of historian Stephen Ambrose. Band of Brothers follows Company E (“Easy Company”) of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) from training stateside to the first combat jump into Normandy and finally securing peace in Germany. The 10-part miniseries enjoyed both commercial success and critical praise. It was nominated for numerous Emmys and won the Golden Globe for best miniseries. The Guardian placed Band of Brothers within the top 100 best TV shows of the early 21st century.
Austin College Kangaroo George Firor was a member of Company H of the 502nd PIR. But his story is identical to the Band of Brothers in Company E / 506 PIR. Both a part of the 101st Airborne Division, the 502 & 506 jumped together at Utah Beach, fought side-by-side at Carentan, supported each other at Operation Market Garden, and defended Bastogne as one unit during the Battle of the Bulge. Both outfits liberated the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, and secured Hitler’s Eagles Nest command post in Bavaria prior to VE (Victory in Europe) Day. When the war’s end in the Pacific came in August of 1945, both regiments were still in Germany awaiting orders to return home. To watch “Band of Brothers” is to experience the war through the eyes of George Firor.
And that’s what I did this month. After watching the miniseries a first time 20 years ago in the wake of 9/11, I rewatched every episode in May knowing that this story of soldiers was the story of Firor almost down to the square mile. The similarities were downright eerie. I felt Firor’s angst on D-Day, his dread at Carentan, and his fear at Market Garden. The Bastogne episodes were the most difficult to watch, and not just because of the winter hardships endured by the 502 & 506. Bastogne is where the end came for Firor, just as it did for some of Easy Company in Band of Brothers. The final episodes at Eagles Nest were also uncomfortable, watching both regiments celebrate an end to the war Firor never got to see.
In “Band of Brothers,” actor Ron Livingston (of “Office Space” fame) play Captain Lewis Nixon of the 506th Easy Company. Livingston was so moved by the experience that he directed and narrated his own History Channel documentary about George Firor’s regiment: the 502nd PIR. Entitled “Brothers In Arms,” this Livingston project interviews actual members of Firor’s regiment, including some from his Company H. See the comments. Livingston concludes his story about the 502ndwith these words:
“It’s been said that the second World War was the singular event of human history, all the world engaged in one titanic struggle. But the war was not won by larger-than-life politicians or generals pushing pieces across a map. But rather through the small, remarkable acts of courage such as those performed by the men of the 502nd. Ordinary men performing the truly extraordinary.”
The HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” will be used to tell the story of Roo George Firor. His story will be told over 7 chapters in 7 days; the chapter titles come directly from titles of Band of Brother episodes. Chapter 1 will begin on Memorial Day, Monday May 30th. Chapter 7 will end the tale on Sunday, June 5th, the day when Firor and his fellow paratroopers boarded a plane bound for France and D-Day, the “Longest Day.”
Chapter 1: Currahee (Monday, May 30th)
Chapter 2: Day of Days (Tuesday, May 31st)
Chapter 3: Carentan (Wednesday, June 1st)
Chapter 4: Replacements (Thursday, June 2nd)
Chapter 5: Bastogne (Friday, June 3rd)
Chapter 6: Why We Fight (Saturday, June 4th)
Chapter 7: Band of Brothers (Sunday, June 5th)
Spielberg & Hanks were honored for Band of Brothers at the Emmys in 2002. They used the occasion to honor the remaining survivors of the 506th Easy Company. Major Dick Winters, who appeared on the broadcast alongside Spielberg & Hanks, is quoted in this story about Firor. So are other Easy Company soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries.
The ”Greatest Generation” of World War 2 is slowly leaving us. 16 million Americans served in the military during World War II. Today, just under 200,000 (~1%) remain. Their stories about the conflict which saved much of the world from tyranny are rapidly diminishing. This includes the stories from members of the 506th Easy Company in “Band of Brothers.” The last surviving soldier from Easy Company passed just a few months ago, in December of 2021.
But stories are forever. We can always tell a story about a Kangaroo story who fought with his own band of brothers in the 502nd alongside Easy Company in the 506th. And we can always rewatched the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” to experience World War 2 from the perspective of George Firor. I highly recommend watching alongside this story.
The story of Kangaroo George Firor kicks off on Monday, May 30th. Memorial Day. See you then.
