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sen anAmy Sthe treasurer of a burlesque theater, a sheriff, an insurance salesman who later did a lively business on the field of battle, two bigamists and a Red Indian, named Sampson P. Oneskunk,A handful of rangers saw action at Dieppe. After that the outfit spearheaded every major American action in the Mediterranean theater, through Anzio. Some Ranger companies are now experiencing I Crissej their firt action and carrying on [whichMrs. ing W. confine now i about Augi many coin 5Siouxthe Ranger tradition in Normandy.Losses among the original Rangers' were appalling. Of about1,500 men who started in the three battalions, there are only 199 alive and returned home. Of the 199 survivors, 64 wear the Purple Heart for injuries they suffered overseas.In short, less than one-tenth of the original force came through intact.What with a number of men who have been transferred to other units, a number who are hospitalized '* withwounds and disease, theRangers were able to assemble only '97 survivors for the picture above.When Rangers see each other after-long separation they do not just say: “Hello.” They say How come you're still alive?”The Rangers went through two winters in the field. They marched hundreds of miles, many of which -slanted steeply. They subsisted for months on end on C-rations. A Ranger named James Altieri has written a long ballad about the lorce, and one stanza of it says:With icy clothes, they slept in mud And water in their foxholes,More times than not, what sleep they got-It was without their bedrolls.But in the face of these hardships the Rangers fought steadily, brilliantly and with constant humor 'Consequently the Rangers have great pride in their unit. Not even the U._ S. Marines, not even the proud fighters of the First Infantry Division, are more belligerently -certain that they are the best fighters in the world. If you are so careless as to ask a Ranger what is good about his outfit he will either knock you down (he has a habit of violence): or else he will say:“It’s all good about the Rangers.”A sergeant who was a West Virginia coal miner before the war i Mrs. is fairly typical when he saids: “I j day wouldn’t take 1,000 bucks to get I aqua out of the outfit and I wouldn’t f Ly take $3,000 to get in another just like it. It’s just like a book, being ‘in the Rangers—you just live from page to page to see what is going to happen next.and M rodent:northduplexStoltzf on Tu in the V. By of tov Orvi for Ca His di climat wft i f Dr. Sioux ents 1 week. Mrs. City % visitec daugh and flUtro.scnew Mrs Herbe and IV Park the gi Miss their Girls week repre with ing 1 Hoekliams Mr. Mr. spent Cauliwith fami] Mrturni neap daug»*at 1 Dop] then pare den.Mi
Newspaper Details
Spirit Lake Beacon
Spirit Lake, Iowa, US
Thu, Aug 03, 1944
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Julie B.
ME, USA 16 Jun 2017
Other Publications Near Spirit Lake, Iowa
Arnolds Park News
Spirit Lake Beacon
Standard Atlas of Dickinson County Iowa
