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‘Angels from Hell’ recallrtr. •a. -WWII paratroop outfit whoops it up at reunionBy Steve EddyRegister staff writerGlenn Miller tunes are playing, the beat provid-ing a bouncing backdrop to shouts and belly laughs, beer drinking and backslapping.Girths have gotten wider, the hair a little grayer,the skin a bit more craggy.But spirits never have soared higher, and the guys from E Company are together again.Every two years since 1971, surviving paratroopers • from the 11th Airborne Division, 187th Glider Infantry, have gathered from across the country to remember and reflect, to swap old stories and recall buddies who never got to come home.They were the legendary “Angels from Hell who dived onto the Philippines and New Guinea during some of World War IPs most vicious moments, andfinally helped occupy Japan. #This year they’re at the Jolly Roger Inn in Anaheim. “We laughed together... and bled together,” said Pat Kenny, 63, the company’s top sergeant and originator of the reunions. “I’d say 99 percent of the guys you see here have Purple Hearts. You might think some of the feelings we have would fade away, but they get stronger. .The thing that holds us together is love. We re afamily.” ..On Saturday, the group stood m silence as Kennyread the list of 19 who died, most during a crushingthree-day siege in mid-February 1945 as the trooperstried to cross Nichols Field on the outskirts of Manila,We always try to Have the reunion around thistime,” said Kenny, a sales mapager from MyrtleBeach, S.C., who kept the company roster after thewar ended. He first used the roster to track downcomrades in 1970.“I started it when I got to thinking that the 25th anniversary was coming up. I just didn’t want to forget the guys who didn’t make it. And I wanted to see if there’d still be a bond among those of us who did.” During a Friday night party, the soldiers cackled as they passed around pictures of themselves as boys and young men and reminisced about the night Tokyo Rose proclaimed they had all been wiped out.Scrapbooks were exchanged, and so were tears. But the mood at these things is predominately lighthearted.“Here’s Babyface,” Kenny beamed as he grabbed John Parker, 58. “Believe me, he looked like he was about 14.”Said Babyface, now a retired lieutenant colonel, Hell. 1 was only 19. I only shaved once a week.” Ed Harris, 58, a Douglas Aircraft worker from Fullerton, said 34 company members and 21 wives areBrian Smith/The RegisterRay Shadden, left, Andy Duarte, center, and Ben Abutin reminisce about their days as paratroops in WWII.“What's fun for me is that I was only a private, a young punk kid. But now I get to sit down and drink a beer with a top sarge, and even a colonel. At first 1 still wanted to salute, but I realized we're 40 years older. Now we can really recognize each other. It’s infectious. You can really get close.”“We don’t get together to remember how wonderful it was, because it wasn’t,” said Harris. “But we did get through it. I remember when we followed the Japs into the mountains. It was rainy and muddy and miserable. We had caribou that were supposed to carry the equipment, but they wouldn’t climb. We just did it. And our Navy even managed to drop a couple of bombs on us.“I gave because I had to give, but I don’t want anvbody, especially my kids, to chink that there'sE Company boys with combat trophies circa 1945. anyth“S Serious about war. The glory always getsc vutnpcjiiy uvj passed on from generation to generation.present. E Company numbered around 150, the bulk “It’s a big world, and with all the twtaol^y j-c're a young draftees rushed into service as the war in the lot closer together. And we can t let the bullies takePacific rose to a clamor. About 80 of the men still are over. But all I can say about war is that it would Ikliving and on the reunion mailing list. great if we don t have any more.
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Orange County Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Sun, Feb 13, 1983
Page 315
Full Page
Clipped by
Laura K.
CT, USA 06 May 2018
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