Pvt. James Edward KNIGHT

 

James Knight
Hohenfels, Germany

My father, James Edward Knight, Jr, jumped on Corregidor with the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat team when he was 19 years old. I remember an old army record or communiqué when I was a child that contained that information. He was one of the lucky wounded. Can you tell me how I can find out more about him and about his unit, when he joined them and where he fought.

 I believe his records were destroyed in the 1973 St Louis fire, but I am not sure. Where else could I find records of his service?

 My father later died in 1967 when I was twelve years old. He never talked about the war or about Corregidor. He did not like war movies. I only knew about his army days from other people who had known him all his life. I asked him questions about it as kid, but he did not talk too much and I guess it was too painful for him or maybe he did not want to glorify war in my eyes. I do not know. Corregidor left scars on my father that he never overcame. Some were on the outside of his body but the worst ones were inside. Finding out about his past would help me to better understand my father and to forgive him for some things he did that I have never fully understood.

 Though he had a heart of gold, he was a hard disciplinarian and task-maker who taught me responsibility, and absolute respect for authority and for weapons. He, I believe, was a driven, haunted, tormented and often difficult man who worked hard from before dawn until after dark. For several years after the War, by all accounts, all he did was drink excessively, fight regularly, drive fast and roll cars. He met my mother in 1950-51 and settled down some. I was born in 1955 and he settled down to married life to raise a family.

 My mother, grandmother and great aunt told me stories of him often waking up in the middle of the night screaming. He had holes in the skin on his neck from tiny slivers and fragments. My mother and great aunt told me that steel slivers were working their way out of his skin for years after the war. I remember one of his hands was crippled and he had a blue tattoo of a falling parachutist on one arm and another tattoo that said "mother." Is there an organization or association of the 503rd that I can contact. Do you have any other recommendations? Can you help me? Please forward this email to as many people as you think may know something.  I would be forever grateful. Thank you.

Sincerely,
James Edward Knight, Jr
Staff Sergeant, US Army
MLRS Observer/Controller
Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC)
Hohenfels, Germany

 

Bob Flynn
 

James, 

Hold on for a while and I will dig something up.  I am the historian for the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team Association, WWII.   I am in the process of writing a newsletter for our members who number about 750.  Somebody will know something.  I'll make sure that your name is on our mailing list.

Bob Flynn

 

 James Knight
 

Dear Paul,

I have always thought that I was alone in this world with my feelings about wanting to know what happened to my father. Now I know that I was not alone. At least, I now suspect that other "Children of Corregidor" veterans (for lack of a better term) have had some of the same feelings. I have felt that if I can just know what happened, where he was, and if I could only find a picture of him there, if I could only talk to some of his blood brothers in the 503d, then I feel that I would better understand the father that I hardly knew

Though I was only twelve when he died in 1967, I feel that I could have known him better, but he retained a certain authoritarian distance from me. There were lines that I did not cross and I knew where they were, so did everyone else. He may have been my friend to some extent, but not really--he was first my father. I respected him, but I was still a child. I did not get the latitude with him that many children are allowed today. I said Sir, and Mam, without even thinking about it. It was part of my daily vocabulary, but then so was school prayer, the pledge allegiance to the flag, and unashamed public singing of patriotic songs in our grade school auditorium every Friday morning.

Many things have changed in my life, but not the desire to know my father. I somehow feel that other "children of Corregidor" may feel that their fathers may have reacted the same way to war and to Corregidor or had similar psychological tendencies. My father was not shallow. He was deep, but there were places inside my father's mind and soul that nobody went, and nobody challenged, except my mother. I suspect that even she may have been given boundaries.

I can only guess that the loss of ones innocence in such a tragic way at the age of 19 years caused him to bottle everything up inside and never really let it out. That was the way men acted back then...I do not think that he was at all in touch with his feminine side, and I would feel sorry for the poor bastard that told him that he had one. I only saw him really angry a few times...that was enough. One could sense his potential at times like that.

He laughed, fished, hunted, and drank beer with his friends, but I have, since those days, never thought that anyone ever really knew him, not even his best friends. Somehow he always seemed to me to be alone in himself in a way that is hard to explain. The one thing that he never restrained was his generosity and willingness to help others that he may not even know. I never remember him passing someone broke down on the side of the road without stopping to ask if they needed help. I remember we went to church one Sunday and my father's white church shirt was dirty and greasy because he stopped to help a guy change a tire while on the way to church. Even my mother did not like it, but he just did because he thought it was right...and that was that. He walked into church like he was early and had on a three piece suit. I had my head down hoping nobody would see me. I understand now--I didn't then. Things do not seem so simple these days as then.

I wonder how an experience like Corregidor can change a young 19 year old boy so drastically. And, how was he so compassionate, but yet so hard and so distant? There are answers to my many questions somewhere I know, but I do not have them.

I may never get them all answered, but I feel that I can get a little closer with your help. If this writing strikes any cords out there, will you and please ask your buddies to let me know.

 

Bob Flynn

Dear James

I have published your request along with your address in a newsletter which will be sent to the 503rd membership probably during the middle of April. I hope you get the kind of replies which you are seeking. Please keep in touch and let me know if there is anything further we can do.

 

James Knight
to Bob Flynn

Sir,

Thank you so much for your reply. Thank you for publishing in your newsletter my request for help to locate those who may have known my father in the 503d,  PFC James Edward Knight.  I truly appreciate your help in locating those among your rank and file that may have known him.

I am very interested in finding those who were closest to him and in finding all those who knew and remember him. If I could find out what company, platoon, and squad that my father was in, then I would take the time to research and locate those men with whom contact has been lost over the years, and who are not on record with the association. These men may not even know of the association's existence. I can only imagine that they may be very appreciative of the opportunity to come together with the 503d once again.

Sir, my wife Sandra and I have talked and we both firmly believe that the 503d PRCT Association represents an important part of America's history and should be supported, not only morally, but financially. Therefore, we would like ask you and the 503d leadership to please allow us to make a rather modest 3 figure donation to the 503d PRCT Association for the purpose furthering the membership goals and the assisting daily operations of the association. The 503d can count on our continued support.

Please provide us with the appropriate payable 503d Association account name and address and the 503d will receive a check from us in short order. Sandra and I wish to positively demonstrate our sincere appreciation and commitment to you, to the 503d Association leadership, to the 503d Association, and to all the men of the 503d who fought in WW II, both living and deceased.

Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.

SSG James E. Knight

Bob Flynn

Dear James and Sandra,

I am absolutely certain that I speak for all members of this Combat Team when I say that we have a duty to perform whatever service possible to provide the family members of our comrades with whatever information they may need to conduct their private quest of knowledge about a relative who has served a military experience with the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team. What I will do, if you so request, is to propose that you be made associate members of this Association and in that capacity you may serve in any helpful way you choose.

 

Tony Sierra
 

Sgt,

I have tracked down your father as follows:

He was Pvt. James E. Knight, B Company, 503rd.   I assume your father landed on south beach with the First Battalion.  The only other active trooper who might recall him is Jack Herzig.   Herzig was also in B Company, a S/Sgt at that time. It is even quite possible he might have been his sergeant.

[email protected]
(3713 S. Geo. Mason Dr., #310-W,
Falls Church, Va 22041

Regards,
Tony Sierra

James Knight
 

Dear Mr. Flynn,

I would like to thank you and the rest of the  503d and it's leadership for extending this great honor and opportunity to me and my wife to get to know the men of the 503d. Of course we accept this gracious offer and we make the request to become associate members of the 503d to the entire membership, it's leadership and as is required of us by association rules.

Yes, I and my wife Sandra would be greatly honored to be allowed to become associate members of such an esteemed and historically important organization as the 503d PRCT Association and we look forward to our nomination and are hopeful of our induction to your association.

Sandra and I truly appreciate all those who would support a position that would allow us to be accepted into your close-nit group of men who served their country in such an indisputably distinguished manner, under such difficult circumstances and in such a heroic and staunchly American manner.

We would undoubtedly feel tremendous gratitude for such a gesture from your organization that bestowed nothing less upon us than a great honor.

I and Sandra look forward to getting to know each of you personally, and to thank each of you individually, to whatever degree that God, time, and circumstance will permit. We wish to thank you all for what you have done, and for what you have given of yourselves, and for that that you have sacrificed, that nobody knows, that nobody sees, that no one but each of you can individually know, and then only in your most personal and private moments within yourselves, that only men in such circumstances can understand and share commonly together.

With kindest regards to each of you,

SSG James E. and Sandra Knight
(Jim & Sandra)

Jack Herzig

Dear Jim

Isn't that great that Tony Sierra was able to find your dad's name and that he was assigned to B Co. 

The bad part is that I don't recall his name - but there is one more chance.  In Louisiana is a former member of B Co who is an avid collector of info about the 503 and airborne facts.  He and I went through jump school in the spring of 1942 (AD!) and he has a fabulous memory.   I'm going to print out our and your correspondence and send it to him for his review and any comments that he may be able to offer to us

He is:Louis B. Aikens, Sr., Denham Springs LA  70726 Phone:  (supplied)

He signed up again after the war and had some fascinating airborne assignments throughout the world.  We'll stay on top of this together.

Jack Herzig

Don Abbott

 

Bob

Recent correspondence seems to indicate my ideas are not in the mainstream of 503rd veterans these days. I would be very surprised, however, if the majority of the members of the association would encourage a donation on the part of SSgt Knight.

It is my feeling we should do everything we can to help the families of veterans seeking help in getting to know about the people who served in the 503rd, particularly if it was a father, grandfather or uncle. I don't believe the Association coffers are in such dire straights that we need any payment for such help.

For SSgt Knight, I would not give up on the National Records Center in St. Louis for information on his father. I, too, had taken these people at their word when they claimed all records had been destroyed by the big fire a few years ago. What they failed to say was that many of the records had been micro filmed and were still available. It took a lot of persuasion but I got copies of some of the Morning Reports for selected times we were in battle.

The MR for 24 Feb 45 Indicates  Pvt James E. Knight 1408236 was among 4 men slightly wounded in action on Corregidor. For SSGt Knight's information "Slightly Wounded" could be attached to anything including what most of us would consider "Serious".

The RECORD OF EVENTS that day say:

"Left Bivouac Area 0730 Engaged in Battle 1145 East of Malinta Hill Corregidor PI. Final Objective Inf Point taken 1930 Set up Defense for the Night Enemy attacked using Knee Mortars attack repulsed 3 EM KIA - 1 EM missing in Action 1 Officer and 15 EM wounded.

This MR was signed by Wirt Cates who was killed on Negros.

Don Abbott

P.S.  If Knight has not talked with Louis Aiken he should. Louis has a fantastic memory for people and was a fixture in "B" Company.

 

James Knight
 

Dear Mr. Abbott,

Firstly, I wish to thank you, Mr. Abbott, from the bottom of my heart for your help in further uncovering the facts about my father. These facts that you uncovered are new revelations to me. This is information that is part of a puzzle that I have wanted to piece together all of my life, but never realized that I had a chance at knowing about, much less actually accomplishing.

Secondly, I want to most sincerely apologize to you, Mr. Abbott, and to anyone else who was offended or who misunderstood Sandras and my intentions in offering a modest donation to the 503d. I wish to address that issue in a most sincere, and straight-forward manner that I hope each of you can respect and appreciate, even if you do not agree. If I have given the impression that I wish to offer "payment" for anyone's help or cooperation, then I am truly sorry. I am well aware that the integrity of men such as yourself and I am aware that the integrity of the men of the 503d is not for sale. I am so aware of that fact, as I believe is everyone else, that, although I saw the possible negative connection prior to making the offer, I disregarded and discounted that possible negative connection as a frivolous and unfounded reason not to make the contribution to the 503d that I thought was so important. I will explain later why I so firmly believe that supporting the 503d PRCT Association is important.

Sir, my wife and I make our frequent contributions based upon our convictions and beliefs. We believe in putting our money, though we have precious little of it, where we believe it will do the most good and where it is most needed. We believe in investing in people, not in material things.

Let me give you a little insight into how this Staff Sergeant thinks.

Keep in mind that I am at the forefront and I am hands-on in leading this new generation of soldiers. The present generation of young Americans today, including soldiers, desperately need to reach down to their boots-straps and find or somehow to manage to grasp some of the character and strength that those young boys found within themselves on Corregidor. Consider that I am an active duty NCO, and as a Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) Observer/Controller, I was among those who provided some of the last training received by many of the soldiers that are now in Bosnia and Kosovo.  I can tell you first-hand how badly these young soldiers today need some of  that intangible wherewithal, determination and hardiness, born of those young men that had just survived The Great Depression and who never ate at a McDonalds, or a ate TV dinner, or sat locked in their bedrooms for whole weekends playing Nintendo on their own personal computer.

The men of the 503d did not join the army because the recruiter promised them, and then guaranteed them in writing, over $50,000 in college money to be given to them over a period of 36-48 months after their enlistment was up. No sir, the men of the 503d's generation had other reasons and other priorities in mind when they enlisted. They wanted to serve their country, unconditionally. My father, despite his shortcomings, taught me the priceless value character and values. These are not commodities. They can not be bought and they cannot be sold. They either exist or they don't. It can't get much simpler than that.

Gentlemen: please do not sell yourselves short or otherwise forget or disremember the vital importance of the message that you have as a group to bring to the new generation of young Americans. I am there with them every day, and I am with some of the best of them who wear camouflage. I can tell you, first-hand, that they desperately need to hear your message and they need to rediscover the values of your generation.

Soldiers today have no concept of what it would be like to face a Banzai charge. I have not heard the command "Fix"..."Bayonets"! since I was in basic training and even then it was about a half hour of training at the most. They are afraid if they teach real hand-to-hand combat some momma's boy might get hurt. Somehow the concept of the warrior spirit, of warrior ethics and the warrior class is becoming archaic, and old fashioned, and soon it will be a thing of the past. You old guys (excuse me) know that we are going to have another big war...it is just a matter of time.

These kids think the next big war is going to be fought like nintendo and the next time we will have six months to train in the terrain before we fight. They do not understand the vulnerability of technology and all the eggs are in one basket. Hit the beach running...hit the ground running?...What is that?...that's the old days...get real they think...things have changed they say.

War never changes...it is only about making the other poor son-of-a-bitch die for his country and that is all it will ever be about. If you are not better than him, then he is going to make you die for your country. It is that simple. Like I heard one grunt wisely say..."it takes a grunt to kick another grunt out of a hole". What do we do if this next war is with China and if we have to fight on two fronts again like in your war. What if the enemy is willing to trade 100 or 500 of their lives for 1 American life? This generation is soon going to need some of whatever it was that your generation had...and you may not be around to tell them about it then when they need it. So, you had better tell them now. I want to help in any way that I can to help the men of the 503d to accomplish their mission as they choose to define it. I have no doubt that it is honorable and worthy of men such as yourselves.

I have told you why I believe the 503d should be supported and why I made the proposal for a donation. I can not speak for every other American. I can only speak for myself. Sandra and I can only speak for ourselves. I (we) can only do our small part in the scheme of things. Sandra and I have faith and hope and that is all that we need. I am not going to apologize for this thesis or dissertation because I meant every word of it. I know you may not be in the mood for a sermon by a young whipper-snapper like me, but you got it anyway. And, I realize that I may be preaching to the choir in many cases, but Mr. Abbott, no matter how innocently or unintended, just pushed my button, so I felt that I had to say it.

Mr. Abbot, I also appreciate your level of fatherly concern about why I wish to donate a rather modest amount money to the 503d. And, while it is true that I am so overcome with gratitude upon finding you and the association that I have trouble putting it all into words; nevertheless, I am not naive and I maintain my own sense of propriety.

I want you each to know that I hold each and every one of you in the highest regard and in the highest esteem. I felt that is is important that I clarify some things for those who may have been wondering about my intentions and about my high-speed, and probably aggressive approach to finding out about my father. My wife tells me that I have two speeds: wide-open and stop. She may be right.

Sincerely,
James E. Knight
SSG, US Army