Sergeant Gertus Jones, a section chief
in Battery "B", 462d Parachute Artillery, struck the rear wall between the
second and third floors of a three story building at the edge of the
parade ground landing zone. Suffering from the effects of the collision, he unstrapped his parachute, picked up his carbine and walked around to the
front of the building where the rest of his stick and the battery's guns had
been dropped.
On rounding the corner of the building
he discovered the body of private First Class James Manning, who had been
killed during his descent.
Gerard
M. Devlin
Back
to Corregidor
St
Martin's Press, New York (1992)
(out of print)
"B"
Battery of the 462d Field Artillery Battalion jumped on the parade ground.
In the jump, Pvt. James Manning was killed by small arms fire just as he
left the plane
Gen
E. M. Flanagan Jr.
Corregidor
The Rock Force Assault
Presidio
Press
While making a combat jump on Corregidor, in the Philippines, his buddy
Eugene Manning jumped before Dad, then Dad and another buddy then
followed. On Dad's descent, he clipped the side of a building,
hitting his hip and denting his canteen. When he hit the ground, it
knocked him out for a moment. When he came to, he found the body of his
buddy Manning who had been shot. Later on, he discovered that the man who
had followed him in the jump had also been shot. While unpacking his
parachute, he found a bullet lodged in the reserve parachute. This saved
his life. He named my little brother Robin Gene after his buddy Manning.
On the 50th anniversary of his jump on Corregidor, Dad wore a silk shirt
made from that parachute silk.
Story told at Gertus Jones' funeral
Becky Hill (nee Jones)
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