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"An Afternoon With Charlie Bradford" |
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- Come
with John Lindgren as he shares an afternoon at the Harvard Club with
Dr. Charles "Doc" Bradford. "Doc" was one of the major personalities
of the 2nd Bn, an orthopaedic practitioner of great skill,
universally respected as a soldier, a supreme judge of character, and a nice guy
for all of it. "Doc" authored the manuscript Combat Over
Corregidor, which has been used by every major author on Corregidor,
though he requested anonymity of his authorship during his lifetime. When it
comes to beautiful writing, John Lindgren is no slouch either! |
"The Attack on Battery Monja
- 24 February
1945" |
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Monja was an extraordinary defensive position, and
unassailable. There were attempts by different elements to reduce
it, and this short article by Tony Sierra describes what
occurred when 2d Platoon D Company tried on 24 February.
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"The
Basic Trainee" |
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When Verne White wrote of his experiences, it was intended only
for his family circle. However, when we pressed him as to the
path which brought him to Corregidor,
he graciously agreed to share it with us. |
"The Best Warrior I Ever Knew" |
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-
Lloyd McCarter, Medal of Honor winner, was under Bill Calhoun's
command.
Bill
has written about McCarter's background with
the 503rd and some of the incidents which brought McCarter to
his attention then, and
leaves him sharp in his memory now. |
"By Order of Major Kline" |
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- Many of us never heard anything of Arlis Kline again after he was
evacuated wounded from Corregidor, and we are particularly pleased
the reports of his demise were premature. As CO of the 462nd
Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, he carried a full set of his
orders with him on the jump. He has preserved these orders, and we
can now share them with you, together with many of his own
snapshots. The CD Version includes several additional
photographs.
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"The B.T. Cave" |
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One
of the peculiar things about running a website is that some articles can create
the darndest controversies about the most unlikely and mindbogglingly trivial aspects.
For your consideration, the controversy known as The Big
Truck Cave... |
"The Captains" |
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Tony Sierra looks back over fifty Decembers... |
"Combat Over Corregidor" |
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- The premier book about the
retaking of Corregidor |
"Corregidor Diary 1989" |
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- Travel
with John Lindgren as he revisits Corregidor, and share his
thoughts. |
"Does It Matter?" |
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- With the wisdom
of a lifetime, was it all worth it? Bill
Calhoun reflects on the question many old soldiers ask themselves. |
"Down Memory
Lane" |
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- a number of troopers have sent me some photos from their collections, as
have a few next of kin. We decided that we'd make a jumpstation which could
display them. If you send us your computer scans in *.jpg
file format, we'll feature them. |
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"Duane Larson - The Presence of His Absence" - by Dolane Larson |
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"Maybe my father chose to be a paratrooper because when
he was a boy he grew to like the wind in his face as he jumped from the boxcars
into the dark waters of the current furrowed river." A recollection of the
father she never knew. |
"Facets" |
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- There are so many aspects to the 503d and
Corregidor stories that they all can't be told - but here are several short stories, by or about 'troopers relating to
their experiences. "Booze and Booty"
kicks off the series. |
"The Fallen" |
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- The comprehensive list
of all the 503d who gave their lives in the cause of freedom during WWII.
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"How I
Remember It" |
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- Chet
Nycum spent the war as a private, and it is from this perspective
that his experiences are now recorded. "These are the ones
that still invade my dreams," he says of his recollections. We
travel with Chet through Training, Australia, New Guinea,
Noemfoor, Mindoro and to Corregidor (Day 1). Keep a weather
eye out for more on Corregidor and Negros. Also included are
the links to the magnificent "G" Co. Photo Collection, a series of
approximately 50 photographs taken throughout the course of Chet's
war. |
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"In Memoriam - Corregidor"
Index by Co.
Index by Name.
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A Major feature listing all the troopers of the 503d PRCT who were
killed on Corregidor, and individual pages containing the facts
known about their deaths. There is an index by Company, as well as
an alphabetical listing.
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"Lloyd G. McCarter" - |
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His
Citation
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Looking for
Lt.COTE |
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A grandfather's
history is revealed. |
"My Day With The Rattlesnakes" |
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It is said about
historians that everything they print is absolutely accurate, except
those items about which you have a close personal knowledge and which
they got completely wrong. Well, sometimes I feel that way about the
"F" Company's descent of Grubbs Ravine on 22 February 1945
because, as Bill McDonald once told me, "If you're
thrown in a den of rattlesnakes, you won't forget one moment of it. -
Bill Calhoun |
"My Father's Memoirs"
- Richard Morton Hess
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The
doctor was from Vincennes, IN. A real nice guy. He cut a circle of flesh
around the wound, it was about a quarter inch wide and two feet long. He
dropped it in a can. He said, "If you had been turned another few degrees
it would have gone right through your heart. It was as close as you can
get without..." After they got it closed, I wasn't sucking air in there
anymore.
- by Ken Hess |
"Patsy's Diary" |
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Prior to the
hotel now on The Rock, there was a small four room guest house
called the 'Corregidor Inn'. It was run by Patricia 'Patsy'
Altamonte and her husband, and their friendliness and hospitality
to their visitors remains legendary. In the evenings, if you
were special, very special, Patsy might bring out a diary
for you to write down your thoughts on returning to the island. |
Q & A |
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Answers to questions
concerning individual troopers
- Paul COTE
- James KENNEDY
- John LESHINSKI
- Leslie RYAN |
"Recollections On Corregidor" |
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- Howard Lout recalls
the Battle at Water Tower Hill and the circumstances in which he
found himself at Monkey Point - and it exploded beneath him. |
"A Red Cross Man on Corregidor" |
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- Weldon
Hester had a reputation of serving coffee within an hour on a beachhead,
and he was not about to treat Corregidor any differently. |
"The Second Lieutenant"
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- Despite
official prohibitions against the keeping of a diary, it was never one of Bill
Calhoun's regrets that he did. Recorded there is the death of an unknown
2nd Lieutenant near Battery Wheeler. |
"The States
Photos" |
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- On our return
to Mindoro, photographs were taken of all those who had survived
the Corregidor experience. The photos were taken in the 'troopers
State of Origin groupings. |
"Surrender At
Negros" |
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- Photographic record of the
surrender of the Japanese forces to the 503d PRCT at Fabrica, Negros on 2
September 1945. |
"Corregidor Trooper" Search
(temporarily disconnected) |
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- Search our roster of known
503d PRCT members who jumped on Corregidor - find their full name, rank and company.
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"Verne White Recalls" |
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"During the time I was faking death it came to me that
it was still a few days 'til my 20th birthday.." - Read on... |
"The View
From Here" |
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- Don Abbott has contributed several authoritative articles relating
to his experiences, amongst them "How The Warden Got His Name",
"The 'E' Company Attack on Btty. Monja", "Return
To Mindoro", and "Purple Hearts on Noemfoor". Particularly noteworthy are his comprehensive
compilations of the casualty lists from Corregidor and of "The
503d in WWII". The "Corregidor Honor Roll" contains
individual links to tribute pages containing what is presently known
about the deaths of the individuals involved. "The View From
Here" contains links to all these articles.
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"A Visit With
George Jones" |
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- It
is 1975. Come with us as John Lindgren and Don Abbott visit
with George Jones. The
Tucson afternoon is already getting hot when we walk in the building
and Don asks at the information desk for "General Jones". We
are directed to a nearby room where a sign on the door reads
"General Jones."
We are here to bid goodbye. More superlative writing by John
Lindgren. |
"The Warden" |
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- Brigadier
George M. Jones was widely known as "The Warden"
during a good deal of
his career in the service of the United States. Throughout
that time only a few people knew the real reason for his having picked up
this peculiar title. Don
Abbott is one of a select group of veterans of the 503rd Parachute
Infantry Regiment who know first hand about the incident where "The
Warden" picked up his
title, and now fesses up. |
"WOODY" - Pfc. Elwood H. Hearne |
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As I crouched to clear the weapon, I felt a
sharp, burning thud in my head. I was killed instantly. Christopher
C. Stout writes of the life and death of a 503d trooper.
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