My grandpa

My grandpa was very special to me. I remember sitting by the fireplace and listening to his exciting stories. He used to tell us amazing stories about when he was young and fought in Europe during the 40s. When he was only 20 years old, the United States became involved in World War II and he decided to enlist as a volunteer in the Army. After an intense instruction, which lasted almost a year, he joined the 101st Airborne Division.

Although his company’s codename was the “Easy Company” —Company E, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment—, the mission that was given to them was not easy at all. They had to jump out at about fifteen thousand feet over Normandy before dawn on the June 6th 1944. When they got to land, they had to destroy an enemy position, which threatened the landing by allied troops on the beaches of Normandy. And all this surrounded of German patrols.

A few months later, they were going to Bastogne when a large panzer division surprised my grandpa’s unit. They suffered a heavy number of casualties and my grandpa fell down a deep ravine because of an artillery attack. He was seriously injured and trapped in snow for several days.  Fortunately, lieutenant general George Patton came with his troops and repelled the Germans. My grandpa was taken to the field hospital and saved his life, but many comrades died in Bastogne.

While he stayed in hospital, he met a beautiful nurse from the Belgian Résistance. They fell in love and got married. My grandpa used to tell us how the five-star general Eisenhower in person officiated the ceremony and gave him a Purple Heart medal for military merit. Of course, that nurse would be my grandmother.


[Composition #2, 3rd Level]