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The Texas based
Liberty
Jump Team had scheduled to make two
commemorative parachute jumps in World War Two
US Army Airborne combat equipment in
the area around Bastogne in 2007.
This Belgian town was encircled by
attacking German forces in December
1944 and January 1945. The 101st US
Army Airborne Division held the town
until elements of General Patton's
tank army threw back Hitler's last
offensive. December 16th, 1944 was
the start date -the D-Day- of the German
Ardennes Offensive. Therefore, the
weekend of Saturday the 16th and
Sunday the 17th of December 2007 saw many
commemorative events. Among those
were the two jumps of the Liberty Jump
Team.
The Sunday drop eventually was
cancelled due to strong winds and a
solid frozen Drop Zone.
However, Battle
Detectives Tom and Ivo
were among four passengers allowed
on board the WWII vintage C-47 "Drag
'Em Oot", during the Saturday flight to the
drop zone near Rollé Castle and the
dropping of the jumpers.
Tom's good friend Mark Durivage from
Ohio made this possible. Mark is a
jumper with the Liberty Jump Team:
(click on the
images to enlarge)
Also on
board were Don, who heads the
Para Research Team and WWII
veteran
Bob Izumi of "G"-Co./506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment.
This is a pictorial impression of
the event. Most of the photographs
were made by Don. He has created an
excellent report of the event on his
website. Visitors are encouraged to
take a look at his special report
here. |
