Tuesday 27 February 2007

Memorial



This reads: to the memory of the brave parachutists of the 598th Parachute Engineer Company,

517th Parachute Regiment Combat Team of the United States army

who parachuted into the French Midi the 15th august 1944 to take part in the liberation of the city of Nice.

these valiant parachutists sacrificed their lives demining the airport of Nice so that it could be used during the liberation of France and it is to them that this plaque is dedicated

Sergeant Wallace P. Englert

Private First Class William F. Boggan

Private First Class Herbert B. McLamb

Private First Class Alois J. Siewierski

Private Vestal A. Lucas

Private Harold H. Miller

I must have passed this plaque a hundred times but I noticed it for the first time last weekend.

It pleases me to see courage acknowledged.

If anyone sees any mistakes in my translation, please let me know and I'll correct it.

4 comments:

isa said...

Very good translation...and a nice tribute.
I used to pass those plaques on the streets of Paris and most of them had some fresh flowers attached. It was touching...

Dsole said...

Can you imagine what kind of thought was in their mind at the last moment of jumping from the aircraft?
It must be really hard.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I noticed the Castles on the plaque. The Castle is a symbol used by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

I do a lot of exciting things, but I have never had the desire to jump out of a plane. I can't imagine what it must have felt like jumping into that kind of situation.

Felicia said...

It is good to be reminded of our past. I cannot imagine being a parachutist and also disabling mines - two very dangerous jobs!