I hate to open a blog post on a down note, but here we are. This bit has nothing to do with Pennsylvania history, although it's tangentially related to my writing. Shortly after last week's blog post went live, I received the devastating news that my dear friend Jessica had died unexpectedly. We had been friends for more than twenty years; she was one of my most supportive readers of nearly anything I wrote, and also one of my most honest and trustworthy critics. I valued her opinion deeply. She was much too young and it was a terrible shock. It feels strange to be writing something that, for the first time ever, I know she won't read.
But I know she's still making music where she is now, and I also know she'd want me to keep making words. So this is for you, Jess, with thanks for all the love and encouragement.
This week the blog makes its first visit to Northumberland County. I managed to snag this on the way home from a recent trip to Knoebels Amusement Park with husband Kevin, who deliberately veered off course in order to venture into the borough of Mount Carmel so we could all learn about "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin.
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| The marker is at the intersection of North Oak and West Second Streets, Mount Carmel |
On his 17th birthday in 1924, James ran away to New York. After sending his parents a telegram to let them know he was all right, he went to enlist in the army; it wasn't uncommon for underaged would-be soldiers to claim to be orphans, since their parents wouldn't give consent for their enlistment. He was accepted along with a group of other orphans (or orphan claimants) and, the following month, was stationed in Panama. Trying to make up for the education he'd needed to abandon, he spent his free time reading voraciously and exploring the region. This caught the attention of his superiors, who encouraged him, and within the first year of his enlistment James was already promoted to corporal. He enrolled in the local army school and, with his superiors tutoring him, performed well enough that he was then permitted to follow his dream of transferring to West Point.
James didn't have an easy time at West Point, on account of having missed several years of schooling. He also lied about his age, to hide the fact that he'd enlisted before he was old enough. But he worked hard, rising well before dawn each day in order to study before classes began, and graduated in 1929; he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, thanks in part to his having already been a soldier, and married his sweetheart Irma Baulsir. They had one daughter, Barbara, in 1933, but it was not a happy marriage. James was frequently apart from his young wife, who ultimately decided to stay with her parents in Washington, D.C., and she and Barbara remained there throughout James's participation in World War II.
Now, I'm not military. Anyone who has ever looked at me for more than ten seconds can probably figure out one of the reasons why. So while reading up on James's heroism, I came across a lot of jargon that I don't necessarily understand, and find it difficult to translate into layman's terms. He spent a lot of time in different places, training and being educated and making his way through the ranks. I'm not going to go into everything because the guy's list of achievements is about as long as I am tall.
What I can tell you is that airborne assault, at that time, was still a relatively new thing in warfare and James took a great interest in it. He attended the new Parachute School at Fort Benning, then became the commanding officer of C Company in the new 503rd Parachute Infantry Battalion. In that position, he was given permission to develop the basic tactics and rules of airborne combat, which led to him writing something called FM 31-30: Tactics and technique of Air-Borne Troops. He relied on both his own tactical experience and also what he had learned about German and Russian paratroopers and glider troops. This guidebook was a huge success within the military and was considered the launching pad of James's career. Apparently, sometime later he was asked how his career took off so quickly and he replied, "I wrote the book."
I like this guy. His sense of humor was a lot like mine.
Well, Pearl Harbor happened and the United States entered World War II. In March of that year, James turned 35; in August, he was promoted to colonel and became the commander of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which he built from scratch. He personally designed their training missions and led their marches, insisting that his officers be "the first out of the airplane door and the last in the chow line." His leadership continues to be the pattern for American airborne units to this day.
You might never have heard of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment; I never had either, before I researched this post. But I had heard of the 82nd Airborne Division, of which James's regiment was a significant part, and in February 1943, the 82nd was selected to participate in Operation Husky - the Allied invasion of Sicily. It was there that James became regarded as a war hero. Despite being outmanned and outgunned, his very small unit was able to capture and hold a location called Biazzo Ridge. That doesn't sound like a very big deal until you understand that the German forces were launching a major assault on that very point. James and his men were literally the only thing standing between the 1st and 45th Divisions, which were dangerously under-defended, and the entire eastern task force of the Hermann Göring Division.
It's unknown exactly why the Germans didn't attack James's unit more aggressively. Maybe they didn't realize just how few men were defending Biazzo Ridge. They did attack, though, and the defenders managed to capture a pair of the German howitzers, and with these they were able to successfully retain their hold on Biazzo Ridge for an entire day until they were joined by six Sherman tanks. With the new arrivals, plus a handful of others who had managed to fight their way to join his men, James led a successful counterattack and drove the Germans away from the ridge, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for his conduct.
In December 1943, James was promoted to brigadier general, one of the youngest generals in the entire war at just 36 years old. He was named assistant division commander of the 82nd Airborne and headed to England, from which he and his men proceeded to help storm the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. Specifically, James led Force A, the parachute division, whose staggered drops helped create the impression of a much larger force than it actually was. They successfully captured the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, and James led the defense at Manoir de la Fière; a historical marker in the region indicates what is believed to have been the location of his foxhole.
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| James M. Gavin in 1964, as featured in Army Research & Development Magazine. Public domain image courtesy of WikiCommons. |
The 82nd had greater success in the Battle of the Bulge, in December 1944-January 1945. They crossed the Elbe River alongside the British 6th Airborne Division, traveling 36 miles in one day and capturing more than 100,000 troops along the way. Germany surrendered, and the 82nd remained in Berlin on occupation duty from April to December 1945. While there, General George Patton observed the 82nd's honor guard and praised it as the greatest he had ever seen, leading them to become known as "America's Guard of Honor."
With the war over, James returned to the United States, where he and his wife Irma divorced. The marriage was not helped by their long separation, nor by his reported wartime affairs with other women, including the film star Marlene Dietrich. He remained with the army, taking a high postwar command position and continuing to research and develop tactics for airborne combat. In July 1948 he married Jean Emert Duncan; he legally adopted Caroline, her daughter from her first marriage, and the couple also had three daughters together, Patricia, Marjorie, and Chloe. James finally retired from the army in 1958, having received the rank of lieutenant general, and published a book about his experiences that same year.
Now a private citizen, James joined the industrial research and consulting firm of Arthur D. Little, Inc., serving in various leadership roles in the company until retiring as its president and chairman. In 1961, however, he took a leave of absence from the firm at the request of President John F. Kennedy, and accepted a post as ambassador to France. The relationship between France and the United States was rocky at the time, and Kennedy thought that because of his wartime experiences there and the role he had played in France's liberation, James could make it smoother. He was completely correct in this assessment and James enjoyed a successful two years as ambassador.
If you were familiar with the name of James Gavin before reading this post, it might be because you've seen one (or both) of a pair of films which have him as a character. The Longest Day, produced in 1962, is a John Wayne epic about the D-Day landings at Normandy; Robert Ryan plays James Gavin. A Bridge Too Far, produced in 1977, covers the events of Operation Market Garden and features Ryan O'Neal in the role. Both movies are based on books by the same names written by Cornelius Ryan, and the real James Gavin served as a consultant on both productions.
James died February 23, 1990, survived by his widow, his five daughters, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He's buried in the Military Academy Post Cemetery at West Point, where he began his illustrious career, just east of the Old Chapel. Meanwhile, in his boyhood home of Mount Carmel, an exceptional granite marker forms the centerpiece of a tribute to the Armed Forces. It lists James's many military exploits, which are so numerous that it actually required two separate tablets to include them all. Originally situated outside of the town's American Legion post, it was moved to its present location in 2018, after the post closed; both the granite marker and the PHMC marker are located at Second and Oak Streets, next to the VFW.
Sources and Further Reading:
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
So sorry for the loss of your friend, Jessica. I know why she read everything you've written -- it's always clear, concise, interesting and often amusing. Thanks for this post. I sent the Ashland Boys Association link to my friend from Ashland. I have even been with him to see the Mothers Memorial!
ReplyDeleteThank you, John - as always your commentary is kind and deeply appreciated! I hope your friend enjoys the article.
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