1 - Paratrooper

Summary

“Paratrooper” explores the background and early lives of the paratroopers who defended Graignes. It examines the concept of airborne assault through history, and it details the development of airborne tactics by Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The chapter moves on to describe the background and training of General James M. Gavin, the epitome of a paratrooper and a leading force in the concept of airborne assault. There is a description of the type of rigorous training that men who volunteered to become paratroopers underwent at Ft. Benning. The chapter concludes by looking at the background of the enlisted men at Graignes. Most were deeply affected by the Great Depression, and many volunteered for the paratroopers in order to earn extra pay.