Evening star., 1944-07-23

fought and won.
'Valhalla of the 101st.
But Carentan, little French town In
the middle of the rich Norman pen
tnsula, just south of the marshes of the
Douve River, will remain the Valhalla
of the 101st. In and around that she'll
torn town many men of the division
fought and died. Just west of the Hotel
de Vile they fought one of the gallant
actions of this or any war, repelling
reinforced German outfit which had
been ordered to throw the Americans
out of the town.
Men of the 101st died there in the hills
and along the road west of Carentan
but they hurled back the fanatical
Scheutzstaffel and parachute troops the
Germans poured at them. I counted
many scores of German dead after that
action although they had removed many
the night OF June IL.
The Focal Point.
Carentan was the focal point in the
great American swing north to capture
the tremendously strategic port of Cher
bourg, at the tip Of the Normandy pen
insula. Through Carentan runs the
main railway to Paris. The town is the
center of a network of roads running
from Cherbourg to Central France.
Carentan was the hinge on which the
American northern offensive swung. 1t
was the vital spot in the whole Ameri-
can action in the days Immediately after
D-day, and we had won foothold on
the beaches and were driving north to-
ward Cherbourg through the she'll
drenched towns of st. Mere Eglese, and
the ruble of Montebourg and Valogne.
Carentan was vital. 1t had to be taken
and held, and it was. The 101st had been
given an order. They carried 1t out, to
the final degree, and the German broke
and died before this outfit in its first
battle contact.
1t was my privilege and honor to be
with the 10lst from long before D-day,
when the American correspondents were
sequestered, ION ice" with much of the
vital secret in their possession. learned
long before that this was a star-spangled
division, destined for glory or death;
that on it and its valor the military
savvy of its commanders and the indi-
vidual heroism of its officers and men
depended big part of the American ef-
fort In France. I knew long before that
this division would not fail in its task,
and I was not disappointed 1t was an
honor to be with an outfit such as the
l01st.
They Were Kidded.
heard the kidding that went on in
England for days before, when we
learned the Germans had impressed the
French to plant poles in the Normandy
fields to prevent glider landings, and
that gliders were sure to be hazardous
remember the song about the men
who went in seaborne on D-day Snow
shoe and derby hat soldiers" they called
them, with no small touch of scorn
They proved themselves worthy soldiers
when the test came, no matter how they
arrived in France
I remember all too vividly the day
Maj. Paul Danahy of Minneapolis, for
mer advertising executive, asked me to
ride with him in jeep among q group
Of American tanks repelling the SIS at
tack on Carentan, and how that intrepid
soldier admitted, when he returned, he
was scared. OF how he replied to one
frightened soldier who asked him what
to do against certain German phase OF
ettack. Danahy stood up In the air.
plane, put his hand on his As. and said
bud, to hell with EN-. Shoot EN-"
The Spirit of the 10lst.
That was and is the spirit Of the divi.
sion. ITO hell with 'em. Shoot EN-.
The dead, wounded and missing will be
replaced with fresh, new men. They'll