Living History Paratroops of WWII
David Eller in full WWII combat paratrooper regalia. Photos by Charles Sasser
“It’s extremely dangerous,” team commander Ray Steeley admits. “You look out that door and realize you’re 12 seconds away from death.”
by his father and other vets. By Charles Sasser I
t is 1942 again at an airfield on the plains of southwestern Oklahoma, and America is at war. A C-47 Skytrain called “Boogie Baby” belches smoke as it exits a massive wooden
hangar. Paratroops inside the vintage aircraft, members of the Frederick-based WWII Airborne Demonstration Team (ADT), prepare to conduct a historical reenactment of parachute jumps made 70 years ago at Normandy, Sicily and Arnhem. Living history is brought to life by the dreams of a retired Green Beret soldier and over 100 volunteers who contribute their time and resources. Bobby Hunter, who died in 2013, was the last
WWII jumper in the unit. He was a former 101st paratrooper who combat-jumped at the famed “Bridge Too Far” in Holland in 1944. Younger gen- erations continue his WWII legacy by performing at air shows, military functions, commemorations, and other events all over the U.S. and Europe. “It’s extremely dangerous,” team commander
Ray Steeley admits. “You look out that door and realize you’re 12 seconds away from death.” Richard Wolf, founder of ADT, was a demoli- tions expert with the U.S. Army’s 12th Special Forces Group (Green Berets). He grew up in McAlester, Okla., in “Victory Park” housing con- structed to help returning WWII veterans get a fresh start. He was captivated by tales of war spun
A Brief Timeline 1480s
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WWW.OK-LIVING.COOP
“I realized what we owed them,” he says. U.S. airborne forces were the most visible and enduring symbol of that era. The idea of the parachute started with Leonardo
da Vinci more than 400 years before one was ever used. Russia and Germany put the idea into prac- tice in the 1930s. The United States arrived later when volunteers made a mass, combat-style jump at Fort Benning, Ga., in 1940. Two years later, the first U.S. airborne divisions were launched—the 82nd and the 101st U.S. para- troopers made their first combat jumps at Tunisia and Sicily in November 1942. Other jumps fol- lowed: Salerno, Normandy, Arnhem, Luzon and Las Banos in the Philippines, and at Corregidor in 1945. Wolf retired in 1996 to create his living WWII memorial. The first Demonstration Team consisted of himself and five buddies and a GP-medium tent in his back yard in Alderson, Okla. The project quickly caught the attention of others from around the world after the city of Frederick in the Southwest Rural Electric Association service territory, contrib- uted a wooden hangar at its municipal airport. The hangar was part of the Frederick Army Airfield built in 1942 to train fighter and bomber pilots. It was original in every detail, down to possible WWII ghosts. In 2011, investigators from the Society of the Haunted claimed they heard strange voices in the old barracks and saw mysterious lights. Ray Cunningham, a team member, acquired a
C-47 built at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City in 1941 and used by the British during the war. The C-47 was a primary platform for paratroops.
Leonardo da Vinci develops an idea for the parachute
1930s 1942
Russia and Germany put the parachute into practice
U.S. airborne divisions make their first combat jumps
“Boogie Baby” was soon followed by “Boop B Boop.”
Since its acquisition, the old hangar has become
a WWII museum full of vehicles and military gear from the war era. It is also a working airborne base that includes barracks, a mess hall and kitchen, classrooms, and offices needed to house “dogfaces” for training and operations. Not only jumpers but also people of all ages and
walks of life contribute to the success of ADT, which meets at least once a month. It is organized like the military, which means everyone is assigned a duty—carpenters, mechanics, clerks, instructors, pilots and communications specialists. Steeley, a retired army colonel, is team com- mander; Ray Cunningham is air wing commander; Wolf, first sergeant; Dayton Herrington, 82, the team’s oldest jumper and a Vietnam vet, is sergeant major. Conrad “Connie” Joslyn, former 82nd trooper
who no longer jumps, is the cook whose kitchen feeds 70 or more during operations. Barry Smith is in charge of the parachute rigger shed. David Eller, recently retired from Army Special Forces and a combat veteran of Afghanistan, assists as a rigger and does “KP,” kitchen duty. Sharon Bennett han- dles public information. Dan Cutting is a recruiter. “They find their niche here and pitch in,” Wolf explains. “Jump” schools are conducted twice a year with Sgt. Maj. Herrington in charge of a cadre of instruc- tors that come from all over the U.S. Patterned after the Army Parachute School, the course is nine rig- orous days culminating in five parachute drops.
1996
Richard Wolf, founder of WWII Airborne Demonstration team, retires to create memorial
2013
Bobby Hunter, the last WWII jumper in the 101st unit, passes away
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