Post by Deleted on May 17, 2011 21:22:49 GMT 8
I was recommended to this website by SFC Contrata Jr., TRADOC. I am not sure this is the right place, but if not, you may be able to direct me.
I am contacting you on behalf of 2nd Sergeant Carlos Rangel Contreras, who trained at Fort Benning in 1942 with the paratroopers.
He enlisted in January 1942, and was placed under Capt. Jorge Murguia Gonzales and Capt Plutarco Alvarra'n Lopez - both of whom were in charge of the approximately 17 Mexican paratrooper trainees. He finished training in approximately June or July 1942, if his memory is correct.
He said he couldn't get the jump tower right - had to make 16 trips up the tower before he finally could move on to actual "jumps." He remembers doing approximately 8 training jumps. He remembers a black man who got tangled in his lines on his first jump - he went head down due to tangled lines, hit a tree limb and woke up in the hospital a few days later. (He told that story with a broad chuckle.)
He remembers Company D, 1st Bn, 82nd Airborne, however I have done a limited internet search and find no record of 82nd AB being sent to the Philippines. After reading the short description of the history/conglomeration of the 503rd, I can imagine there was a lot of confusion - especially for those for whom English was not their first language. It is possible that he ended up as part of this unit but I am not sure.
He traveled by ?? from Fort Benning to Fort Bliss, TX, then by plane to San Diego. Troop transport ship to Hawaii, then by transport plane to the Philippines. He made 3 combat jumps, then was shot in the left shin during ground operations. The bullet traveled up his leg and out his knee. He was later discharged from Los Angeles, CA.
He remembers an Italian - Polovino, a German, and a Puerto Rican......couldn't come up with any other names that day, but had exhausted himself trying to remember all the details so I could search for him.
He lost almost all his personal items in a flood in northern Mexico in 1944 and has since LONGED for his graduation photo from Airborne school in 1942 as well as contact with anyone he served with.
I was told he could be issued a duplicate diploma from Fort Benning if his attendance and graduation could be verified. If anyone has any documentation that could help with that process, he would be ecstatic.
Is there any way to get a copy of this photo? I would be glad to
reimburse the cost. And for any other photos/documents that he was part of.
I will be happy to pass along any message to him from those he served with.......he would be very pleased. It was obviously one of the most memorable periods of his life.
He lives in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico - 85 yrs old and still speaking some English. He is Spanish primary, obviously, and not internet savvy, which is why I am doing this search for him.
I have searched the database for his name - did not find it. Not sure where to look next. Thank you for your assistance.
Respectfully submitted,
D. Martineau
Former Captain, USMC
Fellow parachutist
(but, alas, not a "trooper")
I am contacting you on behalf of 2nd Sergeant Carlos Rangel Contreras, who trained at Fort Benning in 1942 with the paratroopers.
He enlisted in January 1942, and was placed under Capt. Jorge Murguia Gonzales and Capt Plutarco Alvarra'n Lopez - both of whom were in charge of the approximately 17 Mexican paratrooper trainees. He finished training in approximately June or July 1942, if his memory is correct.
He said he couldn't get the jump tower right - had to make 16 trips up the tower before he finally could move on to actual "jumps." He remembers doing approximately 8 training jumps. He remembers a black man who got tangled in his lines on his first jump - he went head down due to tangled lines, hit a tree limb and woke up in the hospital a few days later. (He told that story with a broad chuckle.) He remembers Company D, 1st Bn, 82nd Airborne, however I have done a limited internet search and find no record of 82nd AB being sent to the Philippines. After reading the short description of the history/conglomeration of the 503rd, I can imagine there was a lot of confusion - especially for those for whom English was not their first language. It is possible that he ended up as part of this unit but I am not sure.
He traveled by ?? from Fort Benning to Fort Bliss, TX, then by plane to San Diego. Troop transport ship to Hawaii, then by transport plane to the Philippines. He made 3 combat jumps, then was shot in the left shin during ground operations. The bullet traveled up his leg and out his knee. He was later discharged from Los Angeles, CA.
He remembers an Italian - Polovino, a German, and a Puerto Rican......couldn't come up with any other names that day, but had exhausted himself trying to remember all the details so I could search for him.
He lost almost all his personal items in a flood in northern Mexico in 1944 and has since LONGED for his graduation photo from Airborne school in 1942 as well as contact with anyone he served with.
I was told he could be issued a duplicate diploma from Fort Benning if his attendance and graduation could be verified. If anyone has any documentation that could help with that process, he would be ecstatic.
Is there any way to get a copy of this photo? I would be glad to
reimburse the cost. And for any other photos/documents that he was part of.
I will be happy to pass along any message to him from those he served with.......he would be very pleased. It was obviously one of the most memorable periods of his life.
He lives in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico - 85 yrs old and still speaking some English.
He is Spanish primary, obviously, and not internet savvy, which is why I am doing this search for him. I have searched the database for his name - did not find it. Not sure where to look next. Thank you for your assistance.
Respectfully submitted,
D. Martineau
Former Captain, USMC
Fellow parachutist
(but, alas, not a "trooper")
