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Post by EXO on Mar 29, 2021 13:34:50 GMT 8
There is very little I've been able to locate concerning the history of "A" Co., 503d PRCT. Obviously, I've come along late in the piece, but the reason I believe there is so little about "A"Co. is that so many of the "A" Co. men were killed on Corregidor, the Company more or less was left unrepresented when it came to writing its history. Essentially, "A" Co had the more senior men, those who had joined the paratroopers early in the war. They had been stationed in Panama, and so by the time the 503d had been moved to Gordonvale, Queensland, they had the seniority. Being the earliest to join, by February 1945, many had served their time, and had been rotated home. Of those who made it to Corregidor, the explosion at Monkey Point more than decimated the 1st Battalion. So by the time I started collecting stories, there just weren't that many men who knew the Company's history sufficient to write about it.
So it's especially lucky that we acquired a copy of the "A" Company Diary from James Pardue, the son of Thomas Richard Pardue, who acquired an early draft of it. As a typist, whoever typed the document was a FAIL, but as an historian, we are greatly thankful for having access to the draft and for its preservation through the years.
I have no idea whatsoever where the final copy came to be, but if the document we have is not easy to read and makes you concentrate all the more on the reading of it, I am happy.
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