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03-08-2014, 04:28 PM

#1081

Matt_in_VA

Join Date: Apr 2003

Location: Clifton, VA

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I suggest that you read the article first before clicking on the link to the video.

Bastogne Beer

By Matthew M. Burke

Published: November 23, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/kd9jh6x

It took 65 years for Vincent Speranza to find out that his actions in

Belgium during World War II had been immortalized - for his ingenuity

with the beverage that the country is famous for producing.

The Auburn, Ill., native had buried the war - and the pain he endured -

deep inside until his wife died four years ago and he began thinking

about the past. Visiting his storied 501st Infantry Regiment earlier

this month in Alaska to observe readiness training, he shared his rich

combat experiences.

Speranza joined the Army in 1943 right after graduating from high

school. He was assigned to Company H, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment,

101st Airborne Division, as a replacement in November 1944 while the

unit licked its wounds from the devastating failure of Operation Market-

Garden.

Within weeks, Speranza would be in a foxhole in Bastogne, Belgium -

cold, running short on supplies and ammo and surrounded by German

troops.

"The first eight days we got pounded" by German artillery, he recalled.

"But this was the 101st. They could not get past (us). They never set

one foot in Bastogne."

On the second day of the siege, a friend named Joe Willis was wounded

with shrapnel in both legs and brought to a makeshift combat hospital in

a blown-out church. When Speranza tracked him down, the fellow

paratrooper asked him to get him something to drink.

Speranza explained they were surrounded and no supplies were coming in.

The soldier asked him to check a devastated tavern nearby.

Speranza found a working beer tap there. He filled his helmet - the same

one he had used as a foxhole toilet - and made two trips to the wounded

in the church. He was caught by an angry major and told he would be shot

if he did not stop, for fear he would kill the wounded.

Visiting Bastogne in 2009, Speranza found his foxhole still there, but

Dutch and Belgian military officials told him that the legend of the

soldier filling his helmet with beer for the wounded is still told - and

had been immortalized on the label of Bastogne's Airborne beer.

The beer is typically consumed from a ceramic helmet.

So Lt. Col. Tobin Magsig, current commander of 1st Battalion - the only

airborne battalion left in the 501st - had a few surprises up his sleeve

for Speranza's recent visit to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Troops showed him a Nazi banner hanging in the Battalion Headquarters

tha! t Speran za had signed more than 60 years ago but had never thought

about since. They marveled with delight while a rush of names and

memories flooded back to him.

Magsig also ordered ceramic helmets and Airborne beer for the regimental

ball.

"Mr. Speranza's visit has been rich and rewarding for every paratrooper

in the battalion," Magsig said. "You can see it on their faces and the

way they carry themselves. After talking with him, they stand straighter

and stick their chests out. Their faces beam with pride at the

opportunity to serve in the 501st - in the shadow of men such as Vincent

Speranza."

The 88-year-old also got a tour of the weapons depot on base, which he

called "interesting and informative." The old machine-gunner beamed as

he got to hold current weapons, including the M249 machine gun. He also

witnessed four airborne jumps from the inside an Alaska National Guard

UH-60 helicopter.

"I wanted to change places with them and do the jump, but they wouldn't

let me," Speranza said. "They've opened up another chapter [in my life]…

I feel like I'm home again."

Much has changed since Speranza wore a uniform. The 501st has since

separated from the 101st Airborne Division. Airborne jumps are now done

out of helicopters and not just cumbersome transport planes. The enemy

is harder to identify, melting into crowds of civilians and launching

insider attacks.

Still, Speranza believes the spirit of the men who stood up to seven

German divisions while surrounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the

Bulge endures in the soldiers of 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment.

"They sure haven't let us down as far as the reputation of the 501st

goes," Speranza said. "They don't wear the screaming eagle patch anymore

but they certainly keep the eagle screaming."