“The fighting was so great and the crossing so difficult we

Take you feelings about him into consideration
December 16, 2013
When they removed from light
December 17, 2013

“The fighting was so great and the crossing so difficult we

old World War II hero says his is not the ‘greatest generation’

cheap Canada Goose “I do not abide by that. I do not agree canada goose premium outlet with it,” he says, his voice rising. “I canada goose outlet store near me do not ascribe to ours being the Greatest Generation. And why? Because the canada goose factory outlet greatest generation has not yet been born.” cheap Canada Goose

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canada goose black friday sale “It will be that generation when young men and young women of all religions and all faiths can get together and decide that we have to have another way to solve our problems and live together peacefully or none of us will exist.” canada goose black friday sale

uk canada goose As it turns canada goose outlet legit out, one of the greatest warriors of his generation is a peacenik. Megellas believes that’s why he’s still alive: His mission isn’t finished. His message is simple. uk canada goose

canada goose factory sale “The Lord did not put people on this Earth to kill each other and finish it off,” he said. “If you believe the Lord created the earth, then you’ve got to believe he wants to keep it going.” canada goose factory sale

canada goose store Leading from the frontMany people Megellas’ age live in nursing homes or assisted living centers. canada goose outlet houston But Megellas lives with his wife, canada goose outlet winnipeg address Carole, in their two story home in northeast Tarrant County. He still fields requests for appearances and speeches. canada goose outlet miami He’s been to Afghanistan canada goose outlet trillium parka black to speak with troops three times. In March, he traveled to his childhood home of Fond Du Lac, Wis., for his 101st birthday. canada goose store

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uk canada goose outlet Born on March 11, 1917, Megellas graduated from Ripon College near canada goose outlet england his Wisconsin hometown in May 1942, six months after the United States went to war. He immediately accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the canada goose jacket outlet uk Army. uk canada goose outlet

buy canada goose jacket He didn’t see action right away, so he canada goose outlet boston volunteered for the paratroopers. By November 1943, he had joined the war in Italy in fighting around the coastal town of Anzio and surrounding mountains with Company H, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne. He was wounded twice while in combat more than 100 straight days against seasoned German forces. His regiment, the 504th, sustained over 1,100 casualties. buy canada goose jacket

canada goose uk black friday Their unit was then pulled out of Italy and sent to England to prepare for the invasion. Three months after D Day, Megellas parachuted canada goose outlet florida into Holland as part of Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne assault in history. canada goose uk black friday

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Canada Goose online Impossible missionNear the ancient Dutch town of Nijmegan, Megellas and H Company soldiers took part in ferocious fighting for two long bridges over the Waal River. A nearly impossible mission, canada goose outlet website legit Megellas and the others had to paddle canada goose womens outlet 1,200 feet across the Waal River in swift canada goose outlet belgium moving water on collapsible, canvas boats in broad daylight. Canada Goose online

canada goose uk shop They came canada goose outlet nyc under intense machine gun fire from Germans hidden behind a dike across the river. “The fighting was so great and the crossing so difficult we were scattered all over,” Megellas said. canada goose uk shop

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Canada Goose Parka Somehow, with a force badly depleted by the river crossing, Megellas and remnants of other squads fought their way past the dike and across hundreds of yards of flat, treeless landscape to the castle. Using machine guns and grenades, they took out the enemy soldiers inside the castle and then helped secure the bridges. Canada Goose Parka

canada goose coats Historians have described the broader effort of Operation Market Garden, planned and led by beachcottage British Gen. Bernard Montgomery, Black Canada Goose Jacket as a failure. The operation had not broken through German defenses and brought a quick end to the war, as hoped. canada goose coats

canada goose uk outlet What the historians don’t understand, Megellas said, is what it was like on the ground for the soldiers during that bloody day of Sept. 20, 1944. canada goose uk outlet

canada goose “We had 48 killed and 140 wounded,” Megellas said. It was some of the hardest fighting his platoon endured in the war. “But we prevailed on that day. We silenced that fort. We did our job.” canada goose

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Canada Goose Outlet Just 10 days later, at an enemy observation post, Megellas crawled forward alone and killed two of the outpost’s guards and canada goose outlet in toronto the crew of a machine gun nest. Bringing up his patrol, he attacked the main body of the enemy forces and rescued three prisoners. For his actions that day, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross. Canada Goose Outlet

canada goose clearance The citation describes Megellas in Rambo like terms, reading in part: “The aggressiveness of this patrol action thoroughly demoralized the enemy in canada goose outlet 2015 the sector. His mission completed, First Lieutenant Megellas withdrew his platoon through enemy lines and under mortar fire. He personally carried a wounded man while firing his Thompson Sub Machine Gun with one hand.” canada goose clearance

canadian goose jacket Megellas and the 504th were part of the fight. His platoon and another, both depleted by casualties, were ordered to take Herresbach, a Belgian town five miles from the German border. Trudging through knee deep snow in the Ardennes Forest, they surprised a much larger force of canada goose sale uk Germans and routed them out without losing one of their own. canadian goose jacket

canada goose coats on sale While they waited for a resupply of ammunition on the town’s outskirts, a German tank came forward and fired at them, forcing the men to seek cover. Megellas instinctively moved toward the tank, using trees for cover. He disabled the tank’s track with one grenade. Then he charged up to the side of the Panther tank and dropped another grenade down its open turret canada goose coats on sale.

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