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Hashey, Lester (1925 - 2002); On June 6, 1944, Hashey arrived in Scotland thinking that he had "missed the war" because the Normandy landing took place that very day.
On September 17. 1944 he jumped on a bright day in a small village called Son (North of Eindhoven-Holland) Sgt. Carwood Lipton was his jumpmaster and Sgt. John W. Martin was the pusher. Lester was the 17th man on the stick. From the drop zone they had to secure the bridge in Son but it was blown up by the Germans almost in their faces. They had to build a way to get across and used barn doors to do it. The fighting around Eindhoven was part of Operation Market-Garden. On October 22nd, 1944, they went with a group across the Lower-Rhine, under command of "Moose" Heyliger, to rescue 130 British Red Devils, right under the noses of the Germans. After Holland they went to Mourmelon, France around the 1st of December. On December 18th they arrived at Bastogne and were involved in what later was called "The Battle of the Bulge." One night, on January 14th 1945, he was in his foxhole and suddenly was hit in his shoulder by shrapnel that pierced the back of that shoulder and punctured his lung. He noticed it because his back became warm with the blood. That was his last day on the battlefield. Later on he was transferred to a Military Police unit in Belgium. 3"x5" signed card. $40.00