Descending from the Clouds: A Memoir of Combat in the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division

by Spencer F. Wurst, Gayle Wurst

Wearing the remnants of a WWI uniform and pulling a water-cooled 30-caliber machine-gun, Spencer Wurst marched through his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1940 as a member of the National Guard. He was 15 years old. Five years later he was a hardened platoon sergeant leading his troopers through the frozen killing fields of “Death Valley” in Germany’s Heurtgen Forest. A squad leader in Company F, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne, for most of the war, Wurst jumped into Italy in September 1943, and received his baptism of fire at Arnone. Jumping into Normandy on D-Day, he received his first Purple Heart in the liberation of Ste. Mère-Eglise, and a second Purple Heart in grueling combat through the hedgerows. On his third jump, Wurst’s bravery under fire earned him the coveted Silver Star when he and his fellow paratroopers were swept up in the ferocious battle with the SS for the Highway Bridge at Nijmegen, Holland, in Operation Market Garden. A few months later, the dawn of his twentieth birthday found him serving on point in the long, freezing march to the shoulder of the Bulge. A unique view of combat from pre-war training and mobilization to First Army maneuvers, parachute school at Fort Benning, and Europe’s killing fields, Wurst’s poignantly written and carefully researched memoir has been hailed as an outstanding addition to the literature of WWII.

Genres: World War II

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2016

Reviews

[Robert M. Roth MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

This is an interesting autobiography of a man’s army service prior to and including World War II. The author joined the National Guard at age 15 and served continuously throughout the war. He began as an infantryman and later became a paratrooper. He endured combat in the 82nd Airborne from Normandy, Holland and The Bulge.

Unfortunately, the book was written 60 years after the events and in the telling, a lot of the immediacy is lost. There are sections were there is the need to rely on the unit’s history. Maps and photos are a valuable addition.

[brad w miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping true tale

A very well told first person story of a soldier in the 82nd Airborne in WW2. Spencer Wurst vividly conveys the horrors of war and how he lived to tell his story.

[robert j dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An infantryman’s perspective of combat

A very well written description of the 82nd Airborne Division’s action in WWII from the perspective of one of the men at point of the infantry assault team. Spencer Wurst has made the 82nd proud.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story from a front line grunt in Europe during WWII. It was the *@nd Airborne and many of their "Drops" through Italy and on through the "Battle of the Bulge" to cracking the Seigfried Line. A good book.

[Joseph F McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal account

This book is especially good with all the original photographs maps and other details not found elsewhere. I copied some of them

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good account of the life of a paratrooper in the 82 airborne division. From pre war to post VE Day. Enjoyable

[Russell R · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book