PFC Bill Tucker's Recorded Account of Actions at Ste. Mere Eglise

Quick answer: Who was Bill Tucker?

William "Bill" Tucker of Boston served in I Company, 505th Parachute Infantry, 82nd Airborne, making three combat jumps including into Sainte-Mere-Eglise on D-Day. He later became a lawyer, was appointed to the Interstate Commerce Commission by President Kennedy, wrote the memoir Parachute Soldier, and died in 2008.

John shares an audio recording in which Bill Tucker, a veteran of the 505th Parachute Infantry, calmly describes the jump into the Cotentin Peninsula and the attack on Sainte-Mere-Eglise on June 6, 1944, including the American flag Lieutenant Colonel Edward Krause raised over the town. Tucker, born in Boston, joined the Army in 1942 and made three combat jumps with I Company. "We felt strong and confident about what we could do," he wrote in his memoir, "and we had no thought of failure." He was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge near Fosse, Belgium, and left the Army a sergeant. His family described a hero who was uncomfortable being called one and who remembered every man who had been there with him. On the GI Bill he earned a law degree from Boston University and opened a practice in Athol, Massachusetts. After working on John F. Kennedy's campaigns, he was appointed to the Interstate Commerce Commission. He helped found the liberation museum at Groesbeek in the Netherlands, wrote four books including Parachute Soldier in 1994, and died on Cape Cod in November 2008 at 84.

Why it matters for leaders: Firsthand accounts like Tucker's give later generations a direct line to the people who did the work.

Q: What was Krause's flag?

A: The American flag Lt. Col. Edward Krause of the 3rd Battalion, 505th, raised in Sainte-Mere-Eglise on D-Day morning, the same flag he had flown over Naples.

Q: What did Tucker write?

A: Four books, including his memoir Parachute Soldier (1994).

Read the full article on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pfc-bill-tuckers-recorded-account-actions-ste-mere-eglise-john-fenzel

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation