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PrintU.S. ARMY MARSHAL FOR VETERANS DAY PARADE
By Colonel Jim Stone
Andy Haines was 22 years old when he jumped into France on D-Day in 1944. He was a member of the Famous 101st Airborne Division, with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was surrounded and wounded at the Battle of the Bulge.
He parachuted into France and Holland during WWII. Before leaving for England in March 1944, he married Jane, his high school sweetheart on January 8th.
Haines said, "We jumped in the dark", with 600 paratroopers of his Regiment, descending into France. Andy said that he was nervous and a little scared, because this was the first time he ever jumped when someone was shooting back at him. On Christmas Eve 1944, General McAuliffe was asked by the German Commander, to surrender. His response was, "Nuts". The troops were proud of his response, his troops were not about to give up. We won that battle.
Haines returned home December 1945, he jumped off the train and Jane ran into his open arms. Andy went back to college to get an electrical engineering degree. His memories still run strong, many of them are painful memories, of the price of freedom. (Information taken from an article by Ken Beck, "The Jump of his Life", September 15. 2010).
