William C. Price

(Patch on left shoulder is actually a 5th Army patch with a black and gold 'AIRBORNE' tab. The red/blue color enhancing was accidentally reversed)

NAME: William C. Price

ASN: 13007471

PLACE OF BIRTH: Scranton, PA

DATE OF BIRTH:

DATES OF SERVICE: Entered service possibly in 1940

UNIT ASSIGNED: E Co 2nd Bn 509th PIR

CAMPAIGNS: Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Anzio

AWARDS: Parachutist Badge with One Combat Jump Star (Avellino), Good Conduct Medal, ?UNKNOWN?, American Campaign Medal, American Defense Medal, European-African Middle-Eastern Campaign Medal (4th Award with Arrowhead), World War II Victory Medal

SUMMARY OF SERVICE:

8 Nov 42 Pfc. William C. Price 13007471 E Co 2nd Bn 509th PIR, Plane 3, Seat 3, Combat Weight 264 lbs.

(Bill Price before entering the service)

(Pre-WWII photo as indicated by the M-1926 Service Coat and white shirt with black wool tie. The shoulder sleeve insignia is of the 9th Infantry Division)

AN ARTICLE FROM A LOCAL NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCING HIS MARRIAGE BEFORE THE WAR:

(Photo possibly taken upon graduation from The Provisional Parachute School)

(E Company, 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Tunisia 1943)

(Bill Price carrying an M1928A1 Thompson SMG)

AN ARTICLE IN A LOCAL PAPER DURING WWII:

PARACHUTIST TELLS OF HIS ADVENTURES

Cpl. William C. Price, a parachute infantryman, doesn't like the German machine pistol and you can't blame him. Twice that enemy weapon nearly cost him his life, once during a two-day unfinished duel at Anzio, and once when he was up a telephone pole. Price, back in this country under the Army rotation program, will spend his 20-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allison Price, 82 Wall St.

Even his 1,500 mile flight by plane from England to North Africa to make a daring parachute jump and to help capture an enemy-held airport doesn't compare in his estimation with his two experiences with the machine pistol. "We jumped behind enemy lines near Avellino and were destroying bridges, erecting road blocks and tearing down communications," he related. "I was up a pole cutting wires when a Jerry with a machine pistol began blazing away at me. Although it was dark the bullets were coming mighty close. You can imagine I didn't waste any time getting down."

Price spent 15 days behind enemy lines that time. At Anzio, his parachute battalion landed by boat and he saw action there. "Two days before I started, I had another argument with a Jerry and a machine pistol," Price said. "I was in position with my machine gun not
far from his foxhole. On the first day, he knocked the back sight off my gun and I had to send back for another one. The next day he hit the jacket of the new gun and jammed the barrel bushing."

Price fought on the ground at Gafsa and Faid Pass and spent 39 days at Venafro, Italy, before going to Anzio for 49 days. He was overseas for 22 months.

A LOCAL NEWS ARTICLE AFTER THE WAR:

AN EXCERPT FROM A LONGER ARTICLE IN "THE METRO" FROM MAY 27, 1994:

At the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 25 in North Scranton, Bill Price says, "The first time in my life I was up in an airplane, I never landed." Why not? "Because I jumped out instead."

Bill Price is a charter member of a very exclusive club. Starting with just 500 men, the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion was the pioneering paratroop force in U.S. history. The men of "Geronimo" were jumping into combat when the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were barely off the drawing board. In WWII, the 509th was the most decorated unit of its size in the Army.

Bill Price earned his jump papers at the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia in March 1942. Eyeing the $50 extra "hazardous duty" pay per month, Bill and a buddy had signed up on an impulse. After the buddy had washed out, Bill was left wondering if $50 was adequate compensation for leaping from aircraft while trained killers shot at him.

The 509th took part in Operation Torch - the invasion of North Africa - in Nov. 1942. In Oran, Algeria, Bill was scheduled to jump in the first combat parachute operation by U.S. troops, but that time the plane landed, instead! It was shot down before reaching the target zone. Bill Price went on to make five combat jumps in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. At Avellino, he was behind enemy lines for 15 days. At Anzio, he was engaged in a two-day long machine gun duel with a concealed German who shot guns from Bill's hands twice.

Bill Price rotated home after 22 months overseas. Fighting on into Europe, the 509th wore itself down to just 47 of its original members. It was disbanded with honors and passed into history.

(Close up view of the photo at the top of the page showing the interesting pin next to the ribbons. The pin is known to be a French Parachutist Pin but currently do not know the what French Soldiers wore it.)

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