Frazier International History Museum

William Brunsman

Connersville, IN

William J. Brunsman 2nd Lt. 82nd Airborne; 5 campaigns: Sicily, Naples Foggia, Normandy, Ardennes, Rhineland.

Volunteered from his home town of Connersville, IN and went to Camp Shelby, MS for Basic Training in April 1941. After that, he arrived at the Panama Canal as a Communication Sgt. in January 1942 on a 3000 ton banana boat. The next trip, the boat was torpedoed by a German U Boat. In January 1943, he went to OCS at Ft. Benning, GA and volunteered for Paratroop Jump School. One class he paid close attention to was parachute packing-- He had to pack his own chute for his first jump.

His first combat jump was into Gela, Sicily; second was at Salerno, Italy; and the third was Normandy on D-Day around 2 p.m., where they successfully secured a road to keep the Germans from reinforcing the Utah beachhead. Fighting in the Hedgerows, he was wounded in the left thigh by artillery shrapnel. His fourth and last jump was into Grosbeek, Holland, where he shot a cow so his men could have fresh meat. On returning to headquarters, a captain told him a mortar shell came through the roof of the house they were staying in and landed on his bed but didn’t explode.

During the Battle of the Bulge, the snow was deep and they only had field jackets-- no overcoats. They were not allowed to light fires and men were sick... “We lived like animals.” During a German artillery barrage, an 88mm shell skipped by him.

After crossing the German border, he and his Sergeant took out several German pillboxes. As they went towards the first one, a bullet went through the right sleeve of his field jacket, one through his pant leg and then his foot. At the hospital, they removed two bones and the bullet from his left foot which he kept. He got the Silver Star for this action.

After surviving all of this, he had more than enough points to come home. He was offered a Captaincy with the Regiment to stay in but he said, “I thought my luck had run out.” He now lives in Louisville, KY.