"Some guys went AWOL out of the hospital and hitched a ride on a plane get back to the unit." (Interview)

Frank E. McKee

Frank McKee War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: Army Unit: 2nd Battalion, 508th Paratroop Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division Service Location: United States; Northern Ireland; Britain; Normandy, France; Central Europe; Ardennes; Rhineland Highest Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: Passaic, NJ

Frank McKee found out just how pugnacious his fellow paratroopers could be when he pulled MP duty in England and had to break up pub fights between the men of the 82nd Airborne and other units awaiting orders for D-Day. The night before the invasion, his plane dodged anti-aircraft fire, and he landed safely. He wasn't as lucky a month later, on July 4, when he "felt something like a horse kicked me in the back" during a skirmish with German troops. But he recovered from his wounds to parachute into Holland and fight through the coldest winter in Europe in 40 years, in the Battle of the Bulge.