WWII veteran was often in harm’s way

JagdtigerI · #1 (**permalink**) November 3rd, 2009, 11:01 PM

"Goldie Stepp has lived in Benton County all of his life except for the time he served in the United States Army during World War II. During his time in the Army he held some of the Army’s most dangerous positions but he was lucky enough to not get injured.

Stepp entered into active duty on Aug. 4, 1944. After basic training he went to Germany where he served as a glider pilot for a time. For those of you who do not know, glider pilots flew some very dangerous missions. There were less than 6,000 WWII glider pilots who flew secret missions that were kept classified for many years after the end of the war. Glider planes were fragile; made of wood, canvas, and metal tubing. They were often built under government contract by furniture companies and casket companies. The duties they held are many of the same duties helicopters perform today. The planes carried troops, artillery, ammunition and supplies to those on the ground. Unlike the modern day glider plane, once the WWII glider was released it could not gain altitude and they began a rapid descent. This made them easy targets for ground fire. Glider pilots suffered casualties in excess or most other combat specialties. When they lifted off on their mission they knew that at least one in every five would probably be killed or seriously wounded.

Stepp served in many other dangerous areas before being discharged on June 12, 1946. Once he got off a barge and as soon as he hit the beach he had to immediately begin fighting the enemy. He also served as first scout, which meant that he went ahead of the platoon to scout out the area for enemies. The scout would draw the enemy fire and this would alert the rest of the platoon as to where the enemy was. Many scouts were killed during the war."

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http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v...ryID=8373&on=1