Vietnam Vet Essay, Research Paper

Tim Days

Tim was born May 6, 1922 in New York city. He attended Jamaica High School, out in Queens, which he said was a great school. He took Latin and Greek. Tim had one brother who was younger by a year and a half. His brother stayed in the Army and retired as a captain. Tim and his brother were at home when they heard the news of pearl harbor.

Tim joined a National Guard unit, which was then called to active duty. He did this in the beginning of ?41. He was never even signed up for the draft.

He was a paratrooper. He actually wound up there. He had to fight to get out of his regular unit. They wanted to send him to officers school but he didn?t want to. They started out as an artillery unit and became a tank destroyer unit, and by that time he had it. Tim became a paratrooper in 1942. In late spring of ?42 Tim went to jump school.

Tim was in the 82nd. When he joined, Tim was sent to Company A of the 505th Parachute Infantry, which at that time was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Gavin, who later on became a general. Tim said he was a magnificent leader.

Tim was a sergeant, but then took a reduction to private to go to the paratroopers. But in about three months he was a sergeant again, because most people that were in the unit had never been in the service; they went right in from the draft. Tim became a sergeant very quickly, and then a platoon sergeant, and when the first sergeant from Company B was killed in a jump accident, so Tim became the first sergeant until they just started to go overseas.

Tim believes the war was justified but may have not been worth all the lives lost. He agreed with the dropping with the atomic bomb because he said it reduced the number of Americans lives lost. He said if they had the bomb earlier that maybe America could have avoided some of its casualties.

He thinks Roosevelt was an ok leader. He then said our generals are the people who really lead the US through the war.

Tim went to Sicily. He was captured there.