505th Regimental Combat Team (505rct.org)

All American patch

Medinger B. Magonigie of Dade County, Florida entered the Army from Camp Blanding, Florida on June 17th 1943, spending 16 weeks in basic training. Initially assigned to a Field Artillery unit he saw a notice on the company bulletin board seeking volunteers for the paratroopers. Med volunteered and was accepted. He trained for the paratroops at Fort Benning, Georgia, and at the end of four weeks, he received his wings. After jump school he attended demolition school for an additional four weeks and finished up his training with 3 weeks on the bazooka.

Medinger sailed for England, there he was assigned to a replacement depot with 50 - 75 other men. When he arrived in France he set off with a group of 4 or 5 paratroopers by jeep heading for Belgium. As the group neared the front lines the men were dropped off with various companies of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Medinger was dropped off last at F company and was assigned to a bazooka team.

He remained with F company through the rest of the war fighting through the Bulge, the Hurtgen Forest, the Siegfried Line and when the combat team reached the Rhine river they patrolled the far side aggressively. Medinger recalled going by boat across the Rhine to gather information on the enemy, usually there were 5 men in a boat, with one being an intelligence officer(S-2 section). When the 505 reached the Elbe river and made the crossing, German's began to surrender in large numbers. It wasn't out of the ordinary to see a paratrooper or two escorting hundreds of prisoners to the impoundments.

Medinger recalled going into one of the German impoundments alone and unarmed, he was escorting several Red Cross personnel inside. Their objective was to talk with the Germans officers, set up treatment for their wounded, establish feeding time tables, and disarm any men that may be concealing small hand held weapons on their person. After speaking with the German officers it was clear to Medinger that the officers were still, firmly in command of their men.

When the division arrived in Berlin the 505 had already received it's assignment as the honor guard for the American sector. Medinger recalls that they were housed in barracks that once belonged to the Berlin police department. As well as honor guard duties he also participated in armed patrols of the city at night. There were still German soldiers wandering around the city who hadn't surrendered yet, however the patrol units were told to let them be as long as they caused no trouble. By day the German soldiers lived or slept in the bombed out housing of the city and at night they would appear throughout the public parks in the vicinity of the Brandenburg Gate to obtain food from sympathetic Berliners. The men patrolled by foot for the first 2 or 3 weeks, then jeeps were made available and they began to patrol a wider area.

With jeeps now used by the patrols, they moved out into the areas of the bombed out housing stock. Before that could happen the roads had to be cleared. Medinger recalls that details of 15 to 20 women young and old, would work in the streets clearing debris so traffic could begin moving through the city again. Sometimes the patrols would have to wait for the crews to clear an area and the paratroopers would talk with the ladies while they waited to pass through.

November 19th 1945 the 82nd Airborne Division was relived from occupation duty in Berlin. There were several stop over locations on the return trip to the United States. The first stop was camp Chicago. Then the 82nd moved to camp Lucky Strike, the staging area before sailing out of Le Havre, France for the trip to England. From England the 82nd Airborne Division sailed for the United States on December 29th 1945 The New York City Victory parade took place on January 12th 1946. Medinger was honorably discharged in April of 1946.

Pfc. Medinger Magonigle - F Company.