Lucky

In Operation Market Garden
200 soldiers of the 82nd Airborne’s 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment
Rowed across the Waal River to take the bridge at Nijmegen
The idea being they would attack the Nazis from both ends of the bridge at once
Of the 200, 48 were killed trying to cross in tiny, inadequate boats
Using their rifle butts as oars
While they watched their friends die all around them
My dad was not one of the 48
He thought of it as luck
Of those 48, 18 were from his platoon
Only my dad and one other lucky man surviving

The 504^th were known for their warrior spirit
And because they were so aggressive and so relentless
The Devils in Baggy Pants, as they were nicknamed by the Germans
Lost more men than any other regiment in the 82^nd Airborne
Every time they jumped from a plane
They assumed they would accomplish their mission or die trying
I can’t imagine possessing that mentality, that outlook
But because every one of them to a man believed that
My dad thought he was lucky each time he survived a battle