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Robert F. Bocchino 17th Airborne Vet Grouping


M1Thompsonlover
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M1Thompsonlover

I've had this grouping for over 20 years and thought I would share it with everyone. I got these items from the vet himself when I went to his house to speak to him about his war experiences. I have always had an interest in Airborne warfare and a friend of mine who is a Vietnam vet had a co-worker who was in the 82nd Airborne. I got his number and after a brief conversation, he invited me over to his house. (How I wish I would of taped or recorded the interview) He had many stories and a few I vividly remember. He even broke down crying a few times. One of those times was when he spoke of having to shoot the German horses that had been caught in artillery barrages. He said they were innocent victims and didn't deserve what happened to them. The other time was when they were on the Operation Varsity jump over Wesel Germany. He said he was at the door of the plane which had been receiving flack hits when the green light came on. He hesitated because they were over trees. Once they were cleared, he jumped and as he landed he watched the plane crash. He said to me, "I killed those guys." He thought because he delayed jumping, it caused the pilot and co-pilot not to have enough time to escape the severely damaged plane. He also spoke of being wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and was so out of his mind from the wounds he started shooting at his own men and had to be restrained. I asked him if he ever attended any 17th Airborne reunions and he said i would never break bread with some of the men who had killed prisoners. I spent a few hours with Robert and he let me copy some of his photos from his jump training. He had a nice framed picture of him in his class A's that I wish i would of made a copy of. When I was leaving he gave he his CIB, jump wings, divisional patch and a piece of his parachute from the Varsity jump on March, 24 1945. I called him a few times after that but lost touch with him as the years went by. I googled him when writing this piece and found out he died in 2006. I have included a link to his obituary that mentions his military service. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunsentinel/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=17525614

 

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BILL THE PATCH

Very nice, I've talked to so many vets over the years I wished I had a portable tape recorder with me.

 

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

 

 

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Very interesting little grouping and the piece of parachute is a nice little piece. He must have stayed in the army for quite some time after WWII to have earned the Senior Parachutist Badge.

 

Allan

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I noticed these were post war wings when first posted.

 

Reminded me of the wings George Green would sell at the local reunions.He was the treasurer at the time.They had both Glider and Jump Wings.Im wondering if the vet wasn't in the Army post WW2 if he picked these up due to the star being on them as a wing with "combat jump" star.Couple vets had these as well at the reunions and never were Senior parachutists

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