LETTERS FROM WWII: PFC. CHARLES MCCALlISTER

Pfc. Charles McCallister, 101st Airborne, wrote to the mother of his cousin, Pfc. Jim Dashner, also of the 101st.

"Jim's section leader had been killed and Jim was in charge, so he took over the machine gun himself. The enemy had them surrounded on three sides and had them pinned down with fire. Jim took the machine gun and crawled forward to a good position and set up the gun and began firing. He was in a spot and was doing plenty of good, so the [Germans] started concentrating all their efforts on him....

His platoon leader saw they were getting close and yelled to Jim that he'd better get out of there. The boys in the platoon said it was possible Jim didn't hear, as they had never known him to refuse to obey an order. But his friends seem to think he was just mad and was doing so much good at the time, he didn't want to move. So he stayed right there and fired until his gun was red hot. Then they got zeroed in on him and landed a mortar shell right on top of him. He died instantly but his hand was still clutching the trigger. As a result of his continued fire, the platoon was able to advance on their objective.... With all my love, Charles"