A Vet’s Story – Walter Weiss

Operation Varsity

He is 18 years old and has jumped out of a plane over enemy territory. He has a parachute on his back. He is carrying two large boxes full of machine gun ammunition on his legs. He pulls the ripcord and continues to oscillate through the air. Suddenly he halts and finds his chute stuck on the branches of a tree. All around him are the bodies of dead parachuters. He is suspended above the ground. Luckily his binding branches break and he falls 25 feet onto a paved road. He tries to stand and can’t.

He feels pain in his left leg. He is rescued and his rifle is used to brace his knee. He is transported to a barn being used as a first-aid station. German prisoners are carrying the bodies of the injured and dead. Medical corpsmen treat his leg, he has a broken heel. They prop him against a tree, hand him back his rifle and tell him that if any of the prisoners get out of hand, he is to shoot them.

The soldier’s name is Walter Weiss. He is a member of the 507^th Parachute Infantry of the U.S. Army. It is his first day of combat. Welcome to World War II.

Today, Walter Weiss is a 78 year old man residing in Nazareth, Pa. He lives with his wife of 44 years, Wilma. Both were widowed with children in their early 30s. Wilma had a son and a daughter and Walter had three young sons. The two families merged and the couple raised the five children. The Weisses are the proud grandparents of nine boys and a girl.

Born on April 14, 1926 in Jersey City, N.J., Weiss proclaims himself a “Depression baby.” He recalls that money was not plentiful, but he didn’t know the family was poor.

“I wanted to fly (solo) and I never did make it. I had a private license, just dual, no solo. Everything was geared toward model airplanes. I would sell newspapers to get money for paint and model airplane kits and so on,” Weiss recalled.

Growing up, Weiss had a passion for flying. “I was a great one for building and flying model airplanes. That was my great sport and great hobby and I did it for a good many years. I dropped out of high school at the tenth grade and then I went to real education and took courses in navigation, meteorology, and aerodynamics.”

He wanted to join the military at the start of the war, but his age restricted him. On April 14, 1944, Weiss volunteered and arrived at Fort Dix on April 28. Prior to his arrival he had signed up for the parachute troops, a strictly volunteer position. He had his choice of services as a volunteer, and chose the Army.

From Fort Dix, Weiss was sent to Camp Wheeler, Ga. for basic training. He then went straight to Fort Benning, Ga., for four weeks of parachute training and officially became a paratrooper.

“At the end of January, I boarded the Aquatania for overseas as a replacement. I guess I was fortunate because I graduated jump school with a large class. They were going off into different units and I got offered the 507,” Weiss said.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but they were the ones chosen to spearhead the invasion across the Rhine River. So I got into the unit in February and we practiced for the Rhine jump, it was called Operation Varsity.”

March 24, 1945 is the official date of “Operation Varsity.” It was the code name of the World War II airborne invasion on Germany’s Ruhr basin. It was a large and heavily defended industrial area east of the Rhine River. The invasion was executed with approximately 40,000 paratroopers and glider troopers of the British and United States armed forces. Operation Varsity is considered to be the most successful airborne operation in Europe and it was the last airborne operation of World War II.

“I had 16 and a half months in the military. I was hurt on the jump. So my time in combat I guess, was three days,” Weiss said.

“What happened is, I was pretty good at parachuting. In fact, I kept up the sport after the war. I did a lot of parachuting and I was a rifleman. I was an expert with an M1 rifle and on the practice jump for the Rhine jump, a machine gunman was hurt. So they took this little rookie fresh from the states and made him the assistant machine gunman.”

If not for being made assistant machine gunman, Weiss would not have been required to carry the ammunition and tripods on his jump.

Even though the visions of war are still vivid in Walter Weiss’ mind, it has not stopped him from returning to Europe to remember and celebrate the lives of those who survived and were lost.

“On the 25^th anniversary of D-Day, I went back and I made a commemorative parachute jump,” said Weiss.

Weiss has remained active in the military community. He is a past national president of 82nd Airborne Division Association. He is also a member of the 17^th Airborne Division. Weiss travels around the country to the reunions of these various organizations.

“I would like to make Reno this year,” said Weiss, for an 82^nd Airborne reunion.

In a few weeks, Weiss and his wife will be enjoying a trip to Atlanta for a movie premier of the film, “D-Day, Down to Earth: Return of the 507^th, One Regiment’s Journey to Remember.” “One member of the 507, his son-in-law really admired him and he has made a film. It will be on PBS in May.”

After the war, Weiss returned to Jersey City and became a firefighter. “I had my choice when I came out of the service. I took the test for police and fire department. I was very fortunate, out of 2,000 that took the test I was number one on the fire list and number three on the police list. And my father was a great fire buff and it would have broken his heart if I took the police department. Although they only worked 40 hours and the fire department worked 56 hours for the same money. But I did take the fire department,” Weiss said.

He served the Jersey City Fire Department for close to 26 years and retired as a battalion chief.

Weiss credits his time in the military with teaching him about discipline, a trait that he was able to successfully utilize as a firefighter. “The military will teach you discipline, which is an asset in this type of job. I got along very well with my men. And I was always working in a busy company in the busiest area…my men knew that at the scene of a fire, if they thought I was making a mistake, that I would listen to them.”

“I think that a little bit of military time wouldn’t hurt anyone in civilian life. I think that a year in between high school and a further education would be the best thing for most people. The record shows that some of the best college students are the ones that get out of the service and go to school on the G.I. Bill,” said Weiss.

Weiss is like many from his generation and still carries a slight bias toward the enemies of World War II. “I always considered that the Japanese interrupted my life, tremendously.”

Walter Weiss is clearly proud of his time spent in combat as well as all the time he has given over the decades to preserving the memories and history of the 507^th Parachute Infantry. His home proudly displays awards and honors that have been bestowed upon him for his courage.

He is a prime example of a patriotic citizen. A spirit and determination that should be passed down to younger generations to help fight the war our country is currently embattled in and any future conflicts.

Christina F. Marks is a senior at Lehigh University. Her hometown is Hackettstown, N.J.