Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normandy. Donald R. Burgett is a real Screaming Eagle, who jumped with that famed division at Normandy and survived to tell the tale. His memoir vividly portrays the tragic chaos of war: the blood and sweat, the glory and tears of one of the greatest battles of all time. Currahee! (this was the battle cry and motto of his regiment) begins with jump training and explodes in drama as they are parachuted into Normandy with orders to take and hold the high ground behind the beaches. It contains unforgettable incidents. The author's almost dispassionate tone goes a long way toward explaining a particular set of psychological defenses which enabled these men to do their duty and-for some of them-to survive with their sanity intact. Currahee! is the only book on World War II that General Dwight D. Eisenhower ever endorsed, calling it "a fascinating tale of personal combat" that "portrays the courage, endurance, initiative and fighting qualities of an American soldier on a European battlefield of World War II." Currahee! was originally published to critical acclaim in 1967. Donald R. Burgett holds the title of being the first enlisted man to write and publish on the Airborne.
About the Author: I was borne, Donald R. Burgett, April 5, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan. My father was a Detroit Police Officer, Mother, a housewife and mother of three sons and one daughter. I dropped out of High School after the tenth grade to enlist in the military but was too young, I then worked as a carpenter. At the age of eighteen I volunteered for the paratroopers. I fought through the entire European Campaign; Normandy, Holland, Bastogne, Austria and Germany with A. Co. 506 PIR 101st Airborne. At the end of the war there were only eleven of the original two hundred men that started with Company A. I was awarded the Bronze star, two Purple Hearts the ETO Ribbon with two Bronze Invasion Arrowheads, and four campaign Stars, three U.S. Presidential Citations, The Combat Infantryman's Badge, Two Croix de Guerre of France, Two Croix de Guerre of Belgium, one Fourraguere of Belgium. One Orange Lanyard of Holland, a Victory in Europe Medal and an Army of occupation Medal. Most recently, the French Legion of Honor Medal in 2014. I was discharged as Sergeant, squad leader, paratrooper, 101st Airborne Division. I arrived home January 1, 1946, twenty years old. I could not vote, I could not sign a legal contract, I could not buy a beer. I was not old enough. I could not rest and bumped around the country working at many jobs. Returning to Michigan I met and married my wife, Twyla. We had five children and now have eleven grandchildren and 23 great grand children. Twyla and I moved into the Howell area in 1967 and built our home. I have written and published four well received books; Currahee!, Road to Arnhem, Seven Roads to Hell and Beyond the Rhine. As I now hold complete rights to my four titles, I am currently reprinting and making them available to the public. At eighty-nine years of age I am still working, readying my fifth book for publication.