WWII letter D-Day C-47 Pilot dropped 101st Airborne 94th TCS "I am still alive"

Description

This is a rare original WWII letter written one of the C-47 pilots who dropped the 101st Airborne into France D-Day night.
It's not often you find a WW2 letter of this caliber for sale on ebay. W
ith that said I am proud to offer this original WW2 letter written by Lt.
Robert M. Wilhelm who was the C-47 pilots who flew in,
"
Fox Company of the
101st Airborne Division,
First Squad, 2d Platoon of Co. F, 2d Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment"
on the
invasion of France, D-Day night, June 5th 1944.
Lt.
Wilhelm was with the 94th Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group in addition to the 101st Airborne Paratroopers on D-Day he
also flew many paratrooper drops and glider drops including the South France
D-Day
d
rop into France.
This letter written was written while
Lt.
Wilhelm was
in training. The letter was written to his Mother and others while
he
was in at Camden SC in Feb. 1943, there is no envelope.
This original letter has high 101st Airborne background documentation because it comes with 7
facsimiles of other letters
Lt.
Wilhelm's
has written that help tell his story including his hand written facsimile of
Lt.
Wilhelm's war flight record and all his
Awarded
Records with supporting dates.
The letter has great research potential. Also included with the original letter are two
(recently printed)
photos of 101st Airborne D-Day paratroopers.
One of the images shows the very 101st Airborne paratroopers (with names of the men) that
Lt.
Wilhelm's
flew in that historic day/night. The two images are about 8 1/2" X 11", all printed on glossy photo paper.
About the letter:
When Lt.
Wilhelm wrote this letter little did he or his Family know that as a pilot he would be participating with the 101st Airborne in one of the most significant events in world history.
Of the paratroopers onboard
Lt.
Wilhelm
C-47 he dropped that night, three of them were Killed In Action.
Becoming an Army Air Corps Pilot was a major accomplishment, tens of thousands of pilots were washed out during their training and tens of thousands died in training. Only the most gifted Men and Woman were able enough and skilled enough to made it all the way through to pilot.
To give you an idea of how hard and dangerous
it was to become a WWII pilot,
out of the 35,000 U.S. Army Corps Airmen who gave their lives during WWII, 14,000 died on US soil and other parts of the world training for combat. About 50% of all bomber airmen who saw combat lost
their live in WWII.
Background on Lt. Robert M. Wilhelm:
While in the ETO,
Lt.
Robert M. Wilhelm flew many of the most dangerous missions of any troop carrier pilot during WWII, including Normandy and D-Day South France.
In some of the letters I have read when he returned from missions he would have bullet hole in is C-47 from German
Infantry fire. Many of the mission he flew were low altitude flying and were susceptible to infantry fire.
There is much information on the internet about the
94th Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop carrier Group and the Paratroopers of Fox Company that he flew in on D-Day. T
his would be a
excellent
pilot to research.
Included with this original letter are
7
facsimile of other letters he has written and a facsimile
copy of his key flights and military awards including dates (see photos).
Lt.
Wilhelm has many Awards including but not limited to:
3 Bronze Star, the Air Medal and many Oak Leaf Clusters
for his flying during during the war.
I found information on the internet about
Lt. Robert M. Wilhelm D-Day drop. This was written on the back of an Army Signal Corps (National Archives photo) after the war, this photo is one of the photo reprints included with the letter.
"Paratroops of the First Squad, 2d Platoon of Co. F, 2d Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, loaded aboard a C-47 of the 439th Troop Carrier Group at Upottery Field, England on the night of 5 June 1944. The airplane, No. 42-100856, was one of a formation of 81 C-47s flown by the 439th Group on D-Day, delivering the 1st and 2d battalions of the 506th PIR.
This aircraft was Chalk No. 77 (Stick 77), flown by 1st Lt. Robert M. Wilhelm and crew of the 94th TC Squadron of the 439th.
..... left front: Pfc. Marion J. Grodowski, Pfc. Ralph Robbins, Pfc. Joseph J. Hoganmiller, Pfc. Joe Watkins (KIA, Holland), Pfc. Norman Trimble. Standing: Pfc. Raymond"Ray"Cauvin S/Sgt. Hugh G. Borden; flight crew radio operator Cpl. Vernon E. Johnson, Sgt. John H. Taylor (standing at right rear); Medic T/5 John G. Gillespie, Pvt. Bernard B. Tom (KIA, Holland); Pfc. Raul Ochoa, and Pfc. Raymond Passino. Not shown, Lt. Charles Semon, KIA (drowned on this drop)
About Lt.
Robert M. Wilhelm on D-Day and his C-47 ship:
On June 5th and 6th, 1944 during Operation Neptune, No. 12 serial, h
is C-47, No. 42-100856, was one of a formation of 81 aircraft flown by the
439th Troop Carrier Group
, delivering the 1st and 2d battalions of the 506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne.
If you search the internet you will find a photo showing that
Lt. Wilhelm
(in C-47
No. 42-100856)
with
Paratroops Fox Company, First Squad, 2d Platoon of Co. F, 2d Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, sitting in Lt.
Wilhelm C-47 aircraft.
There is also a
table/chart that illustrates the flight formation showing the air unit in charge of transporting
101st Airborne
Paratroops
on Operation Neptune.
Because
of this documentation
Lt.
Robert M. Wilhelm
dropped the men of
Fox
Company, First Squad, 2d Platoon of Co. F, 2d Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne.
His aircraft was Chalk No. 77 (Stick 77), flown by Lt. Wilhelm and crew of the 94th
Troop Carrier
Squadron of the 439th.
Also if you
search the American Air Museum Britain you will find a color photo of Lt. Wilhelm's
C-47
No. 42-100856. I will include a recent color print of this photo with the sale of this letter.
Also included are 7
facsimiles
of
letters
Lt. Wilhelm wrote to his family
during the war with one being a June 2, 1944 just before the D-Day
invasion.
In this letter, by
reading between the lines, you can tell he knows what is coming. Also a copy of a C-47 Stick chart showing that
1st Lt. Robert M. Wilhelm plane was #77 of the 101st Air
borne
D-Day lift, 94th
Troop Carrier
Squadron of the 439th.
Where is the value in this letter?
When you buy a WWII letter of this type you are not just purchasing a common artifact of WWII.
This letter is unique and an investment on two levels:
First, it preserves history that will be of value to future generations.
Second, it will go up in value as years go by.
In this grouping I provide a number of facsimiles that give evidence to the importance of the pilot who wrote the letter and the significance of this individual’s contribution in defeating the Germans during World War II.
The facsimiles also add value, they may very well be more significant than the letter itself because what the facsimiles do is tell a deeper contextual story about this pilot
who served his his country, the cause of liberty,
in liberating the world from the
Third Reich.
I believe it is the story or narrative that is the most significant aspect of these artifacts that you are purchasing.
About the seller:
I have been buying and selling Americana, rare books & documents, since the early 1970’s.
I have sold large collections and important individual items to some of the largest
libraries, Auction Houses, Rare book rooms, Universities and Museum in the US.
I have published unique Americana works which are in University and private libraries throughout the world.
Some of the proceeds from my sales go to
support WW2
Primary Source Material for class rooms at High Schools in my area
. (If you are a teacher and are interested in
WW2
Primary Source Material for your class room please email me.)
My main goal is by selling WW2 and other historical Primary Source material; I can distribute letters, documents and items around the world that tell the true story of the courage, bravery and sacrifice, made by millions of Americans and the Allied Forces during the war.
When you by a Primary Source letter or document to add to you collection you are doing what Thomas Jefferson did hundreds of years ago (Jefferson sold his library to the USA to create The Library of Congress) in preserving American history, which will be handed down to generation of future American and the World.
When you buy from me you have my guarantee that what you are buying is authentic.
Email me if you have questions.
See photos for condition and letter content.
Bidding conditions and mailing below:
I ship Priority Mail US Post Service, three day delivery.  The reason why is virtually all of the items I sell are one of a kind and even though an item may not have a high selling price it is sometime priceless to the buyer. Also
Priority Mail US Post Service is insured and is tracked to
guarantee
delivery.
US buyers only. (I do make some exceptions for foreign buyers but you need to email me to get approval for bidding.
You must have bought over 25 items on eBay, Paypal preferred and you must have a good rating in order to buy on this item/items.
I have a 100% rating and have sold many rare and important document, letters and items on Ebay so you know you will receive this original item.
See photos for condition.
Email me if you have any questions.