WWII letters 17th Airborne, 517th Parachute Infantry Reg. camouflaged parachute

Description

I am honored to offer
two
original WW2 letter written by a paratrooper of the 17th Airborne, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment of Pvt. Donald A. Paragon. If you are
fortunate enough to win these letters you will be holding a powerful piece of history.
The two letters come with a small piece
of camouflaged parachute (WWII or Korean War Vintage) and five photos
(recent prints)
. The two letters were written just before Pvt. Paragon left for overseas and just after the war ended in the ETO.
The 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment is one of the rarest paratrooper units of all Airborne Troops. During its history it saw heavy combat in Italy and for its fighting in France it was awarded the
French Croix de Guerre by the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
During the Battle of the Bulge t
he 517th P. I R. suffered heavy casualties in the ferocious fighting, during which 1st Battalion, 517th received the Presidential Unit Citation for its successful assault on Soy and Hotton.
About the letters:
The first letters is not dated but it was written around May, 1944 just before he shipped out. This letter come with the original 517th PIR. cecovred envelope. In the letter he says this:
"Friday evening Still in U. S. A. .... I'm going to try to call tomorrow - hoping to find you all at home. ... I want to hear your voices just one more time."
The second letter was written at the end of the war, while in France at Camp Pittsburgh and he hopes to be shipped home. He has 70 Points which is high and he earned every one of them. I do not have the envelope just the letter. Here is what he writes about his Points:
"I think I will forget about going to school over here. The first Sergeant said its best I will wait, being I have 70 Points I might get sent home, of course we can't be sure. The men with 75 points stand a better chance of going home. 70 points is pretty high in comparison with the amount of men who are over here..."
While Pvt. Paragon was in Paratrooper training he became a rigger but changed from a rigger to a pure paratrooper because he became aware that riggers don't see combat. He asked not to be a rigger and wanted to jump. The piece of camouflaged parachute I am told is either WWII or Korean War Vintage and was not his personal parachute but I got the camouflaged parachute material from the estate of another WWII Paratroopers.
The 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment is one of the rarest units of the Army Airborne Troops.
About Prt. Donald A. Paragon:
Prt. Donald A. Paragon is from Mt. Vernon Ohio and was trained as a rigger but later in his training he gave up rigging to be a pure paratrooper. He served in Italy, France, and Belgium and was in the Battle of the Bulge.
He was with the 17th AIRBORNE DIVISION, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 517th PIR, one of the most specialized Parachute Units in the US Army and saw involved it D-Day South France Campaign. Pvt. Paragon was awarded the Bronze Star while serving it the 517th PIR and wore 5 battle stars on he ETO Ribbon.
Pvt. Donald A. Paragon was very philosophical about his role in WW2 and his responsibility to fight to liberate the world of tyranny and protect freedom. In other letters I have he writes often about freedom and shortly before he went overseas he wrote this to his Mother below, this letter is one of the facsimiles included in they grouping.
“Monday Evening
September 13, 1943
Dearest Mother:
“….. You asked me why I quit rigging -- well mother it's probably a reason that you can't understand – I might say it’s for glory. If I stay as a rigger I won't get to jump in combat.
Mom I want to say to my children when this is over - that I was in the midst of it. I didn't want to tell them I was a rigger and packing chutes while the other guys went out to fight. Maybe it's hard to understand mother but that's the way it will have to be if I am to be satisfied. I want you to be proud of me to mother.
About the 517th Paratrooper Infantry Regiment:
After Camp Mackall training the regiment moved to Fort Benning for parachute training. The 517th moved through jump school with no washouts, setting a record that has endured even
too
this day.
School Commandant General Ridgely said that the 517th's Battalions were without equal in discipline and effectiveness. The 517th paratroopers were the first to wear the steel helmet in jump training; until then a modified football helmet had been used.  On completion of jump training the lst and 2nd Battalions moved on to Mackall while the 3rd remained at Benning to complete fill-up.
One day an inspection team from Headquarters Army Ground Forces arrived at Camp Mackall to test the regiment's physical fitness. Using more-or-less scientific statistical sampling methods, men and units were selected and put through their paces.
The men took the Physical Fitness Test consisting of pull-ups, push-ups, and other weird calisthenics done against time.  Platoons and companies were chosen to run and march, with and without equipment, for various distances.  When all was finished, the results were analyzed and announced.  The 517th had taken first, second and third place in all tests and events, scoring higher than any unit tested before or since.
The 517th PIR fought it many battles in Italy, France and The Battle of The Bulge.
Pvt. Paragon was awarded the Bronze Star
while serving it the 517th PIR. 517th PIR were the first American Paratroopers to be camouflaged, this was the Southern France invasion jump and Pvt. Donald A. Paragon made this jump.
After his jump into Southern France Pvt. Paragon saw
94 days of continuous days of combat
. At the end of the war he wore 5 battle stars on he ETO Ribbon.
The 517th PIR was an independent Unit and one of the most specialized Parachute Units in all the US Army.
When the 517th PIR was formed the men were hand picked from 3000 Airborne soldiers and only 800 made the cut, Prt. Paragon was one of those men.
If you go to YouTube and search: "
A Cut Above 517th
" you will find many videos about the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Also Wikipedia has a large write up titled: 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team.
Recently in a interview and a speech of one of the last surviving members of the 517th the a paratrooper said this:
“while in Basic training the Army gave every (Army) units a physical fitness test and a 20 mile march. Every unit in the 517th Parachute Regiment Combat Team did better than any other unit in the entire US army. The 517th broke every record of any parachute regiment that progressed through the Corps. We knew we were a cut above the rest of the Army and we made every effort to show it, socially and professionally.”
And here is what one of the last surviving members of paratroopers of the 517th said about the Southern France drop:
"On the 15th of August shortly after midnight 180 C-47 lifted the combat (517th) in route for Southern France. They jumped at about 4:30 in the morning."
Where is the value in this letter grouping?
When you buy a WWII letter of this type you are not just purchasing a common artifact of WWII. These letters are 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 Paratrooper who wrote the letters and the significance of this individual’s contribution in defeating the
Third Reich
in World War II.
The facsimiles also add value, they may very well be more significant than the letters themselves because what the facsimiles do is tell a deeper contextual story about this Paratrooper who fought to liberate 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.
What you will get:
You will get the two original WWII letters as shown, an original WWII or Korean War Vintage camouflaged parachute piece, about 4"X7", FACSIMILES of other letters Pvt. Paragon wrote at different times during the war while in the 17th AIRBORNE DIVISION.
Also five
(recently printed photos)
relating to Paratroopers, the 517th PIR and 17th AIRBORNE DIVISION, two of the photos are unpublished images.
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 I ship Priority Mail 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 please email me if you can 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.