A Wisconsin paratrooper describes his service in Europe during World War Two.

Papers, 1942-1946, 1989 (selections).

Howard Ruppel, a paratrooper with Co. F, 517th Parachute Combat Team, sent letters home from Europe to his family in Milwaukee and afterwards wrote a memoir of his service. The six letters digitized here describe his paratrooper training at Fort Benning, making a jump into France, his duties in France and Belgium, experience in the hospital in France, and his actions during the Battle of the Bulge. The three memoir excerpts digitized here, written after censorship had been lifted, recall a combat incident in Italy, fighting in France for which he received the Bronze Star, and combat in Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. The complete memoir and additional letters (described here) exist in paper form in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives. These documents are made available online through a partnership between the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Public Television.

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