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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

"GERONIMO", High Flying War Dog of the 507th







Down from the heavens he gracefully soared, all fours extended for a soft landing. Sergeant Geronimo the parachuting war dog of WW II was master of his trade. Named for the famous "jump shout" of the paratroopers, he did his job as well as any proud soldier of the 507th.

During the month of June 1942, Alliance, Nebraska was authorized as a new site for establishment of an Army Air Base. The unique Sandhills area just east of Alliance were considered ideal for softer landings and as a good training area for paratrooper's jump training. The base was ultimately used to train paratroopers, glider and C-47 pilots. Within a few short months an entire military community sprang up about 3 miles east of town, eventually raising the combined total population of the once small community to close to 20,000. Helping to build the base was a great undertaking by the small agricultural community. The entire base was built from the ground up wth over 775 buildings being erected. The base became a functioning city of its own and became the largest air field in the state of Nebraska. The landing strips still serve this community and are to this day some of the longest of their kind in the United States. At its height in 1943 more than 14,000 paratroop infantry men were training here. One of the best known of these soldiers was "Geronimo", the Sergeant canine who was a member of the 507th Paratroop Infantry Regiment. He was the mascot of the 507th and their jumping partner.

Geronimo was believed to have been part coyote, part German Shepard, and he had been picked up as a stray by Kenneth Williams who was a soldier with the 507th. The men trained the dog to jump from the airplanes and he had his own special parachute and beautiful canine "coat" which sported his Sergeant stripes. It has been said that he came to love jumping and often had to be restrained from leaping out of the airplanes too soon!

The canine was actually trained and used in demolition work during the war. Starting early in 1943 when the 507th began training here at the Alliance Base, Geronimo made several appearances as a paratrooper. He made jumps from Omaha throughout Nebraska and even over Denver, Colorado. His exhibition jumps thrilled audiences when ever he performed. During a large ceremony in Alliance in 1943 he performed for what was thought to be nearly 60,000 people who had gathered for a parade and to watch the paratroopers. At Denver he performed for well over 100,000 spectators. Sergeant Geronimo was featured in many magazine and newspaper articles of the day, including a great layout in "Life" magazine which I am lucky enough to own along with some other nice momentos of his life. Over his great but short lived career, the Army figured that the public popularity of the war dog had helped to raise millions of additional dollars in war bonds.

My uncle was Brigadier General Maurice M. Beach and he was, in 1943, the Colonel and Commander of the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing which was stationed in Alliance at the Air Base. His men trained with the paratroopers and gliders in preparation for what was to become the invasion at Normandy, France. He had many photos which were taken at the base and had told us stories about Geronimo. You can read more about General Beach and the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing on one of my earlier posts. The 507th Paratroop Infantry Regiment deployed to Europe shortly after leaving Alliance and became an integral part of the Normandy invasion forces.

The war dog Geronimo, was considered a hero by all of his fellow soldiers when he helped to save the life of his friend Kenneth Williams when Kenneth was injured badly on maneuvers to destroy a bridge. He alerted his fellow paratroopers who came to the aid of soldier Williams. After nearly a year, Kenneth Williams recovered from his injuries and both he and Geronimo were given honorable discharges. They retired to the Denver Colorado area together.

Geronimo was tragically killed by a hit and run driver in 1947 when he got out of the yard of his home. He is buried in the Denver Pet Cemetery in Commerce City, Colorado. Over the years since then, two markers have been erected as memorials to the brave canine by subsequent members of the 507th Paratroop Infantry Regiment. His grave site may be visited by the public. I am proud that Geronimo was part of the history of my home town- Alliance, Nebraska.

In his memory:

I dedicate this article about Geronimo who was a special character in my local history to our precious "Macey Girl" who we lost recently. Most families have been touched by a special canine at one time or another. Some were WAR HEROES like Geronimo, some were awesome service dogs, and some were just beloved family pets like our Macey, but "family members" in any shape or form can be included in a genealogists prized collection of treasures.

19 comments:

  1. Hi Cheri!
    Nice post. I'm struck by the irony of how Geronimo survived all those jumps and the war
    only to be killed senselessly at home as happens to many humans as well.

    Thanks for sharing this story.

    Bill

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  2. Just came across this- Kenneth Williams is actually my Great Uncle. Unfortunately, he died just before I was born so I was unable to meet him. Thanks for the interesting info!!
    Kristie

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  3. My God, this is my father... I had no idea that someone else other than family had this material.... Kristie? How are you related.. one of Jim's grandchildren?

    Sharyn Williams Student

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  4. @ Sharyn and Kristie: both signed into this comment area as anonymous. I do hope that the two of you can get together as you both are obviously related! If you choose to make connections with each other, feel free to email me at sweetwatersherry@gmail.com and I will try to make your connections with each other. I am thrilled that you both enjoyed the article!

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  5. And I am one of his grandchildren! Hi, Aunt Sharyn!
    Joy

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  6. Cheri, thank you so much as I would LOVE to find out which of Jim's children, or Children's child Kristy is... and Hi Joy! You are indeed one of his grandchildren. Bless all of you for this.

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  7. @ Kristie. Your family would like to make a connection with you. Please post your email here or send it to me (author and owner of this blog) sweetwatersherry@gmail.com

    I will be happy to pass it along to Sharyn privately.

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  8. how ironic is it that the key word used to indicate that Osama Bin Laden was killed was "Geronimo"!

    cindy z

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  9. Cheri, One of moms old beaus was Cecil Collier of Lakeview, Oregon. He must have been in this same group as he sent pictures home to her. One of the pictures is of "Geronimo and his owner Kenneth Williams" as written on the back. Another picture is of Geronimo coming down and on the back is "Geronimo his fifth jump". Wish I had found this sooner as mom passed away April 29,2009. I would be happy to send you a copy of Geronimo as he is coming down. Charlotte H.

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    1. Hi Charlotte,

      I was happy to read that you found my blog. I am a native of Alliance and have grown up surrounded by our local history and of course hearing lots of stories etc about town and the Army Air Base. I volunteer often at our local museum which is also our genealogy center here.

      I think the museum MAY have a newspaper clipping of what you mentioned, I'm not sure but I have seen that or a similar one someplace. I would be thrilled and grateful if you are willing to share it with me. I keep thinking that someday I would like to write more but time just gets away!

      Thanks so much for your note, I look forward to hearing from you.

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    2. Charlotte, my email
      clchopkins (at) gmail (dot) com

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    3. My grandmother told me a different story of how Chuddy (how I know Kenneth Williams) got injured, but I didn't see it on your site or on Findagrave. She told me that on the last jump, before being sent to France, Chuddy thought he had been erroneously dropped over water when it was actually a landing field. Since it was night he couldn't see the difference and his the tarmac hard.

      Hi Joe! must be time to get your own Geronimo dog!

      Joy

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  10. What's really ironic is that I am Kenneth William's genetic grandson and even though I never knew him, I ended up joining the US Army, becoming Airborne qualified and jumping out of airplanes! Joe

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  11. Incredible points. Sound arguments. Keep up the great work.Thanks for sharing in detail. Your blog is an inspiration! Apart of really useful tips, it's just really!
    ______________________
    Northern Virginia Dog Trainers

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the nice comment! If you happened to read the other comments, you will see one from a woman in Colorado, who, at the time she wrote me had said the particular pet cemetery where Geronimo was buried was under threat of destruction. I was not able to help her at the time because of a serious illness with my husband so I do not know if the cemetery and grave still exists or not. I sure hope so but suspect the big business people won out. Thanks again-

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  12. Wow, cool post. I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real hard work to make a great article… but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though. http://regionalbar.com/invisible-dog-fence-reviews/

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  13. Thanks again to everyone who has posted kind comments to this article. I'm so glad that there is still interest in "Geronimo" and his service. Important history! He certainly was one of the 'ancestors' to our wonderful war service dogs of today. posted:March 2018

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