LOOK OUT BELOW! : a story of the airborne by a paratrooper padre

A veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War, Francis L. Sampson was a real-life hero whose exploits inspired one of the most famous war films of all time, Saving Private Ryan . From rural beginnings in northwestern Iowa, Sampson's life would take him from the University of Notre Dame to the battlefields of Normandy on D-Day, the ambitious failure of Operation Market Garden, the harshness of a winter as a POW of the Germans during the closing stages of the Second World War, to the fall of North Korean capital Pyongyang in the early stages of the Korean War. Part of the very rare breed of Parachute Chaplains, in his case with the 101 st Airborne Division, Sampson spent much of his career as an army chaplain in the center of maelstroms of the 20 th century. Throughout it all, Sampson offered a valuable Christian witness in the darkest of times and the most difficult of circumstances. This second edition of his memoirs, Look Out Below! contains material on his service during the Korean War and occupation duty in Germany and Japan as well as the Second World War, with a new historical introduction by University of Scranton Professor Sean Brennan. Contents A Historical Introduction to the Memoirs of Lieutenant Colonel Francis L. Sampson Letter from Cardinal Spellman Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Author’s Introduction Part I: Airborne Training Chapter 1: Parachute School at Fort Benning Chapter 2: Training at Camp Mackall Chapter 3: Yanks in England Part II: The War Against Germany Chapter 4: Invasion of Normandy Chapter 5: Jump into Holland Chapter 6: Defense of Bastogne Part III: A POW in Stalag II-A Chapter 7: Journey to Stalag II-A Chapter 8: Life in Prison Camp Chapter 9: Liberation by the Russians Part IV: Peace and “Police Action” Chapter 10: Civilian Interlude Chapter 11: The Agony of Korea Chapter 12: Germany Revisited Part V: Salute to the Troopers Chapter 13: The Commanders Speak Epilogue