Screaming Eagle Inspires Young Chanticleers
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” -Jn. 15:13
One of the most dangerous missions in all of World War II was that of the 101st Airborne pathfinders: specially trained, elite parachuters who jumped out of C-47s under cover of darkness and landed deep behind enemy lines, the first of all soldiers to face down the deadly threat awaiting Allied forces. Surrounded and outnumbered, their job was to scout out the foreign terrain, secure the drop and landing zones, and radio directions for other troops to follow them into battle. Nicknamed the Screaming Eagles, these brave men repeatedly jumped into a torrent of Nazi bullets; many were slaughtered by enemy fire while still in the air, and many others got caught in trees and suffered the same fate. It was such a perilous assignment, no man could be forced into it; one had to volunteer and undergo severe physical and mental training before being deemed fit for duty.
On November 8th, 2019, Our Lady of Mount Carmel students got the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet a Screaming Eagle, when ninety-eight year old Herbert Terner was the featured guest at OLMC’s annual Veteran’s Day celebration. He told them about his childhood in Brooklyn, his sixty-four year marriage to his childhood sweetheart, and the family he loved so much.
Then he told them about his three years and four months of combat, during which he earned six Battle Stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the Service Medal and the Distinguished Unit Badge. Serving under General Omar Bradley and General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mr. Terner was shipped first to Albourne, England. From there, he fought across Europe: D-Day; the Battle of Bloody Gulch; the liberation of the Netherlands through Hell’s Highway; the Battle of the Bulge; the liberation of a death camp; and the capture of Hitler’s mountain home. With almost insane heroics, he and his band of brothers were relentless in their determination to emancipate an oppressed people and restore freedom.
His first battle was Operation Overlord. Often called the Allies’ finest hour, Mr. Terner and his company landed behind enemy lines and helped secure Utah Beach. Of the 29,000 men who dropped 13,000 were killed, but the operation ultimately ended in a victory that became the turning point of the war and is still remembered as one of the most ambitious and significant military campaigns of all time. For the Screaming Eagles, it was the beginning of a three year commitment to selfless heroism and sacrifice.
Time and again, the men of the 101st Airborne proved integral in the triumph of light over darkness and hope over despair. Once, when they were covertly navigating their way through enemy territory, they were met by an Auschwitz escapee. Bruised, broken and terrified for his life, the man cautiously spoke to them in a number of languages in an attempt to ascertain whether they were friends who would help him or foes who would drag him back to his death. Finally convinced they meant him no harm, the man accepted the soldiers’ protection: They dressed him in an American uniform and gave him strict orders to remain completely silent if they were caught by the Nazis. Thanks to the bravery and compassion of Mr. Terner’s company the man was never recaptured; he ultimately made it to the United States - the only one of his family to survive the death camps.
It was not the Screaming Eagles’ only brush with Nazi terror: at the end of the war, Mr. Terner and his company liberated the survivors of Dachau, an inhumanly cruel concentration camp in which 200,000 people were detained and at least 41,500 were murdered. Mr. Terner did not say much about that experience to the students. He could not - 74 years later, the cruelty he witnessed remains unspeakable - but to those who were watching, his continued anguish was palpable, and he implored his audience: “Never forget.”
As Mr. Terner spoke, sang, laughed, and cried with the students, it became clear that his sacrifices had been fueled not by the mere idea of patriotism, but by a genuine love for neighbor. When asked what kept him going through all those battles, he looked at his young audience and said simply: “We did it for you.”
With every detail he recounted, Mr. Terner made real for the students the purpose of Veterans Day: to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have loved country more than self, and to recommit ourselves to lives worthy of their sacrifice.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor in the safe and brightly lit cafeteria, surrounded by patriotic balloons and tables cheerfully littered with plates of a half-eaten Veterans Day cake, it was probably impossible for the students to fully grasp the gravity of the reckless love with which Mr. Terner lived those three years and four months. Someday, though, sacrifice will be required of them too. In those moments, whether big or small, they will be able to call upon the habits of mind and heart formed at OLMC: nimbleness, selflessness, faithfulness, perseverance. They will remember that they once met a hero and heard him tell of his ready willingness to die for a cause greater than self. And hopefully that will make them brave and inspire them, each according to God’s call, to follow in Mr. Terner’s footsteps, carrying into the world the greatest love of all.