|
William Thomas “Bill” Ryder (April 16, 1913 – October 1, 1992) was the first American paratrooper. Ryder helped pioneer Army airborne training, equipment and tactics alongside men like Jim Gavin, William Yarborough, Bill Lee, Art Gorham and Bud Miley. He was an aide to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur from 1944 until 1951. In the early 1960s he was a top Army expert in guided missile systems retiring as a brigadier general in 1966. ==First American paratrooper== Ryder graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1936. Among his classmates was William P. Yarborough. More than 200 soldiers volunteered to make up the first platoon of paratroopers. Ryder was selected through a competitive written exam that was scheduled to take two hours. He finished it in 45 minutes while still earning the top score. The second highest scorer was Lt. James A. Bassett who thus became the assistant platoon leader.〔Bassett rose to be a Colonel but was killed in the crash of an Army helicopter in November 1954.〕 The platoon billeted at Lawson Army Air Field near Ft. Benning. Ryder is credited with creating "Ryder's Death Ride" a 34-foot tower from which trainees practiced jumping. After completing a rigorous conditioning and training program that Ryder had devised, on August 16, 1940, Ryder and ten members of his platoon made their first jump from a Douglas C-33. Ryder was the first man to exit the aircraft. The first enlisted man to jump was Pvt. William N. "Red" King. The platoon conducted its first mass jump on August 29, 1940.〔''To Be a Paratrooper'', by Gregory Mast, Hans Halberstadt, p. 14. Available at (Google Books Search )〕〔Different sources list different dates for this first jump. The August 13, 1940 date was the date given by Brig Gen Ryder in his article, "The Parachute Test Platoon," published in USA Airborne, 50th Anniversary, available at (Google Books Search )〕〔LTC John T. Ellis, Jr. in his 1946 paper, "The Army Ground Forces" lists the date as August 16th. See page 11 of the document at (Dtic.mil )〕 In April 1943 while assigned as parachute training officer of the Airborne Command at Camp Mackall, Ryder was temporarily assigned as liaison officer to the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing at Pope Air Force Base. On July 13, 1943, Ryder jumped into Sicily with Colonel Jim Gavin, commander of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, as part of Operation Husky.〔"Recollections of the 542nd Parachute Infantry Regiment," by Brig Gen William T. Ryder, published in USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary, available at (Google Books Search )〕 After hostilities had ceased in Sicily, Gavin tasked Ryder with returning the personal affects of 1st Battalion commander Arthur F. Gorham to his widow. Gorham was killed during the first few days of the assault and was credited by Gavin with accomplishing all of the Regiment's objectives.〔A copy of Gavin's letter to Gorham's widow is posted at (Letter to Corrine Gorham )〕 He is also reported in at least one source to have jumped with the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment in North Africa as part of Operation Torch in October 1942.〔The general's obituary posted on the website ArlingtonCemetery.net states that he jumped in North Africa, but there is no mention of this in other sources, and the dates do not appear to verify this fact. See (Arlingtoncemetery.net ). The general's obituary from the ''Washington Post'' (October 20, 1992), only mentions the combat jump in Sicily.〕 Upon his return from Sicily, Ryder was assigned as the regimental commander of the newly formed 542nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. Expecting to be deployed to Europe, Ryder was instead ordered in December 1943 to provide roughly 100 replacements for the Pacific theater. As was customary, Ryder escorted the men by train to the west coast. Upon his arrival at Ft. Ord he was ordered to Ft. Benning “first priority.” When he returned he received the disheartening news that he was to dispatch 1,000 of his remaining troops to serve as replacements to airborne units in England preparing for the invasion of Europe. The regiment was deactivated on March 17, 1944.〔"William T. Ryder, Army General," Washington Post, October 20, 1992.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William T. Ryder」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|