American Valor Quarterly Issue 12 - Spring 2015 | Page 25

Leading

from

The Front
An Officer’s Story

From Lieutenant Colonel James Megellas
Lt. Col. James “Maggie” Megellas is
the most decorated officer of the famed 82nd
Airborne Division.
After surviving some of WWII’s most
violent combat in Anzio, Italy, Megellas’s unit
played a pivotal role in Operation Market
Garden, which included successfully completing
the famed Waal River Crossing.
Following a short leave in Paris, Megellas
then led a platoon of soldiers to confront a
defiant German army during the Battle of
the Bulge. Despite being vastly outnumbered,
Megellas led his men to a resounding victory
during a firefight for the city of Herresbach. For
his gallantry, Megellas was awarded a Silver
Star.

born here out of seven children. That
date was March 11, 1917. I had two
older siblings, but they were born in
Greece. After graduating high school,
I attended Ripon College and enrolled
in the ROTC program there. I was
hoping to become a commissioned
officer, and sure enough, when I was
a senior preparing to graduate college,
the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor. When
I graduated a short time later, I not
only had a Bachelor’s degree, but I
had earned my commission as a 2nd

lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Right after
graduation, I had orders to join the
Army on active duty.
Parachuting was new back then. It was
different and posed a unique challenge.
To be a part of that was pretty exciting.
Parachuting units attracted a special
kind of servicemen and they still do
today. Obviously, you have to be willing
to jump out of airplanes as a routine
part of your mission. That attracted me.
I guess I was one of those kind of guys.

In a final act of heroic service, he led
H Company in liberating the Wöbbelin
Concentration Camp, in the spring of 1945.
Never one to shy away from combat, Lt.
Col. Megellas was proud to stay in Europe
with the same rifle company in the same rifle
platoon for the entire war, turning down staff
positions and opportunities for discharge in the
process. He lived by the slogan, “You lead from
the front and command from the rear.”

Lt. Col. James Magellas

In his book, “All the Way to Berlin: A
Paratrooper at War in Europe,” Lt. Col.
Megellas offers further details about his
leadership and sacrifice during the war.

M

y parents immigrated to
the United States from
Greece and settled in Fond
du Lac, Wisconsin. I was the first
SPRING 2015

JAMES “MAGGIE” MEGELLAS IN WORLD WAR II. HE SERVED WITH
H COMPANY, 504TH PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT OF THE 82ND
AIRBORNE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WAR.
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