American Valor Quarterly Issue 5 - Winter 2008/09 | Page 17

of the line. I was toward the back, standing next to a lieutenant,
who said to me, “Medic, there is a fellow up there calling you. I
want you to get up and take care of him!”
I told the lieutenant, “Look, I walked the first ten miles the same
as that kid; and if he wants me, let him come back to me! I’m on
break.” Well, this is how I got into the paratroopers – they threw
me out as a medic! They wanted to put me into an anti-tank
company, but I saw an ad for the paratroopers on a bulletin
board and decided that is where I was going to go.
Greg Henesy: Now you have quite an interesting story during
and after the D-Day jump, when you were separated from the
rest of the guys. Tell us a bit about that.
Robert Cone: We made the jump into Normandy, which went
just fine – I had no problems with my chute and was able to get
right out of it when I hit the ground. But when I looked around,
killed us – there were only about eight of us. That’s part of the I couldn’t find a soul, save one guy that I did not know who was
training for these people, we joked to ourselves. We taught them not even a paratrooper. We landed near a hedgerow, from which
what they might be involved with over in the war – not the the Germans were firing at us, and the guy I was with was killed.
cottonmouths, though – we weren’t expecting that one. But that’s
I got hit in the right shoulder, which broke my arm all the way
one of the things that Jake got us into.
down into the forearm. The bullet was lodged in there for a year.
Greg Henesy: Jack, you ran up the mountain at Ft. Toccoa known I was able to get away, though, but could not hold my rifle. I
as Currahee quite a bit, and you told me earlier that you could get maneuvered around a little from the spot where I landed, when
finally, the firing stopped. I ran away from the hedgerows up to
a good view of Jake from up there. Tell us a bit about that.
a little farm near St. Lo, I believe. A French guy let me in and put
Jack Agnew: Jake and these guys ended up in the stockade, which me up for the night. The next morning the door opened, and
was right at the bottom of the mountain. We ran up that mountain there stood a German soldier with a gun. Evidently, the Frenchman
every day – three miles up, three miles down. By the time we got called him – you know, they were afraid of the Germans. That
back, we were really dragging. I looked over, and there were was how I got captured.
these guys laughing at us. We were breaking our behinds, and they
were over in the stockade, having a ball. I think Jake had it all I ended up being moved around to three different prison camps.
planned out ahead of time!
I was at the first camp for about two and a half months. They
did not keep prisoners there for very long because the guards
That part of the story is what inspired the makers of the Dirty were not all Germans. They were people of different nationalities
Dozen to portray us as prisoners. We weren’t murderers or anything, forced to serve as guards. The Germans did not want the prisoners
we just didn’t do everything we were supposed to do in some to talk to the guards too much and start to get close.
ways and did a whole lot more than they wanted us to do in
Continued on Page 19
other ways. We were always in trouble, thanks to Jake. I never
went to town with him because I knew I would end up in jail.
He was always our acting sergeant until he went to town. Then
his stripes came off, and soon we got into some kind of trouble.
When we returned to camp, back on went the stripes and he was
acting sergeant again. That was my introduction to Mr. McNasty.
Standing just outside their C-47, Robert Cone (right) helps Jack Agnew
suit up for the big jump.

Top: U.S. Army photo; Bottom: Courtesy of Robert Cone

Greg Henesy: Mr. Cone. How did you end up in the paratroops?
Robert Cone: Originally I was in the National Guard, but they
federalized us. I was put into a medical outfit and made a medic
in the infantry. We were out on a twenty-mile hike during
maneuvers in North Carolina in 1938 or 39, if I’ve got my years
right. During this hike, we stopped for a break about ten miles
in when I heard some kid yelling “Medic!” from up in the front

Robert Cone on June 5, 1944, ho