Page 26 - Gold Star Sons of Georgetown Prep

1ST LIEUTENANT EMMETT T. CORRIGAN, JR. ’39
CONTINUED
26
GEORGETOWN PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Paratroop drop as part of Operation Varsity.
HISTORY COURTESY, WARFARE NETWORK.COM
gathered in Europe over the fate of Poland. Most Americans, however, hoped that the United States could stay out of another European war. Emmett entered Dartmouth College that September – the month that saw Hitler invade Poland and World War II begin. Emmett wrote to The Little Hoya from Dartmouth reporting that the school “is swell, but the work is a little on the hard side.” It became even harder, and Emmett and Dartmouth parted ways. Emmett enrolled at Allegheny College where he played basketball and met his future wife, Bette Lund, of Buffalo, New York.
In June 1942, Emmett enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant to a mechanized tank destroyer unit in the Cavalry Branch. On November 14, 1943, he married Bette in a wedding at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Buffalo, New York, that was described in the society pages of the New York Times. While Emmett trained in Kansas and Texas, he and Bette were able to be together.
But in September 1944, as retreating German forces began to stiffen near the German border, Emmett volunteered to become a paratrooper in the airborne infantry. The airborne
Immediately after landing, men of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment head for their 1st objective.
COURTESY, WARFARE HISTORY NTEWORK.COM
divisions were elite units whose operations entailed great risks. Emmett had swagger and had always been a risk taker, but there was more to his decision. In a letter to his wife, Emmett expressed his belief that it was the right thing for him to go overseas. That there was a job to do, and that it was his duty
to lead. He was assigned to the 507th Parachute Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division. The 17th had been rushed from Britain to France in December 1944 to take part in the Allied counteroffensive during the second half of the Battle of the Bulge. When Emmett joined the 507th, he knew that his wife was expecting their first child.
By March 1945, the Allied forces were approaching the Rhine River. To aid the ground forces that would attempt to breach the formidable obstacle, Allied commanders settled on the last major airborne deployment of World War II, known as Operation Varsity. It would involve placing airborne units on the east side of the Rhine behind the German defensive lines facing west. The airborne troops would land by parachute and glider. The 507th would parachute into an area near Wessel, Germany, on March 24, 1945. As the date for the