Last night I had a half hour phone conversation with Lt. George "Bird Legs" Dickson,
an officer in Charlie Company of the 326th AEB. The first thing I had to ask was where
did you get that nickname? I have skinny legs answered George. Mr. Dickson has had
quite a life. In 1941 he was a football player at Notre Dame when the war broke out.
He became a paratrooper and a officer dropping behind enemy lines in the darkness
of June 6, 1944. While in France a German bullet hit his helmet, circled around the liner
two times and fell out onto his neck. Today that helmet can be seen at the Dead Man's
Corner Museum in Normandy. He would drop into Holland, fight in Bastogne and later
in Germany. Early in April, 1945, he along with Major Mozley, Captain Joe Crilley and
Lt. "Ike" Eisenhauer were crossing the Rhine in a rubber raft when the swift current
smashed their boat into a destroyed bridge casusing it to overturn. They all survived
a night in the water and hanging onto the bridge, Some Engineers said he once fought
Major Mozley but George said they were full of s**t! He returned to Notre Dame where
his team won two national champships. Being too small to play pro ball, he became a
coach at Notre Dame and later with the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers.
His colorful conversation made my night.

wow what a story. Thanks for sharing Doug!

Daan, That George Dickson is quite a character. I asked him about his college
football days and he said he played halfback and quarterback but he had a great
player at his position. Who was that? Johnny Lujack, a guy that won the Heisman
Trophy, which is the top award for a college football player. Later on he was coaching
with the professional football team the San Diego Chargers and they signed aging
quarterback Johnny Unitas, who would end up in the Football Hall of Fame. Bird Legs
calls Unitas into his office and tells him, "You must be F***ing nuts! You are gonna
get killed out there. But George, answered Unitas they gave me two contracts, one
to play for half million dollars and another half million dollars  signing bonus-a good
amount of money 35 years ago. Well I still think you are F***ing nuts! Besides
being a football player he also was a boxer. He once picked a fight with Tom Betras,
of Joe Mann fame, after Betras was bothering one of George's friends. The fight ended
after George cut open one of  Tom's eyes.

Daan, Just to add on to the story. Sgt. Thomas Betras was a paratrooper in the
2nd platoon of Charlie Company and jumped with the 502nd PIR on September 17, 1944.
The Engineers were attached to How Company and were told to capture the bridges
around Best. What they didn't know is thousands of German troops were in Best and
they were quickly surrounded. The Germans threw grenades into the foxholes holding 7
Americans, Betras along with other Engineers and 502nd men threw them back out. One 502nd
man, Pvt. Joe Mann, who had both arms in a sling because of his wounds, saw a grenade land
in the foxhole. "Grenade! I got this one" Joe Mann said as he lay his back on the grenade.
Lt. Wierzbowski got to Joe after the explosion who only said "My back is gone" and died a minute
or two later without a whimper. The Americans were captured but escaped when Germans let their
guard down at a hospital. Another Bird Legs story takes place in 1946 after Notre Dame tied a game
ending their winning streak. The Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, a man who later became President of
Notre Dame saw the players the next morning having breakfast. The Rev. said "It's not if you win
or lose, it's how you play the game". At that one player slams down his coffee mug on the table,
stands up and yells "F*** YOU FATHER! WINNING IS THE ONLY THING!"

Thanks again for these stories! I love 'em!

Here is the memorial dedicated to Joe Mann. I live in Eindhoven near Best and the memorial.



How many veterans are you in touch with?

Daan, I try to stay in touch with all veterans that I meet. Whenever I see a WWII vet
I try to talk to them about the  war. Sometimes I hit pay dirt. Most Americans, about
9 out of ten were support troops The actual fighting was done by a very small %. Of
those guys that fought almost all of them were hit, maybe 95% casualties. That was
the good news, In the German ranks that was the death toll. Remember only 6,000
Germans returned to their homeland after the war after getting captured or killed in
Stalingrad out of 250,000.