Gerald J. Loraine was a soldier in Service Company, 506th PIR.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Gerald Loraine was born in 1913, in Alameda, California.
WWII[]
Gerald Lorraine enlisted in the Army in 1942 at San Francisco and was assigned to Service Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne. After making the jump at Fort Benning, he and the 101st headed to England to await the upcoming Invasion of Europe.
He landed in Normandy on D-day, 6 June 1944 and grouped up with most of the 506th at the town of Ste. Marie-du-Mont. At the town, 1st Lt. Richard Winters of Easy Company was given the task of leading a squad of men to assault the German cannons at Brecourt Manor. Lorraine approached Winters and asked to join the group, and Winters approved.
During the battle, after they had driven most of the Germans from the trenches of the first gun, Lorraine shot one of the running Germans, while Winters took care of one, and another one which Sgt. Guarnere had missed. He shot multiple rounds at one German, but he missed many of the shots, with Guarnere using his Thompson to kill it before calling him "a jeep jockey". He then helped with the rest of the attack, mostly lobbing German grenades back to the Germans. They eventually took all four guns, concluding the attack as a success. Lorraine was awarded the Silver Star for his actions and was promoted to Technician Fifth Grade. He would later be awarded a second silver star during Operation Market Garden.
He then took part in Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the occupation of Germany before returning home.
Later life[]
Lorraine returned to California after the war and married a woman named Martha. He died on 19 May 1976.
The real Gerald Loraine