Daum, John Anton “Bud”, born 24-04-1924, in Marshfield, Wood, Wisconsin, 
United States, the only son, with three sisters, to Paul Daum (1888–1968) and his wife Frances, born Cherney Daum (1890–1950). 
From October 1942 to April 1943 he worked at the Weinbrenner Shoe Factory in Marshfield, WI. 
John enlisted in the Army and volunteered for the paratroopers. Bud was serving with B Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division 
82nd under command of “Old Iron Tits” Major General Matthew Ridgway. 
Brigadier General James Maurice Gavin “Slim Jim” 
served as the Assistant Division Commander.
From April 1943 Bud started his basic training Camp Robinson Arkansas and was assigned to Company D of the 71st Battalion. Moved in August 1943 to FORT BENNING 
to training and assigned to the company H 541 st Parachute Infantry Regiment. on 02-10-1943 he receives his patent paratrooper. 
Thereafter John was posted to 508ht PIR 
at Camp Mackall. 
In late 1943 the regiment arrived in Northern Ireland and then joined Nottingham England to receive specific training.
Death and burial ground of Daum, John Anton “Bud”.
John Anton Daum was killed by a sniper on 08-06-1944, age 20 when his guard tower camps. Bud is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, Route du Cimetière Américain, 14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France- Plot F. Row 23. Grave 42.
The 82d Airborne Division landed at Casablanca, 10-05-1943, and trained. Elements first saw combat in Sicily, when the 505th RCT 
and part of the 504th 
dropped behind enemy lines, 9-10 July 1943, at Gela. The remainder of the 504th RCT dropped, 11-12 July 1943, also near Gela, after running friendly naval and ground force fire. Scattered elements formed and fought as ground troops. The elements were flown back to Tunisia for reequipment and returned to Sicily to take off for drop landings on the Salerno beachhead. The 504th Parachute Infantry dropped, 13-09-1943, and the 505th the following night; the 325th landed by boat. These elements bolstered Salerno defenses and fought their way into Naples, 01-10-1943. After a period of occupation duty (and combat for some elements in the Volturno Valley and Anzio beachhead), the Division moved to Ireland, November 1943, and later to England, February 1944, for additional training. Moving in by glider and parachute, troops of the 82d dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy on D-day, 6 June 1944, before ground troops hit the beaches. Cutting off enemy reinforcements, the Division fought its way from Carentan to St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte, fighting 33 days without relief. Relieved on 8 July, it returned to England for refitting. On 17 September, it was dropped at Nijmegen, Netherlands for Operation Market Garden, 50 miles behind enemy lines, and captured the Nijmegen bridge, 20 September, permitting relief of British paratroops by the British 2d Army. 
under command of Lieutenant-General Miles “Lucky” “Bimbo” Dempsey
After heavy fighting in Holland, the Division was relieved 11 November and rested in France. It was returned to combat, 18-12-1944, to stem the Carl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt 
offensive, blunting the northern salient of the Bulge. It punched through the Siegfried Line in early February 1945, and crossed the Roer, 17 February. Training with new equipment in March, the Division returned to combat, 4 April, patrolling along the Rhine, securing the Koln area, later moving across the Elbe, 30 April, into the Mecklenburg Plain, where, 02-05-1945, the German 21st Army 
surrendered.
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