Krause, Edward C “Ed” Cannonball.

Krause, Edward  “Ed” Cannonball, born 17-08-1916 in La Crosse, Wiscounsin,  son of George E. and Stella M. Krause. Then a lieutenant in the United States Army   stationed at Fort Brady in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, he married Gisella F. Ehrfurth on 17-08-1940. As a major with 3^rd Battalion, 505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) , 82^nd Airborne , raised the American flag in Naples, Italy, 01-10-1943, just after the 505^th entered the city.  In late March the 505th was visited by many distinguished political and military leaders, including, among numerous others, General George Marshall,  General Henry Henry “Hap” Arnold,  British Field Marshal Sir John Dill    and Anthony Eden.  On 6 June 1944, the most famous “D-Day”  , then a lieutenant colonel, raised the same flag on the city hall of Sainte-Mère-Église.  Krause organized the scattered men after the dispersed dropping and led them, heavenly wounded of his leg , in a man to man fight in the streets of St Mere Eglise.

   Of the 6,396 Paratroopers that jumped in with Force A, 36 drowned in the flooded areas inland on insertion.  Another 63 were abandoned to the enemy as a result of jump injuries. For his actions on 6 and 7 June 1944, in capturing and holding Sainte-Mère-Église, Krause received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)      , Krause here in the middle,as well as his commander right Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort

Edward received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC): “For extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy on 6th and 7th June 1944 in France. Lt. Col. Krause, shortly after the D-Day landings, assembled a mixed group of paratroopers, led an assault on the town of Ste.-Mère-Eglise and successfully crushed the direct enemy resistance. However, the enemy immediately counterattacked with much larger numbers of troops, supported by tanks and artillery. During these initial counterattacks, Lt. Col. Krause, constantly ignoring his own safety, went from hand to hand to lead the defense. He was later seriously wounded in the leg but insisted on remaining with his troops and continued to lead the attack through his subordinate officers. The inspiring courage, intrepidity and outstanding leadership displayed by Lt. Col. Krause reflect great credit upon him and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces. He enlisted in Wisconsin.”

Vandevoort was portrayed by John Wayne in the D-Day movie The Longest Day. The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, 09-07-1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Lieutenant Colonel Edward C. Krause and Benjamin Vandervoort, for their leading in St Mère Église. Vandervoort led his battalion in defending the town of Sainte-Mère-Église on 6 June in “Mission Boston”, despite having broken his ankle on landing. General Matthew Bunker Ridgway

  described Vandervoort as “one of the bravest and toughest battle commanders I ever knew”. At Goronne he was wounded by mortar fire, so was unable to take part in the divisions’ advance into Germany. Benjamin Hayes “Vandy” Vandervoort died on the 22-11-1990 at the age of 73 years at a nursing home in Hilton Head Island, from the effects of a fall. The town St Mere Eglise was made famous by the paratrooper John Marvin Steele and by the film “The Longest Day”. John Steele

    managed to land on the church and his chute caught on the steeple. He hung there while the fighting continued on the ground for two hours before being cut down by the Germans, taken prisoner and later released by the Americans. John Steele died age 56 on 16-05-1969 in Tayetteville, North Carolina. After the German’s found out that 3^rd Battalion of the 505^th Regiment was going to parachute in and attempt to capture an airport near Rome on 08-09-1943 and the mission was canceled, the following day he told his men: “Men, last night we had history by the balls, but Fate lifted up his leg and farted on us.”

Death and burial ground of Krause, Edward C “Ed” Cannonball.

   Edmund Krause, three purple hearts, died age 53 on 04-07-1970, in Mobile Alabama and is buried on the Pine Crest Cemetery, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama, Section 28.

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