Herbert D. Gibson
1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division

Airborne
Born in 1925, Herbert was still in high school at the time of Pearl Harbor. Although he wanted to enlist as soon as he graduated, his father convinced him to start college. Herbert stuck with it a few months, but eager to go to war, he dropped out and was inducted into the United States Army soon after his eighteenth birthday. Volunteering for the paratroops, he completed airborne training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and in the Autumn of 1944 received orders transferring him overseas as a rifleman replacement in the 101st Airborne Division, then in Mourmelon, France.
On the evening of 18 December 1944, the Division was alerted for deployment to aid in halting what was thought to be a limited German offensive in the Ardennes. The troopers were loaded onto open cattle cars and endured a miserable, freezing, seemingly endless motor march to the vicinity of the small Belgian city of Bastogne. The men of the Division had been mobilized so quickly that they found themselves with almost no equipment, cold weather clothing, or even ammunition. Few of the troopers even had overcoats. With the aggressive spirit of the airborne, the troopers began to scrounge what they needed to fight with, begging weapons and ammunition from the frightened, demoralized troops who were straggling through town. In most cases the retreating troops were only too happy to give up their ammo to those crazy paratroopers, who apparently didn't know what they were in for. In the minds of most of the 101st, though, it was the Krauts who were about to get a surprise.

The CowpensThe 501st took up positions outside of Bastogne, enduring freezing temperatures, constant shelling, and frequent attacks by German infantry. Part of the 1st Battalion's position was situated in a pasture dominated by cattle pens. On or about 20 December, Company A of the 1st Battalion was the focal point of a combined tank-infantry assault. Portions of the line were overrun. One of the positions was occupied by Herbert Gibson and his buddy. The tanks swept through the line, crushing some troopers in their holes and spraying the rest with machinegun fire. Close behind came German infantry to mop up whatever remained. A Panzergrenadier stood above Herbert's foxhole and sprayed the occupants with fire from his MP40 machinepistol. Herbert's buddy was killed instantly. Herbert had been in the act of reloading his M1. His hands, numb from the cold, fumbled the ammunition clip and it fell into the snow in the bottom of the foxhole. Desperate, Herbert did the only thing he could think of: thrusting his rifle upward with all his strength, he rammed his bayonet to the hilt into the German's belly and pitched him into the hole like a farmer pitching hay. There he finished the German off with his rifle butt. Once the assault had been driven off by artillery and counterattacks, Herbert heaved the German's body out of his hole. Before he did, however, the 19-year-old paratrooper took a trophy. With his jump knife he cut one shoulder epaulet off of the German's uniform and stuck it in his pocket.
The epaulet from the dead Panzergrenadier is still in the family's possession.


Luck Runs OutDuring a subsequent artillery barrage, Herbert survived one more close call. His companion received a direct hit, nearly obliterating his body. The concussion ruptured one of Herbert's eardrums, and shrapnel sliced off the toe of his boot. Although the wound was not serious, he had nothing to protect his bleeding foot from the freezing temperature except some rags which he stuffed into the shredded boot. Within hours frostbite set in. Since the Division hospital had been captured by the Germans earlier in the battle, Herbert was treated at a battalion aid station which consisted of a large hole dug into the frozen ground. Along with the other wounded of the 101st, he would have to wait until the siege of Bastogne was broken on 26 December before he could be evacuated.
During his recovery in an English hospital, Herbert made a decision that would affect the rest of his life. Profoundly troubled by the carnage that he had seen, Herbert decided that he was meant to save lives, not take them. Once his convalescence was completed, he transferred to the medical corps and finished the war with the 101st as a combat medic.

Epilog
At war's end Herbert Gibson entered the University of Alabama as a medical student. Upon graduation he practiced for several years in Birmingham, then returned to his hometown of Enterprise and joined the staff of the hospital that his father, also a doctor, had founded. A practicing surgeon for over 40 years, Herbert, with his wife Jayne, raised three daughters and was an active and highly respected member of the community. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, and golfer. In the late 1970s, Herbert vacationed in Europe and retraced his journey to Bastogne. He found the remains of his foxhole situated in what was once again a serene cow pasture. There is a picture of Herbert (which I hope to find and include), standing at the site of his hole, grinning and flipping a "bird" in the direction of the German lines.

Dr. Herbert D. Gibson, F.A.C.S., former Corporal, 101st Airborne Division, will always be missed.

Top of Page