Louis ''Lou'' Vecchi

Louis "Lou" Vecchi Plt. Sgt. H Co. 506th PIR. 101st AB Div. Two combat jumps, BS and PH. A Martinez native, Lou Vecchi was a member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. A draftee into the service he already knew which branch of the service he wanted to be attached to. He told his mother that he wanted to be a paratrooper for they had the best training and the best chance of survival if and when he was surrounded by the enemy. He surprised his recruiter by telling him he wanted to volunteer to be a paratrooper he had to wait for the training camp to be built in Tacoa GA. He was sent on to Fort Benning GA by way of a forced march from Atlanta GA in a record three days. He said he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and into Holland in the Market Garden campaign. And he fought across Germany, liberating at least one concentration camp along the way, he added. "It was the Landsburg slave labor camp (a Dachau death camp satellite camp)," Vecchi said. "When we got there, the people were practically dead from starvation. I know there are people who say the Holocaust didn't happen, but that's bull. I saw it.".

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