Down From Heaven - The 11th Airborne Division in World War II & Beyond · Jeremy C. Holm

Christmas Special: 1/40 "Denali" Artic Angels + 511th PIR History

·24 min·1 clip

One paratrooper called the 511th the Army's best, then said they were “dumb enough to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.”

Jeremy Holm begins with a Christmas message to the angels and their date. He says he wishes he could be there in person, but his nearly 102-year-old grandmother is fading fast and the family is saying goodbye. He introduces himself as a former American bobsled athlete who spent about 15 years driving sleds at over 80 miles an hour. He adds, with plainspoken humor, that his wife thought the sport was crazy until she saw one of their C-130 jumps. Holm explains that he now spends his time reading historical documents and Army records, which he describes as tedious but necessary work. His main subject is the 11th Airborne Division, with a personal interest in the 511th Parachute Infantry. He says the news that the 511th was coming back made him especially excited. The regiment, he reminds the listener, carries a mighty legacy. He then turns to an old holiday phone call between two original 511th paratroopers. Their memories help frame the story as something inherited rather than merely studied. From there he moves into the fighting on Leyte. The 511th's advance west toward Ormoc Bay was slowed by awful conditions. Leeches and insects were everywhere. Mud and rain ate away at their gear and ruined jump boots. As the men climbed into colder elevations, their rain-filled foxholes made life even harder. Tropical disease left the Angels miserable. Japanese soldiers attacked out of the jungle with a suddenness that felt ghostlike. First-time banzai charges left even hardened paratroopers shaken. The fighting often collapsed into hand-to-hand combat. Bayonets, fists, helmets, and shovels all became weapons. Snipers in the trees and defenders in spider holes forced the regiment to clear one position after another. Monsoon clouds made resupply difficult. Some men went seven days without food. Holm uses that hunger to underline how punishing the campaign was and how far the Angels had to go to survive it. He also tells the story of medic Robert Lesher reaching wounded men under fire and crawling back out to help others. The episode keeps returning to the idea that the regiment endured by leaning on one another. The original paratroopers survived, went on with their lives, and still carried the regiment with them. Holm closes by speaking to the future 511th directly. He asks them to honor the outfit by making it worthy of its past. He ends with a fierce blessing for anyone who might one day face the Angels in combat.

As heard by us

A Christmas tribute that turns Leyte hardship into a living regimental inheritance.

This Christmas special folds military history into a farewell, a tribute, and a hard-earned regimental salute. Jeremy Holm, a former bobsled athlete turned 11th Airborne Division historian, gives the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment a voice that feels lived-in rather than…

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Why you'd press play

You want a Christmas story that treats the 11th Airborne's 511th legacy like something to be handed down.

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