1. Casemate
Descending from the Clouds
A Memoir of Combat in the 505 Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division
by Spencer F. Wurst and Gayle Wurst
Quality Publishing of Fine Works of History
By the time he was barely 20 years old, Spencer Wurst was a hardened platoon
sergeant leading his men through the frozen killing fields of “Death Valley” in
Germany’s Hurtgen Forest. is his memoir of what war
looked like through the eyes ofadecorated combat soldier.
Wurst spent most of World War II in the European Theater of Operations as a squad
leader in Company F, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne. He made three
combat jumps and played a role in many of the war's most celebrated actions. In
September 1943, Wurst jumped into Italy and experienced his baptism of fire at the
Battle of Arnone the following month. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, he jumped into
Normandy and took part in the bloody fighting and liberation of Ste. Mère-Eglise, where
he was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.Agrueling month of combat through the
Norman hedgerows and a second Purple Heart followed. Wurst made a third combat
jump during Operation Market Garden in Holland, where he and his fellow paratroopers
were swept up into the ferocious battle with the SS for the highway bridge at Nijmegen.
His bravery under fire there earned him the coveted Silver Star. More combat followed
in the Ardennes, where Wurst served as point man on his twentieth birthday during the
long freezing march toward the shoulder ofthe “Bulge.”
offers Wurst's unique view of combat, from his pre-war
training and mobilization to First Army maneuvers in the Carolinas; from parachute
school at Fort Benning, Georgia, to Europe's killing fields. This poignantly- written and
carefully researched memoir will be hailed as an outstanding addition to the growing
literature ofWorldWarII.
Descending fom the Clouds
Descending From the Clouds
About the Authors Spencer Wurst
Gayle Wurst
: After his World War II service, rejoined the National Guard.
He was recalled to active duty in 1950 and served as a tank company commander with one of the
first divisions assigned toNATO. Heretired asacolonel in1975.
Awriter, editor, and translator, obtained her Ph.D. in English from the University
of Geneva. She operates Princeton International Agency for the Arts, a literary agency with a
special interest inmemoirs andairborne-related publications.
Promotional Information
Specifications
February 2005
284 pages, photos,
index. HC, d.j., 6 x 9.
ISBN 1-932033-31-9. $32.95
(S&H: $4.25/bk. 1.50 ea. thereafter)
maps,
Review copies available on request
Interview with Spencer Wurst
Excerpts for web use or printing
Authors available for media
interviews and book signings
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Spencer Wurst
c/o Gayle Wurst
Princeton Intl Agency for the Arts
PO Box 2454
Princeton, NJ 08543-2454
phone: 609-252-9278
dropzone82nd@aol.com
Signed Personalized Copies
Order Address
“A distinguished airborne combat leader in the 505 PIR, Spencer Wurst has given
us an inspiring memoir about how, at the platoon level, we defeated the best of the
Wehrmacht. You will never read a more authentic and riveting account of airborne
and combat operations at the cutting edge of our Army in WW II.
is a ‘must read’book.”
Descending from
the Clouds
-- Lt. Gen. John Norton (Ret.)
G-3, 82d Airborne Division, World War II
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Casemate Publishing
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Havertown, PA 19083
610-853-9131 (phone)
610-853-9146 (fax)
casemate@casematepublishing.com
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