Longtime Sloatsburg resident George Heller went through Hell and back during his days fighting for the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) of the 101st Airborne Division during WWII.
Sloatsburg resident, decorated WWII veteran and ex-chief of the Sloatsburg Fire Department, George Heller died on June 8 and was buried Monday, June 13 at the FW Loescher Veteran’s Cemetery in New Hempstead, NY. Click the photo to view George Heller’s WWII recollections as told to the West Point Center for Oral History.
Heller’s WWII adventure sounds like something out of Captain America — he participated in a few combat infantry air jumps but they all counted — one at Normandy before D-Day and one near Veghel for Operation Market Garden. And then, during the battle of the Bulge, Heller was hit by German counter-attack shrapnel and seriously wounded at Bastogne, France. Continue Reading