George Rajner was a man shaped by his environment. He was the seventh of his mother’s ten children, and the fourth among them to survive the childhood diseases that claimed four of his siblings. Like many of the couples in that East Toledo, Ohio neighborhood, George’s parents were immigrants who sometimes struggled to make ends meet. His father, Peter, a native of Hamburg, Germany labored long hours in a hardware firm’s warehouse. His mother, Mary, tended a large garden in an abandoned clay pit behind their home and took in sewing or other work that added small sums to the fragile household finances. In turn, as each of the children reached a certain age, they were expected to find work and contribute whatever earnings they could garner. George hawked newspapers on street corners after school, then moved on to more demanding jobs: delivering groceries, sweeping floors, setting bowling pins, shovel work..
Adolescence brought new challenges, then new directions. He graduated from Holy Rosary Elementary School in 1931, but did not go on to high school; the economic conditions of the Great Depression dictated otherwise. George spent more hours seeking work than actually working. Then his father died on May 31, 1932. The cause was blood poisoning that originated in a jobsite injury. The loss prompted George toward mischief. By 1933 his behavior was disruptive, rebellious. So, his mother contacted the authorities and told them her son had become “incorrigible.” The State of Ohio took charge and sent George to the Boys’ Industrial School, a progressive institution for wayward youths. (Bob Hope also spent time there.) George entered the program in February 1933 and, except for a brief escape the following month, stayed until March 1934. During his residence at the Boys’ Industrial School George attended school in the morning and learned a marketable skill in the afternoon hours. As a result, he found work in a Toledo tailor shop shortly after returning home. Unfortunately, the city was still reeling from the Depression, and George’s hours were short and his pay was low.
Luckily, George had other talents. He had learned a bit about boxing before being sent to the Boys’ Industrial School and his form was pretty good. With his brother, Frank, acting as his manager George Rajner quickly made a name for himself in the Toledo area by winning one of his early matches with a first-round knock-out. The ring played another role, toughening George for the future. In addition to routine training in the gym and road work, he added one-mile swims in the Maumee River---always upstream.
By 1935 George had begun to settle down. He still took dares and happily collected bets when he succeeded, but when Eleanor Pasternak came into his life mischief and pranks took second place. The couple married and their first child, Carol, was born in 1936. Three more children, Marlene, Robert and George followed at fifteen month intervals. George found work with a large construction firm, and for the first time in his life there was enough money coming in; not a lot, but enough to support a family. Life was good.
Then the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. After a few months, George realized that he was destined to serve in the Armed Forces and knew that it was better to enlist for a particular branch than take his chances with the draft. He enlisted in August 1942, requesting an assignment with America’s newly created parachute infantry units.
He was a perfect candidate for airborne training: physically fit, intelligent, emotionally stable and eager for new adventures. The regimen at Camp Toccoa was demanding; it thinned the ranks, eliminating the less able-bodied, the complainers, and those soldiers who for some reason failed to meet the high standards set by the Airborne Command. Men had to be in excellent shape and tactically proficient. George Rajner was both, which made him popular among the men of his unit, Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. An article in the Atlanta Constitution that reported a three-day 115-mile forced march from Camp Toccoa to Atlanta labeled George “Private Superman”, noting his ability to walk 35 miles in a single day carrying a 36-pound machine gun in addition to his regular gear.
Field exercises at Fort Benning, Camp McCall and Fort Bragg, rounded out George’s stateside training. Then he was ordered to report to Camp Shanks for overseas shipment as an EGB 447 (parachute infantry replacement) in April 1943. Shortly after the troop transport docked in North Africa, George was assigned to Company D, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and 82nd Airborne Division. Along with other replacements he traveled eastward to Oujda near the Algerian border where the 505th was preparing for the Sicilian Campaign. In late June, the 505th moved to Kairouan, Tunisia, to be near the airfield where they were scheduled to embark for their first combat jump.
George flew across the Mediterranean on the night of 9-10 July, 1943, jumped from a C-47 aircraft, and landed in Sicily without injury. Italian and German troops offered stiff resistance, but were no match for Allied firepower and determination. In less than six weeks the 505th was back in North Africa preparing to do battle on the Italian mainland.
George made his second combat jump on 14 September 1943, touching down on Italian soil near Salerno. The 505th fought on the Italian peninsula until Naples was taken; then after a brief rest-and-refit in the city, the unit boarded transports bound for Northern Ireland. Billeted near Cookstown the 505th began training for the D-Day invasion. Then the regiment was ordered to Quorn, England to refine their skills and apply lessons learned on the two previous campaigns.
On the evening of 5 June 1944 the 505th boarded C-47s. On command, the huge fleet of aircraft took off for France. For the third time George made a successful combat jump, and for the third time he found himself in the heat of battle for an extended period. Despite heavy casualties the 82nd Airborne and its subordinate units seized every objective. Then, just a few days before the division was scheduled to be pulled off the line, the unit was ordered to seize Hill 131, a key German strongpoint and observation post. The battle took place south of the Douve River, north of Hill 131 near Verenguebec, France. During the attack, PFC George J. Rajner was hit by a 20mm round. He survived long enough to reach an aid station, but the wound was fatal. George is buried in the Normandy American Military Cemetery, Colleville-sur-mer, France.
– Daughter Carol LaBounty –
© 2020 • by Carol LaBounty and the sons and daughters of AWON • All rights reserved.
