On Veterans Day, A Salute to the Nine Devines

Like many of the Greatest Generation, Military Service was a major aspect of the lives of The Nine Devines of Chippewa Falls.  There was no better example of this commitment than Fr. Pat Devine who was twice decorated with a Bronze Star for his role as an Army Chaplain.  Before he was priest, however, Pat was member of Airborne.  Chapter 11 of the Nine Devines explores this period of Pat’s life.

 

Excerpt from the Chapter 11 – The Barracks

Of the nine Devines, four were eligible to serve their country in World War II. Technically, it was three Devines plus one asterisk. Jim helped battle Rommel in North Africa. Dan, after his third attempt to enlist, was accepted as part of a bomber crew in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Beatie wasn’t permitted to engage in direct combat, so she was entrusted with the care of those who came back from the fighting.

Then there was Pat. Pat was the asterisk. Joining the Merchant Marine at the tender age of 15, he lasted a week before being caught. His superiors admired his spunk but marshaled him on his way.

Shortly after graduating high school a year early, Pat entered the Army. Being just seventeen years old, he should have been sent home again. “Close enough,” the recruiter likely rationalized.

Pat’s discipline made him an ideal soldier. After completing basic training with distinction, he was given his choice of specialization. Surveying the menu of options, he decided he wanted to jump out of airplanes.

Ask around and you will find that only a special kind of someone requests to become a paratrooper. The training in Airborne is brutal, designed to weed out those who understandably freeze up when the jumpmaster tells them to leap into the unknown. The reward for acing the test? The opportunity to climb into the belly of a plane, fly over 10,000 feet in the air, have faith the pilot can avoid anti-aircraft fire, hurl oneself out the plane, pray the parachute opens, avoid more anti-aircraft fire while floating helplessly, and hope to stick the landing without breaking any bones.

If all of the above went according to plan, a lucky paratrooper found themselves behind enemy lines, often cut off from communication. With this combined degree of difficulty, paratrooper casualty rates were some of the highest of any category of soldier.

When asked why his older brother would actively pursue this career, Lefty would glibly say, “Well, that’s just Pat.”

Part of “being Pat” was to find the most challenging alternative available and test his personal limits. It wasn’t enough to simply fight the enemy—he had to “bring death from above.”

Yet, two unexpected things occurred. The first was that the war had already ended by the time he finished training. Pat was shipped off to the Pacific not to fight Japan, but to assist in its reconstruction. The second was he soon discovered that bringing death, from any direction, had lasting consequences . . .

Learn more about Pat Devine in The Nine Devines of Chippewa Falls.