Paratrooper Francis L. Sampson

¶ … life of a World War II veteran. Specifically it will contain the biography of Paratrooper Francis L. Sampson during World War II. Father Francis L. Sampson was an ordained Catholic priest, a paratrooper, an Army chaplain, and rose through the ranks to become a Major General during his Army service. During World War II, he served as a paratrooper, was taken prisoner by the Germans, and became the eventual inspiration for a blockbuster movie. Francis L. Sampson was born in Cherokee, Iowa on February 29, 1919.

He graduated from Notre Dame University in 1937, and entered St. Paul's Seminary located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he studied to be a Catholic priest. He was ordained as a priest in 1941, and worked as a priest briefly until 1942, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a chaplain. By 1943 he had completed Army chaplain school and joined the 501st Parachute Regiment, of the 101st Airborne Division, as the regimental chaplain, a position he held until the end of the war.

Sampson was well liked, as his official Army biography notes, he was "one of the most respected and best-loved officers in the Regiment,' while S.L.A. Marshall in Night Drop, portrays Sampson as 'a jolly man, deeply loved by the Regiment'" (Hourihan). The 101st was one of the regiments that parachuted into France during the Invasion of Normandy, or D-Day. After the chaplain's regiment landed in France, he helped attend to the wounded, in an area where German troops still had a stronghold.

His biographer notes, "At one point the area was taken over by units of the Waffen SS. Chaplain Sampson was taken prisoner by two soldiers, and put up against a wall to be shot" (Hourihan). One of the Germans discovered he was a Catholic, and let him go, however. Sampson's unit continued through France into Holland, where he was nearly caught by German troops again. Later in 1944, his unit fought in the Battle of the Bulge in France. In December 1944 he was taken prisoner by the Germans.

His biography continues, "He was sealed in a train for six days without food or water, and the train was also attacked at intervals by American aircraft" (Hourihan). The chaplain was imprisoned in the famous Nazi prison Stalag II A, which was located north of Berlin near the city of Neubrandenburg. He was liberated by Russian forces in late April 1945, and returned to the United States, where he returned to teaching.

He returned to active duty in 1946, and he remained a chaplain in the Army until 1971, when he retired as a Major General and Chief of Chaplains. However, Samson's most unforgettable moment during World War II may have been his rescue of a young soldier, Sergeant Fritz Niland. Niland was one of four brothers fighting during World War II. When news reached his family that all his other brothers had been killed in action, an operation began to "save" Sergeant Niland and return him to his family.

A reporter writes, "Operation Saving Sgt Niland was the first test of a policy ordered by President Roosevelt. It stated that if any family lost two or more sons all the surviving boys would be sent home" (Mackenzie 8). If the story sounds familiar -- it is. Niland's story is the true story that inspired Stephen Spielberg's famous film Saving Private Ryan. In the film, soldier Tom Hanks leads a mission to rescue the soldier from behind enemy lines and send him home.

However, "In reality, it was Army chaplain Father Francis Sampson who was sent to rescue and bring back 23-year-old Fritz" (Mackenzie 8). Father Sampson and some of his men were sent to find Fritz and send him.