Sayre’s men stayed in their holes, firing, and escaped uahurt although the tanke overren the position. Taey got two tanke with baxookes and 37 am. gun they had axquired. tater they got two more Imrk 4" with bazookas over the crest of the hill. Qu Monday the troopers were again out posting the infantry positions, in small squads, under heavy fire, When Gorham ordered then to seek less exposéd positions in a Gras behind some haystacks. They broke from their holes, one by one, and Gorham wee right. All mado safety. in @ drew they found one of our 105%e and & selfpropelled 75 which they took turns running up the slope of a bill and firing, — ‘Then an armade of tanks clattered up the read from the rear— they had been driven bakk afger counterettacking at Gela--and they opened fire, umrk 4's and 6'sl The shells knocked out some of our funs, Our own artilere and tanke-~ which were then out of gae--tried to reply, but the Germans kept fairly well together, moving out in paire to abiack different positions. agyre and hie group, dug into a hill @bout 500 yards from the takes, watched throught his glacsos. He waw the tanks hit one of our half-tracks, then get hit By our artillery. Through bie glaeses sayre vatched col. Gorham ase tank roared dow om his position near @ road. When their tank vas 150 yards avay Gorham ated his be zooka—— the bazooka man had been killed before-~and fired. so did the tanks One shell killed the colonel, another wounded @ Liste Cometock who ves with hia. (Tt seems to be uncertain whether Gorham also got the tank or thatit was destroyed @ bit later. But it wae knocked our add ite crew Eilled.) At that time it wes uoknown if Gorham bad been killed or wounded. Corp. Thones Higgins, of Conshohocken, Fas decided to get him, Despite heavy fire he rau tack for @ jeop, only to find the driver wee reluctant to go forward Rigging heaved hin out and eeked for @ volunteer. He vas jcined by @ cook, Bernard Williaws of Sheridan, llyo. and they drowe right up the bill, back to the colonel. They put the colonel and Liext. Comstock on the jeop and drove them back to 8 first aid station while all hell broke Loose. Our own tarks were firing oc the area now, and after we had knovked out two 6's, the German tanks withdres. The tank battle had lasted sevon hours, antil noon. It vas @ tank battle in which the paratroopers, lead by your son- n-law, distingui ched ther Knocked out several tanks, and aided the advance of the regiment which entered Nisceai the mext Jawa. The colonel had been killed outright. Ho didd gs @ very brave anda very gallent officer, I presume he is buried somewhere near theres You ean probably find out exactly by writing to the chaplein of hie regiment-~1% would have, I believe, the came APO aunbers Or you might write to the chaplain of the 16th infantry regi- uentvho may have supervised the trial. E wish 1 could tell yo more, but thie is the extent of my knowledge. if 1 Learn more later 1 will be glad $0 write you any sore information. Meanwhile, as @ war correspondent, who has jumped into combat with your son-in-law end the other breve paratroopers nay I join in your sorrow at the death of a great american fighting mn. Very sinceroly youre ohn HALL ThOMpEOa Cs cago rribune Wer CorrespondentDee. 20, 1943 _ Doar firs Fennetts Your letser of Nove 19th, inquiriag about the death of your son-in-law, Liettenant Colonel Arthur Gorham, hae just reached te. He vas one of the finest officers and abkest paratroopers L have ever uet, and 1 lve met any. For scveral daye before the Sicilian juap 1 saw hia daily in the Divouac arezs, and came to know hima little, but not ee auch @e 1 would have vishod-—thero was 20 sam a& for a0 to do. iio knew when wo left that night, July 9th, that many of us would not come back. The miceion wae a touch one, but we knew it would be successful, Gorham was confident, bat fully evare of the situation. Daye later vhen we learned he nad boon Killed 1% came Like a pumeh in the solar plexus. Gomenon 1 had never ees ociated him with death. it naz an ever harder to the regimental colonel--nov a brigadier general--because ke considered dorhan hie bect officer, as vell ec e fine mn. As you know from ay storloc, we were not arop- ped where the plane stated. inatead the combat team wae spread all over south-eastern Sicily. Autually your son-in-law drop- ped with @ enell group neerest to cur objective, road saxth of Niscom, @ fortified village northeast of cela, but they wero two and one half kaxanexafSiamr sha xox im kha Miles frow the "I". Before I left Sictly I had only been able to talk to one officer who wae in the croup and who saw the action. He 1s Gapt. Zdwin sayre of Breckenridge, Texas. with the aid of my notes I will try to summarize the story 2s told tome by sayres At 12135 a.m, they dropped east of a forti- fel farstouse, their plane having been chewed up by flak vhich-wonnded some of the mez. The farm was held by about sixty men, protected by trenches and barbed wire with four heavy michine guns, eix light ones, and grenade projectors. While one officer started tack to contact other plane lcadey Gorham organize) the attack on the house. Sayre led 22 men at 2 gem, but the first attack failed, ageinst tuo rows of gun emplacements. Sayre hed one mortar and a bazooka, grenedes, and rifles. after exchanging fire all night, the troopers from @ neighboring hill they bad occupied, attacked again at dawn, taking the house, Killing 15 enemy, and capturing 45. Tour troopers were hits one later died. While we vere organizing the position the Germans registered on the house with an 88 shell, and Corham decided to withdrew, it (the house) obéiously being zeroed in by the enemy guns. they know vhere they were-they could see the beach and the ships--and Gorham pulled his aen back, Hill by hill, secking contact with the léth infantry of the let division. The 16th hed artillery gad mechine guns. Gorham hed only 20 wen. late in the morning they joined the 16th south of the "Y", and bogen operating as squade, vell in advance of the infantry. ‘The next day, sunday, Sayre and 7 wen, dug into the side of @ bill, when attacked by tenke, Some infantry Dehind them started to run and were moved down.