The D-Day Invasion of Europe in World War II involved the coordinated efforts of hundreds of thousands of combat troops and support personnel from the various branches of the military services and nations involved. Each unit and each person involved in this monumental effort was a story unfolding where the ending was yet being written. Here we have the story of Elvin ‘Speed’ Homan, one of the participants in that epic effort. . Speed was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division who was dropped behind the lines during the initial invasion and a later participant in Operation Market Garden which followed soon after. He is one of seven paratroopers of his 17-man unit who survived the shoot-down of his C-47 troop-carrier aircraft during the Market Garden operation. Captured by the Germans, he spent the next five months as a prisoner of war. Freed from the prison camp by a Russian tank unit, he, with companions, on their own, made a harrowing journey from capativity that took them through Poland, Russia, Egypt and Italy in their efforts to rejoin their assigned units.

Speed's story has a significant link with the Norman Arvidson Story, already published on this web site. You may review that connection at any time you choose by clicking on this link with an easy return to this page using your back button. Norman was a C-47 pilot involved in carrying paratroopers and towing gliders into the area of conflict during the critical hours just before and immediately after the official invasion kickoff and subsequent efforts to penetrate the German defenses. Later, this included Operation Market Garden where Speed Homan was captured and imprisoned in a succession of German prison camps until he was eventually freed by the invading Russian Army and left to his own resources to thread his way back to rejoin the organization he served and eventually return his hearth and home in the United States.

While going through Speed's file and memorabilia collection on this subject, I found two stories that seem to provide specific “you were there” perspectives that add to the depth and details relating to the series of events portrayed in his personal narrative. They are identified as attachments # 1 and 2 in the Table of Contents listing. I commend these stories to you as being well worth your time as you review these materials.

Credits: Resources used to develop this story are from the Speed Homan Family with a major assist from Kay Johnson, Staff Writer, for the Hutchinson Leader Newspaper. Kay created the basic format and theme for the story after an interview with Speed. Her story was published in the Hutchinson Leader on May 23, 2002 as they prepared for a community Memorial Day celebration. My own efforts involved encouraging Speed and his family to flesh out details with previously unrecorded information to assure maximum documentation of his experiences. My sincere thanks to the Homan Family and Kay Johnson for their assistance. The story of “The Clay Pigeon” was first published in the American Legion Magazine in May of 1960. The story “Escape from III-C” was first published in the Ex-POW Bulletin, in January 1988. Our thanks to both of these organizations for their valuable efforts.

We invite you to learn more about Elvin ‘Speed’ Homan and his companion soldiers experiences as they recalls these traumatic, life-changing, events in their lives, now so many years later.