Alfred Corgan was from Unadilla, New York, born in 1925 and was the only son of Anson (WW1 veteran) and Eunice Corgan. His mother died in 1938 leaving him and his father behind. After 1 year of High school Alfred went to work as an automobile serviceman. On the 11th of February 1944 he enlisted into the army. After his basic-training he asked for a transfer to the airborne forces. He passed his examination and was stationed at Fort Benning, GA. Here he got his airborne training. Shortly before departing to Europe he married Muriel Dorothy Cross from Poughkeepsie, NY. In August 1944 he left for Europe. He was send as a replacement to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR). This unit was just relieved from fighting in Bastogne were it suffered heavy losses. His squad-leader was Don Burgett who later wrote several books about the 101st airborne division during the war.

In 1942, the 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Claiborne, LA was split in two, to form two new Airborne Infantry Divisions. The 82nd Airborne and 101ste airborne division. Both divisions were stationed at Ft Bragg, N.C. before being shipped overseas. The 82nd departed first, heading to North Africa. The 101st absorbed one parachute regiment, the 502nd, which had been originally activated as a battalion in 1941. This became the original Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) on the Table of Organizations & Equipment (TO&E) of the 101st Division. The division's original organic units were artillery and support battalions. In early 1943, the 506th PIR was attached to the division, which sailed for the UK in September aboard 3 different transport ships. A period of intense maneuvering and training, including practice jumps, ensued in England. The division was preparing for a landing on the Nazi occupied European continent, but the exact location was still unknown. The 501st PIR, which like the 506th, had initially trained seperately, was also attached to the 101st Division in January, 1944, in England. Although both regiments wore the 101st Airborne shoulder patch in battle, the 501st and 506th were only members by attachment until after WW2 ended. The 506th was accepted as a TO&E part of the division after VE-Day.

Patch of the 101st Airborne Division	Patch of the 506th PIR

The 501st was deactivated in July, 1945, having never been an official organic part of the division. When the 101st was reactivated in 1956, the 501st was incorporated as part of the TO&E. In the spring of 1944, General Bill Lee, the original commanding general of the 101st Airborne had to relinquish command due to a heart ailment. His replacement was General Maxwell D. Taylor, who would lead the 101st through combat until the end of WW2. The 101st participated in Exercise Tiger at Slapton Sands on the south coast of England in April. In June, the Division landed in Normandy on, and behind the Utah Beach area. Paratroopers were dropped onto three landing zones, and relatively few troops of the 101st landed by glider. The rest of the division landed by sea. The three parachute regiments captured the four elevated roads leading inland from Utah Beach and secured various key terrain objectives behind the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. This was done with great success, and a new objective was added to their agenda: the taking of Carentan, France. This not only aided in linking the Utah and Omaha beachheads, it helped prevent the Germans from driving through to the coast in an area which would divide the Allied landings. The 502nd 3rd battalion won particular honors in it's costly battle to secure the road into Carentan from the north-this became known as 'Purple Heart Lane', due to the many American casualties taken there. A Congressional Medal of Honor (CMH) was awarded to LTC Robert Cole for his leadership in a bayonet charge at the south end of the causeway. This was the first of only two CMH's awarded to 101st personnel in WW2. The 101st took Carentan and the 506th, reinforced by CCA, 2nd Armored Division, defended it against counterattacks by the 17th SS division and the 6th Para Regiment. The 101st was withdrawn from the lines in late June and sailed back to England on LSTs in July. After several false alerts, they invaded by air again in the Netherlands on 17 September 17, 1944. Their mission in Holland was to hold open a corridor for British armor to drive north and relieve their paratroops who had landed at Arnhem. Although the mission failed to achieve it's long range objectives, the 101st as well as the 82nd Airborne Division accomplished all missions assigned to them. Once again, fierce fighting raged and another 101st man won the CMH. Pfc Joe Mann of H/502 laid on a German grenade to save his buddies; the CMH was awarded posthumously. Withdrawn from Holland at the end of November for recuperation, the 101st was sent to Camp Mourmelon le Grand, France. Less than 3 weeks later, the 101st was rushed north into Belgium in trucks, to counter the German Ardennes counteroffensive. Throwing a cordon around the key road and rail center of Bastogne, the 101st Division was surrounded for a week by elements of eight German divisions, but refused to yield the town to the enemy. Here, General Anthony McAuliffe, the acting commander rejected a German surrender ultimatum with a one word reply of "Nuts". The German ring around Bastogne was broken on 26 December, 1944, when elements of Patton's 3rd Army shot their way into the town. But even heavier fighting ensued, as the 101st pushed north toward Houffalize for the first half of January, to help close the Bulge. The 101st left Bastogne in trucks in mid January, 1945, and the weary Bastogne survivors were rushed to the 7th Army front in Alsace-Lorraine, to reinforce the line along the Moder River. A month later, the 101st boarded trains (40&8 boxcars) and returned to the Reims, France area, this time Mourmelon le Petit, where they received a Presidential Unit Citation for their defense of Bastogne. In April, the division, minus the 501 PIR, boarded trucks and went to the Dusseldorf area. The Ruhr Pocket was closed by numerous American units, trapping most of the German 15th Army. Elements of the 101st rode in DUKWs to Bavaria to check out the possibility that Hitler had established an Alpine Redoubt for continued resistance. This proved to be an overestimated threat, but elements of the 101st participated in the capture of Hitler's Obersalzberg complex. Elements of the divison were sent from Berchtesgaden down into Austria, shortly after VE Day, where they held towns from Krimml to Taxenbach, as occupation forces. Despite rumors that the division would be rotated to fight in the Pacific Theatre, the war ended in August. When it was decided that the 101st would be inactivated and the 82nd retained as a postwar airborne division, the 101st lost its chance to march in the New York victory parade. By the time the victory parade took place in early 1946, most survivors of the heaviest fighting were already discharged under the 'points' system. They had been back working at civilian jobs for months. Some former Screaming Eagles (mostly rookies) were among the 82nd Airborne troopers who marched down 5th Avenue. The 101st Airborne Division was deactivated in late 1945, and ceased to exist as a U.S. Army unit until it was reborn in 1956. It has continued ever since, with combat tours in Vietnam and the Gulf War.

In 2001 the HBO television serie Band of Brothers came out, this serie is about E-Co, 506de PIR during the war and gave a boost to the fame of the 101st airborne division.

Pfc. Alfred Corgan came to A-company 506th PIR as a replacement. This unit suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Bulge. With this unit he went into Germany. On a company sized patrol to Himmelgeist on the 12th of April 1945 they got into heavy artillery fire. One shell killed 4 men and wounded several others including Alfred Corgan. On their way back through the night, they got even more artillery and tank fire.

article about Alfred Corgan becoming a paratrooper	article about Alfred Corgan's death

Alfred had his arms bandaged and bound close to his sides to try and stop his heavy bleeding. While they crossed the river Rhine in boats an artillery shell landed close to the boat with Pfc. Alfred Corgan. The boat capsized and Corgan, along with several other troopers, some wounded, were drowned. He was found 3 days later about 2 miles downstream.

The grave of Pfc. Alfred G. Corgan is adopted by Rick Mommers, The Netherlands.
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Grave of Pfc. Alfred G. Corgan	Caretaker Rick Mommers at Alfred Corgan's grave