I recently met longtime local literary agent and author James Donovan near his office on SMU Boulevard to discuss his fascinating and exhaustively-researched new book Nothing But Courage. The 82nd Airborne’s Daring D-Day Mission – and Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge.
Released this past May, the book details the 82nd Airborne’s daring, seemingly suicidal 1944 charge across the tiny but direly important La Fière bridge and into the jaws of the Nazis.
“The Germans were dug in there, more than a thousand,” Donovan said. “They had tanks, anti-aircraft guns, howitzers, mortars, and dozens of machine guns, all sighted down the causeway and the bridge. After a brief 15-minute artillery barrage that was supposed to get those German heads down, they charged across the bridge in single-file.”
One of the most starkly heroic yet overlooked actions of World War II, this isolated battle following the Allies’ landing in Normandy is vividly brought back to life, often through the words of surviving paratroopers.
“I was lucky enough to find 12 members of the 82nd Airborne who had been involved,” said Donovan, who worked on the book for more than four years. “Combined, they gave me materials, research, and details that helped me flesh our parts of the book. All 12 are gone now.”
A literary agent in town since 1993 and the author of Shoot for the Moon, A Terrible Glory, and The Blood of Heroes, Donovan said he had longed to write about World War II.
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“And time was running out,” he said. “The War ended 80 years ago. Anyone who was in it is over a 100. How many of them were left?”
Though some elderly veterans were unfortunately unable to recall much, Donovan was ultimately taken aback by the stories he heard.
“There were so many instances of heroism, courage, and sacrifice, I couldn’t put them all in it,” he said.
In the book, readers get to know the individuals whose heroism became the turning point of the war.
Lt. Turner Turnbull was a half-Choctaw Native whose platoon held off a furious counterattack by hundreds of German soldiers. Quiet, devout churchgoer Lt. Waverly Wray from rural Mississippi went out on a one-man patrol and found and dispatched every member of a German command post. And there was Brig. Gen. James “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin, the youngest combat general in the US Army at 37 and assistant commander of the 82nd Airborne, whose extraordinary bravery and devotion to his troops paved the way to an arduous victory essential to the success of D-Day.
“‘The common denominator was courage,’” Donovan said, recalling the words of journalist William Walton, who witnessed the battle. “‘It was everywhere, but you just didn’t notice it,’ he said. ‘I saw nothing but courage.’ And I know a good title when I see one.”
Josh Hickman, a Park Cities artist and author of such humorous novels as “I Am Luney: The Untold Story of The World’s Naughtiest Man,” is a frequent contributor to People Newspapers. Visit joshhickmanbooks.com.
