Francis L. Sampson

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and analyzes the life of Francis L. Sampson, World War II veteran. The paper presents the biography of Paratrooper Francis L. Sampson during World War II. The paper explains that Father Sampson was an ordained Catholic priest, a paratrooper and an Army chaplain, who rose through the ranks to become a Major General during his Army service. The paper examines what happened when Paratrooper Sampson was taken prisoner by the Germans during World War II.

From the Paper:

"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."

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