American war veteran Tom Rice has died at the age of 101. The unit he was part of, the 101st Airborne Division, announced this on Thursday evening. Rice jumped over the Netherlands on September 17, 1944 for Operation Market Garden.
His unit shared a video of Rice on Facebook as a tribute. According to the 101st Airborne Division, he was a “humble man” who just wanted to do his duty for his country. “He didn’t consider himself a hero or special in any way.”
Rice’s first jump was in 1944 during D-Day. Then he landed in darkness and was met with enemy fire in Normandy. Rice survived the fighting and jumped again three months later during Operation Market Garden.
Then he was dropped behind enemy lines with other soldiers in the Netherlands. In that operation, Rice later also fought in Bastogne, Belgium, where he was seriously injured. He survived the war and jumped again over Normandy three years ago. He was then 97 years old.
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Rice repeated parachute jump from Market Garden
He also repeated the Market Garden jump. As part of the 75th anniversary commemoration, Rice landed with a parachute in Groesbeek. “It was a quick jump, the parachute opened before I knew it,” he said at the time Broadcasting Gelderland.
After World War II, Rice worked as a teacher in California for nearly 44 years. In 2004 he published a book containing his memories of the parachute jumps and other important personal moments from the war.
