James Megellas

James Megellas
James Megellas in 2009
Nickname(s)	Maggie
Born	(1917-03-11) March 11, 1917 (age 100) Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Unit	Company "H", 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
Battles/wars	World War II  • Operation Shingle  • Operation Market Garden  • Battle of the Bulge
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star

James Megellas (born March 11, 1917) is a retired United States Army officer who commanded a platoon in Company "H" of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. He is "the most-decorated officer in the history of the 82nd Airborne Division," having received a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and been nominated for the Medal of Honor.

Megellas was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and attended Ripon College in the nearby town of Ripon. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred midway through his senior year. He participated in the school's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program and, upon graduation in May 1942, received a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Megellas was originally assigned to the Signal Corps, but grew tired of the required additional schooling and volunteered to become a paratrooper in order to see combat. He first experienced combat in the mountains outside Naples, Italy, near Venafro, where he was wounded and hospitalized. In October 1943, while the remainder of the 82nd Airborne departed Italy to recoup before the invasion of Normandy, the 504th PIR remained behind and took part in Operation Shingle. On January 22, 1944, the 504th took part in an amphibious assault at Anzio. The fighting took a heavy toll, Megellas being wounded again, It was not until April before the regiment was withdrawn. Due to the losses at Anzio, the 504th did not participate in the D-Day Normandy Landings. They did, however, parachute into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden, the airborne invasion of that country.