Paul Rogers (soldier)

Sergeant Paul 'Hayseed' Rogers (born July 12, 1918) was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Rogers was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company. As of October 28, 2013, Rogers is the oldest living member of Easy Company.

Youth
Rogers was from Kansas City, and he grew up in Adrian, Missouri. He enlisted on 13 August 1942 at Leavenworth when he was 24 years old. He volunteered for the paratroopers.

Military service
Rogers was assigned to Easy Company and received training in Toccoa, Georgia under Captain Herbert Sobel. Rogers made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day. James Alley, who jumped right before Rogers, had trouble getting out of the plane and was about to be pulled in half. Rogers, who was "strong as a bull," had to throw Alley out to save him. Rogers's parachute was snagged by tree limbs and he had to cut himself free and climb to the ground. Like many other paratroopers Rogers lost much of his equipment, including his rifle. He linked up with James Alley and Earl McClung near Ste. Mere Eglise, and fought with an 82nd Airborne Division unit for 8 days. Rogers was promoted to sergeant after the campaign in France.

Rogers and Walter 'Smokey' Gordon were always making up funny songs or poems about fellow Easy Company comrades if they had some kind of weakness or were in some kind of trouble. Their good friend Floyd Talbert was often a target. Talbert was bayoneted by Private George Smith in Carentan. After Talbert returned from the hospital, Rogers and Gordon put together a makeshift award ceremony to give Talbert one of Gordon's extra purple hearts (which Talbert was disqualified from receiving), and wrote the poem 'The Night of the Bayonet' to immortalize the incident. Rogers also wrote a poem about the fighting in Ste. Mere Eglise that gave McClung the nickname "One Lung."

Rogers also participated in Operation Market Garden. During the attack on Nuenen, Rogers, at the time a mortar sergeant, was seriously wounded while the men carrying ammunition next to him were killed. According to Carwood Lipton, who went to check on Rogers, Rogers "let out a string of profanity that lasted a full minute," which was "most unusual for him." After returning from the hospital, Rogers fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. In Foy, Rogers and lieutenant Edward Shames destroyed a German tank with a bazooka. Rogers became the platoon sergeant after the campaign and fought with Easy Company until the end of the war.

Later years
After the war, Rogers attended Easy Company reunions regularly. Since 2001 he has lived in Overland Park, Kansas and, since 2013, he has been the oldest living member of Easy Company.