Editor's Note: The following is an edited excerpt of a story submitted by Tryggvi Larum to Icelandic Roots. Born to Icelandic parents who immigrated to the USA, he relates his experience as a member of the 509th Infantry Regiment, an airborne unit of the United States, to that of Viking warriors and the purpose of their exploits. Perhaps it was the 509th’s Motto “ALL THE WAY” that validates this linkage. Tryggvi also discovered woodcarving; some of it with a Viking flare. Here is his story:
Part of the Icelandic historical record refers to its Viking age, and of native sons that travelled abroad leaving the protection of home shores. They travelled to new lands, served in harm’s way as part of a foreign army under the leadership of a foreign lord. Modern examples of these native-born sons of Iceland choosing such a path are extremely rare today, far more rare than Iceland’s Viking warrior age. But one story may share elements with the past and provide an example which I have called “Tryggvi's Saga”.
TRYGGVI - SERVICE TO DUTY
The Icelandic warrior in our story was native born and given ancient Icelandic and Norwegian names. Tryggvi Thorlief Larum was born at Hafnarfjörður, Iceland in 1956 to his native Icelandic mother and Norwegian-American father. Tryggvi was born a son of Iceland, and also became a naturalized United States citizen upon emigration in 1957. He was raised on the stories of the Icelandic sagas told by his beloved Icelandic mother and a reverence for his American WWII European campaign veteran father, who had once played a part in freeing Europe from Nazi tyranny.
Tryggvi proudly followed in his father’s military footsteps and in 1975 at the age 18, served in Europe to keep peace and freedom from the threat of Soviet aggression. He volunteered with an elite unit, the 509th Infantry Regiment, an airborne infantry unit of the United States Army. Since this unit was formed in 1942, Tryggvi was the only known Icelander to have served with the unit.
This journey led him from the safety of home in the mountains of Northern California to training in the sweltering hot weather and waist-deep swamps of Louisiana, to the foreboding frozen slopes of the Italian/Swiss Alps. This training also included low altitude parachute jumps throughout what was then free Western Europe, strapped with nearly 200 pounds of combat equipment. It was here Tryggvi earned the elite military badges of three separate NATO nations: the United States, Great Britain and France. The 509th was the only forward deployed United States Army Airborne Infantry unit, which at that time was the Cold War airborne unit based in Europe.
Many years later, Tryggvi was elected Vice President of the American 509th Parachute Infantry Association (PIA); an association that represents the most legendary unit of America's very small elite U.S. Airborne community. In 2013 he was nominated to the American National Infantry Association. Again, Tryggvi became the first known Icelander to be inducted into the prestigious CIVIS Order of Saint Maurice (1). He was honored as its 6003rd recipient in the company of other notable recipients including Colin Powell, an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer.
FROM SOLDIER TO ARTIST AND STORYTELLER
In the 1980's following his military service, Tryggvi travelled back to Iceland to reclaim and embrace his birthright, to work and live in his native homeland of Iceland for a year.
Employed as a deckhand on Iceland's fishing trawler fleet, he spent 85 days at sea learning the inherent hazards of the beautiful yet still cold and unforgiving gray waste of Iceland's arctic North Sea. Tryggvi admired the brave journeys of his ancestors, the pioneering settlers of Iceland, who had made the crossing from Norway to Iceland and from Iceland to North America in open wooden boats. These journeys later become the catalyst that sparked his lifetime study of his Viking age ancestry.
Later in life, Tryggvi's journey manifested as a storyteller. Many years earlier, he celebrated his Icelandic heritage as a self-taught wood sculpture and used the Viking age wood carving styles. The work and studying of this style led to Tryggvi being invited as a guest lecturer to speak about his work and its exhibits at the University of North Dakota. He received support from the North Dakota Council of the Arts, the California Council of Traditional Arts and the American National Endowment of the Arts.
Tryggvi received numerous American art awards and media attention on his work. The public can see his work on display in museums and art centers in the United States, Canada, and Iceland. A sculpture donated by Tryggvi was formally installed at the Icelandic Emigration Centre in Hofsós, Iceland by the then Prime Minister of Iceland. Additionally, Tryggvi was invited to speak about his art at the 2013 Icelandic National League of North America convention in Seattle, Washington.
However, a story teller’s journey can take varying paths in life's experiences.
In July 2013 Tryggvi was asked to return to Iceland as a volunteer to help establish Iceland's first Viking festival and lend his woodcarving talents to its festival’s presentation. He and Jón Adolf Steinólfsson, a sculptor from Reykjavik, were interviewed about the festival and its art.
In July 2014, Tryggvi, accompanied by his wife, returned to Iceland attending the Viking Festival of Reykjavik, after which they embarked on a journey travelling the entire length Iceland's southern coastline from Reykjavik to the East and the remote coastal mountain rising out of the sea called Mt. Reyðarfjall, between Fáskrúðsfjörður and Reyðarfjörður. This was Tryggvi’s quest: to physically trace the line of his ancient forefathers from Ericksfarm on the west coast to Mt. Reyðarfja. He yearned to stand upon the mountainside where the Icelandic book of settlement says in 850 AD the first Norsemen discovered and set foot on Icelandic soil climbing this same mountainside to look for signs of habitation.
AN HONORED VETERAN
Also in 2014, Tryggvi was invited to be an official officer representative of the 509th Parachute Infantry Association, a veterans group. A contingent was convened to attend the 70th Anniversary celebrations in remembrance of the 1944 Allied invasion that lead to the liberation of France. Many of the war veterans of the 509th could no longer travel to attend; Tryggvi was honored on their behalf to carry their story and spirit.
One of the officials Tryggvi met during the celebrations in San Tropez, France included the mayor. Initially, a language barrier presented some challenges, but mutual efforts surpassed any challenges. When questioned by a French citizen about his unique non-American name, Tryggvi jokingly commented that elite American Army units liked to have at least one token Icelander of Viking heritage if they could find them. Tryggvi then explained he had not fought in France but was humbled to be an attending representative. He thanked the French for remembering the soldiers, to which he received the reply “We French have a long memory”. Tryggvi was surprised to receive a thank you for his own service and the unit’s later sacrifices to France, as well as Europe during the Cold War.
Out of all the airborne forces of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France from the Mediterranean, the 509th unit suffered the worst casualties. As the son of a WWII U.S. Army veteran who survived the war in Europe, Tryggvi found the ceremony to be the most difficult emotionally, but was comforted by making a presentation of a formal medallion coin to one of the last surviving members of the 517th airborne paratrooper unit.
Additionally, Tryggvi presented with gratitude the 509th Associations’ medallion coins to forty individuals who volunteered to reenact the history of the unit. This proud group of young Frenchmen, many of whom are currently serving in the French Army, went to great personal expense and training to re-enact the 509th Parachute Infantry Battallion (PIB) in France. They wear and pack WWII era 509th PIB reproduction field uniforms, weapons, and equipment; all to illustrate accurately the bravery that had once come from the night sky. The re-enactment keeps the memory alive for the French people and their fellow Europeans.
Attending the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial located in Draguignan, a short distance north of Saint-Tropez, Tryggvi paid his respects to the 28 members interred there. The families chose to have their loved ones remain with their brothers-in-arms rather than return them home to US soil.
In the coastal French town of Saint Tropez, Tryggvi participated in a commemorative wreath laying ceremony at the base of the city's monument, The Landing Memorial (3), to honor the 17 American 509th PIA unit members arriving in a single aircraft that became separated inadvertently from the rest of their unit. This aircraft carried the main 509th unit from Italy to Southern France at night in the fog and under heavy German ground fire. This troop of parachutists were in a single aircraft of the formation and had decided earlier not to wear their May-West life preservers as they believed they would be jumping inland from the French beaches. Due to the night fog and enemy fire, the aircraft lost its course and mistakenly dropped the troop into the Mediterranean Sea. All perished. This solemn ceremony was attended by member representatives of the French media, the U.S. Army historical department, and the mayor.
Throughout the course of the week, Tryggvi visited many of the isolated French coastal mountain towns, each celebrating their own anniversary of the liberation by the allied forces. He was very impressed with how many town squares were fully engaged in commemorative activities. Appearing as though they were a movie production set of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, multitudes of young French, American, and British WWII reenactment groups, were milling about in the squares. They had restored American Army era trucks, jeeps and Harley Davidson motorcycles, the messenger bikes that were used by the French resistance fighters. The French people dressed in period attire and hairstyles. As an American soldier being celebrated in a foreign nation, Tryggvi began to think more Americans from home should see this.
Also while in France, Tryggvi explored the 1944 coastal mountain parachute drop zones (DZ's) of the lead elements. It was here during the war that only seven parachute pathfinders were dropped in. Their aircraft flew at night in heavy fog while under German anti-aircraft fire. The 509th troops had to bail out, then set up communications and nighttime ground lights to assist the arrival of the main battalion force that was to follow from Italy only hours later, who were also to parachute into the designated DZ. One of the main force DZ areas was where the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion fought on hard-to-reach cliff faces to capture the hilltop medieval castle that was the headquarters of the German Army and Navy in that region.
In more recent years, Tryggvi was again honored to attend other commemorative events. The President of the 509th Association requested Tryggvi attend as the special guest speaker for the annual 3/509th Airborne Infantry Battalion Unit Ball held in Anchorage, Alaska. He humbly accepted.
Tryggvi, as the warrior, spoke to over 700 of America's most highly trained elite soldiers, many of which had distinguished themselves by serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. When sharing his own story, Tryggvi was overwhelmed by the warm greetings. He had introduced himself as a rare American proud of being a native-born son of Iceland, expressing delight that he now shares his birthday of August 16th with the American National Airborne Day.
He too was once a young soldier, eager to fulfill his service to duty. Tryggvi spoke of the unit’s creed, the founding forefathers, and the sharing of each unit’s history and heritage. As elite warriors, they share not only with one another, but also with their forefathers, the glory of service, sacrifice, loyalty, and blood.
Tryggvi conveyed his then-recent trip to France; one of walking in the footsteps and remembering an account of a battle that had been fought there by the 509th unit so long ago. From that past to Tryggvi facing his own challenges while he was with the 509th, to present-day conflicts, valiant chapters continue to be written. The 509th continues to represent freedom to those repressed or under siege.
Tryggvi's personal story is reflected in his thoughts as he prepared for this day. His presentation to the many of the 509th would take place on October 8th, just one day before Leif Ericksson Day of October 9th on the American calendar.
Tryggvi, a son of Iceland, emigrated with his parents to the United States, witnessed his parents’ strife to achieve the American dream while learning brave tales of heritage through Iceland's sagas. He claims the status of the first Icelander born in the US to serve with the 509th becoming one of their warriors, and has the honor of encouraging other younger warriors with the same desire to serve.
Tryggvi's life continues to be an adventurous journey. He has returned to his native home, currently residing in Iceland.
Additional References:
1. The Order of Saint Maurice is awarded by the National Infantry Association and the Chief of Infantry. This is to recognize the significant contributions made by Infantrymen, Infantry supporters, and spouses…Civis is for civilian personnel who have supported the U.S. Infantry.
2. Operation Dragoon: Invasion of Southern France: Originally designated Operation Anvil and intended to support the hammer blow of the Normandy landings two months earlier, the renamed Operation Dragoon fulfilled an American desire for a lodgment in southern France that shifted forces from the strategic cul-de-sac of Italy.
3. The Landing Memorial: A memorial in honour of the American, British and French landing troops who came ashore in the Provence on the 15th of August 1944.The memorial also honours the French commandos led by Henri D'Astier de la Vigerie, who landed on Saint-Tropez on the 17th of August 1944. It was the first town on this coast to be liberated during World War II (as part of Operation Dragoon)