Portraits from Our Past:
FAMOUS AUTHORS
Southwest
Virginia Authors
Ross S.
Carter
(1919 - 1947)
Ross Carter's book Those Devils
In Baggy Pants is a portrayal of the life of Company C of the
504 Parachute Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. Carter, born
and raised in Duffield, Virginia, was one of three men out of
40 who survived hand-to-hand combat at the Battle of the Bulge
in World War II.
Carter took the title for his book from a diary found on a German
soldier. The diary accounted how the German's feared paratroopers
whom they called Devils in Baggy Pants. The paratroopers were
shock troops: they were keyed up for their jumps, which generally
landed them behind the enemy's lines. They were trained to be
resourceful and did their most spectacular fighting in small
independent groups.
The book Those Devils In Baggy Pants is about the men of the
82nd Airborne—their own private war, a battle of hand-to-hand
combat, diseases, and the death of so many buddies. You see them
enter the war with fearful, young eyes, fuzzy checks and impatient
strides. You see them leave the war with tired sagging faces,
long beards and five years of age for every month of combat.
You learn that Ross Carter, who lived and wrote the story, was
one of these youngsters who faced death bravely and faced life
with a grain of salt. He was an ordinary paratrooper, with ordinary
buddies, whose every-day achievements lifted them to epic fame.
Those Devils in Baggy Pants was published in 1951 by Appleton
Century Crofts and was a best seller. The book appeared in condensed
form in the October 1951 issue of Reader's Digest in the U.S.,
England, Canada and Australia and in French, Spanish, Dutch and
Danish editions of the Reader's Digest in February 1952. The
book was reviewed in Harper's, The Atlantic, Saturday Review
of Literature, The New York Times Magazine and scores of other
publications.
Those Devils in Baggy Pants was highly praised by both literary
critics and military men. The book remains highly relevant. Those
Devils in Baggy Pants is required reading for U.S. military paratroopers
graduating from paratrooper training. The book is considered
to be one of the very best World War II books ever written.
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The Southwest Virginia Museum is a
member of the American
Association of Museums, the American Association of State and
Local History, and the Virginia Association of Museums.
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