Odell Louis Dubree (1922 - October 10, 2009 ) served as Staff Sergeant in the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment under the during World War II. He spent his career as an IRS agent enforcing the excise tax and was a loving husband who fathered 3 daughters. Early Life Odell was born in West Texas. When describing his life as a child Odell would say, "We were nothing but West Texas dirt farmers". When Odell was about 9 years old he had suffered a severe injury to the top of his scalp that left a large u shape scar on his forehead as an adult. His family had a mule in the back yard that they would use to pump water from a well. He watched his Father whip the mule with a bull whip to get him moving around the pump. One day Odell decided he wanted to act like Dad. So he grabbed the bull whip and headed towards the Mule. He got behind the hind quarter of the animal standing head high to little Odell. He grasped the whip with his tiny hand and smacked the mules back-side with a loud crack. As soon as the mule felt the whip he kicked up his hoof so fast and with such force directly on top of Odell's head pealing back the top of his scalp exposing his entire skull. His mother came outside to a horrific site. Unfortunately the closest neighbor was several miles away and they had no telephone nor car to seek help. His mother picked him up and walked down the dirt road for 2 miles to the nearest neighbor. Odell often recollected on that moment in amazement of his Mother's courage and determination. He had said that she cried and prayed the whole long walk to get him to help. Military Service Odell Louis Dubree enlisted in the Army's and served as staff sergeant in the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II. He and one of his friends decided to enlist together. Odell also liked the idea of becoming a pilot and had heard that Air Force pilots make the most money. So they walked into town to the local recruitment office and started taking tests to hopefully score high enough to get into the Air Force. His friend didn't make it past the first test. Odell managed to make it through several tests before not passing. After failing to qualify for the Air Force they decided to try for the next highest paying option, The 82nd Airborne. Odell managed to score high enough to obtain the rank of Sergeant in the Army's 82nd Airborne division. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant shortly before the D-Day deployment. The days before the Normandy invasion Odell and the other soldiers knew that something was going on. Finally Odell was brought into several training meetings where they described his upcoming mission. During the invasion Odell was to be tasked with making sure everyone got off the plane during the drop in a timely manor. If they stalled he was supposed to kick them off the plane with his boot in their rump. After everyone had jumped, Odell was the last to go. Upon landing he was then tasked to start assembling soldiers into a unit. Upon landing he found 2 other soldiers and they started to make it to the rendezvous point. They were so deep into enemy territory that they soon found a battalion on Nazis practicing formations. He and the 2 other soldiers hunkered down in a secure high position and started firing on the Nazis. Being outnumbered 20 to 1 they were only able to engage with the enemy for several minutes. One of the soldiers took a bullet in the head losing part of his skull and Odell gave the order to retreat leaving the obviously deceased soldier to die on the battle field. After walking for several miles they had found more soldiers and finally met up with a larger group of men with a Lieutenant in command so Odell was now second in charge. Upon resting the next night Odell and a fellow soldier decided to go in search of more ammo since they were running low. They stole a jeep and went driving through the French country side. They made it all the way to a traffic jam of military vehicles on a bridge. The traffic jam started when a howitzer cannon that was being towed had slipped and was then hanging off the bridge still attached to a jeep. At this point Odell and his fellow soldier were sitting on the river bank with several hundred other soldiers enjoying the excitement when General Patton arrived. He was cussing and screaming at the whole mess and ordered the cannon and jeep be pushed off the bridge. He made notice of Patton's side arm and threatening demeanor. The presence of Patton was so intimidating that he decided to take the jeep back to where they got it from and give up their search for more ammo. The next day Odell was shot in the hip by a Nazi soldier positioned in a tree. A fellow soldier shot and killed the Nazi and gave Odell the hand gun that the Nazi used to shoot him. He spent the next several days in a military hospital in Germany. After being released from the hospital he was on his way home now that the Germans were defeated in France. He managed to get a spot on one of the many Navy ships taking troops back home. He spent the days coming home playing poker with fellow soldiers in extremely cramped quarters. Years later Odell was at an 82nd Airborne reunion. He was telling the story of his first battle with the Nazis. A veteran at the other table overheard part of the conversation and walked over to Odell's table. Odell looked up and noticed the fellow veteran's bald head and age spots. The man apologized for overhearing his conversation and asked him if he remembered the sergeant in charge of the small group. Odell said that he himself was the Sergeant and asked the man why did he want to know. The man then told Odell that he had remembered fighting a battalion of Nazis with him until he was shot in the head. Odell couldn't believe it, but noticed a huge scar at the same area the soldier had been shot some 40 years before. He had always thought that he had died after getting shot in the head. For years up until that point Odell felt terrible about leaving a fellow soldier behind. The veteran went on to tell his story about how he was taken care of by a French family and hidden from the Nazis for several days. The man said that he had been looking for the sergeant all these years to find out if he and the other soldier with him survived the battle. He spent 40 years wondering what happened after he was shot in the head and was overcome to find out that all 3 men survived. In 2002 a Memorial was erected honoring the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Meeting Imogene Odell met his wife Imogene Cagle at a VFW event in North Georgia while on leave before being deployed to France. They married days later after Odell asked Imogene's Mother to have the honor of marrying her daughter. Proud Parent Odell was the proud father of 3 daughters. Public Service Odell spent his entire career as an IRS agent. He was promoted after getting a law degree from Georgia State University. He was tasked with enforcing the newly created excise tax. His job took him all over the country. In one case he was asked to work in New York to investigate a huge case. The case involved suspicion that several agents were on the take from organized crime. Odell was brought in because he was known to be one of the most honest agents in the agency. Retirement Odell enjoyed spending his retirement golfing, RVing and even sailing. He became and expert celestial navigator and even took at sailing trip from Georgia to the Bahamas with Imagene and another couple. He and Imagene spent several months RVing all over the country.