Alden L. Carney was born and raised in Abilene, Kansas. He married Maxine Joyce Hastings in 1938 and they had two children, Cynthia and Alden Jr., prior to entry in to the 11th Airborne. The 11th Airborne was activated at Camp Mackall, NC February 25, 1943. May 1944 the division sailed from San Francisco to New Guinea where they spent an additional five months training in the jungle warfare in preparation for the liberation of the Philippines. In November 1944 the 11th Airborne landed on Leyte Beach in the Philippines. The 511th PIR was sent to clear the mountains lf Leyte, it was raining the day they landed and continued to rain almost every day of the campaign. The fighting was fierce and unrelenting for the next month. After clearing the mountains of Leyte they began the march onto Manila. Dad's first combat jump was January 3, 1945 onto Tagaytay Ridge. Dad's second combat jump was February 22, 1945 on Los Banos prison camp. This became a textbook combat jump, all 2,147 internees were rescued while all 247 Japanese guards were killed and one US wounded. The fight for southern Luzon continued with the battle for Mt. Malepunyo wrapping up the major fighting in April 1945. The 11th Airborne was preparing for the invasion of Japan when Peace was negotiated and the 11th Airborne was ultimately sent to Hokkaido. Alden received the following citations: Army Good Conduct, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Asiatic Pacific Campaign with four bronze stars Arrow Head, Philippine Liberation with two bronze stars, and WWII Victory. Following the war Alden married H. June Webber and they moved to Indio, CA where they raised five children; Richard, Dennis, Carol, Barbara, and Debra. Dad was very reluctant to speak about the war. However, he was very proud of his accomplishment as a Paratrooper.