D-Day Paratrooper from 101st Airborne Celebrates 100th Birthday in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara’s Art Petersen, about to turn 100, fought as a paratrooper with the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, seeing action during the historic Normandy Invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and in the Battle of the Bulge in December that same year. In between, he would find himself forced to jump out of a “wounded” plane — having himself sustained a flesh wound — while flying into serious military action against German troops in Holland in September. Petersen would be demoted from corporal to private for defying orders to check himself into a hospital in England for care. Instead, he went back into the fray. In all, Petersen would sustain two wounds, jump from two planes that had been shot — one was on fire — and be awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star during his time with the 101st. 

Petersen was born in Mexico City, the grandson of a member of the German consulate there. His family would move from Mexico City to San Antonio and then to Los Angeles, where he attended high school. In 1941, he moved to Santa Barbara, according to local military historian John Blankenship and champion of veterans’ causes. 

Shortly after a Japanese sub shelled an Ellwood tool shed, triggering the round-up of Japanese and Japanese American families, Petersen tried to volunteer for the U.S. Marines, Navy, and Army. All three branches would turn him down, recalled Blankenship: “He was a skinny 18-year-old.” 

Ultimately, however, Petersen would find himself drafted into the army; he signed up to be a paratrooper, Blankenship said, because it paid $50 extra a month. The 101st, he said, enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for toughness. 

“It was like a massive group of guys just looking for trouble,” Blankenship said. “They were really tough. They went after the Germans with no mercy.” 

After the war, Petersen moved back to Santa Barbara and two years later married his wife of 76 years, Gloria, whom he had met shortly before getting drafted. Together they raised a family of four kids. Petersen started Pacific Maintenance Service, a housecleaning and window-washing business, and landed a significant contract early on at UCSB. He has remained active in veterans’ affairs and can frequently be spotted during veterans’ parades, driving with Blankenship in a ceremonial vintage jeep. 

Petersen, who officially turns 100 on March 30, is the last surviving member of his battalion. One week early, this Sunday, March 17, at 1:30 p.m., a party honoring Petersen will be held at the Veterans’ Memorial Building on Cabrillo Boulevard.