Capt. Don Orcutt, pilot, 440th Troop Carrier Group: “Each squadron had its own location on the airfield. All the planes for the mission were numbered with large white chalk figures on the left side just in front of the main cabin exit door. [Lt. Col. Frank] Krebs taxied around the perimeter displaying his chalk number for all to see and we fell numerically into line behind him. At 11:50 p.m. 45 aircraft were lined up ready for takeoff. We had a signalman who flashed a green light at the end of the runway. If my memory serves me correctly, we took off at 10-second intervals and the entire group was airborne in roughly eight minutes.

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The colonel flew at a speed of 130 mph and as each aircraft took off it went ‘balls out’ playing catch the leader before eventually falling into position. Every plane had a series of dim blue lights, three on each upper wing surface and three on top of the cabin. After staring at those for a while your eyes began to cross. Krebs kept his landing lights on so that outbound planes could spot the head of the formation. This was always a little bit hairy because there was little room for error, particularly at night.”

Ward Smith, war correspondent: “Almost before we realized it we were off…. ‘Say,’ someone sang out suddenly, ‘what’s the date? I’ll feel kinda dumb down there if some guy asks me and I get it wrong.’ We all laughed uproariously at things like that—the littlest things, the silliest things. We exchanged cigarettes and we talked on, but somehow never about things that mattered.”

Gibson: “Talking over the roar of the engines was almost impossible but I yelled at my buddy, ‘How do you feel, Lee?’ After two attempts at making him hear, Lee replied, ‘Better than expected, how about you?’ I yelled back the same answer he gave me. Inside I was nervous, had butterflies in my stomach and my hands were damp and cold with sweat. The plane rocked and fell a few feet, only to quickly regain its position. As we approached the peninsula I could see our formation of aircraft stretching for what seemed like miles behind us.”

Orcutt: “A layer of clouds became visible that looked like they rose to a height of at least 3,000 feet. Continuing at our present altitude would have meant flying into the cloudbank. The colonel [Krebs] chose to descend and fly under the overcast—a wise move as it turned out. He must have studied terrain maps of the peninsula and knew how low he could go without danger, as our new height of about 900 feet above sea level was just right.”

Dziepak: “Some of the guys were praying, smoking cigarettes, or being sick. As we crossed the coast the red light went on. The enemy fire coming up at us was heavy. You could hear shrapnel ripping through the fuselage and we wanted out!”

Bennett: “When the red light flicked to green nobody moved. I could hear people shouting, ‘For Christ’s sake let’s go, let’s get out, what’s happening up there and why aren’t we moving?’ I was the ‘push out man’ and it was my role to clear the plane. I started pushing and shoving furiously from the back and suddenly the stick began to move. I think this delay may have actually saved our lives.”

Pvt. Bill Galbraith, I Company: “The plane didn’t slow down for the jump and most of us lost our leg packs because of the exit speed. We were completely unaccustomed to parachuting with those things, as we’d never jumped with them before. The gun, ammunition, and everything my crew needed was lost when our leg bags broke free.”

Orcutt: “With the last man gone I stopped the watch and it showed 36 seconds had elapsed (more than twice as long as normal—someone must have stumbled and held the stick up) and applied the power as needed to maintain position in formation. I had no way of knowing at the time what was going on behind me.”

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