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Destination NormandyBy Ian Gardner and Roger Day | World War II | 5 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post Pfc. Jimmy Martin, G Company: “The loneliest feeling I ever had in the world was hitting the ground and realizing there was no one else in sight. I lay on my back unbuckling my harness—why I didn’t cut myself free I’ll never know! Just as I was making final adjustments to my equipment a mortar shell plopped down about 15 feet away. I moved out and then noticed someone sneaking along. I challenged him and discovered it was my buddy Spiller, a machine gunner from 2 Platoon. After a while Staff Sgt. Charles Skeen and my squad leader Sgt. Don Austin joined us. We eventually formed a small group, which comprised about a dozen men from several companies, and made for the bridges.” Subscribe Today
Shames: “It was nearly broad daylight and I stepped up a gear as we approached the [road] bridge. On arrival Captain Shettle shouted, ‘Boy, am I ever glad to see you and why on earth are you still wearing your parachute pack tray?’ Due to the shock and excitement of landing in the milk factory I’d forgotten to take it off and was wearing it like an extra layer of clothing. This may sound crazy, but it made me feel safer in some strange way.” Of the 575 men from 3rd Battalion who jumped that night, 75 were taken prisoner and 93 were killed during the Normandy campaign—including Colonel Wolverton, who landed in a tree on D-Night and was shot by Germans as he struggled to untangle his harness from the branches. Despite those losses, 140 3rd Battalion paratroopers managed to seize the bridges in the early hours of June 6, and they held them for three days. But because their radio equipment had been lost during the drop, they were unable to report their success to the division. Having heard nothing, the air force assumed that the mission had failed and that 3rd Battalion had been wiped out. On June 7, they sent a pack of fighter-bombers that strafed and destroyed both bridges. Incredibly, only one American was killed by the friendly fire. The 506th, along with the rest of the 101st Airborne, would hit the silk again for Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. But for many of them, nothing would compare to the exhilaration and terror they experienced in the first days of the Normandy campaign. “Sixty-five years on and I can still smell the riverside and the foliage that grew there,” said Hank DiCarlo. “I found myself in many dangerous situations later in the war, but nothing came close to the emotional ride I experienced during my time at the bridge and the immediate aftermath.” Excerpted from Tonight We Die As Men by Ian Gardner and Roger Day. © 2009 by Ian Gardner and Roger Day. Reprinted with permission of Osprey Publishing. For more photos of the 101st Airborne Division before and after their jump into Normandy, click here. To see Ed Shames speak about his experiences in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II, click here. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Historical Conflicts, People, World War II
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5 Comments to “Destination Normandy”
I served with the 87th INF. DIV. 3rd ARMY in 3 Campaigns. I was an .81mm mortarman…After the war I studied Dentistry at Georgetown Univ. Wash. DC Our whole Class was made up of WW-2 Veterans of all Serivces., Among us was “Fritz” Nyland who had 2 brothers killed at Normandy and one a prisoner of war in Japan. Fritz was the character which later was portrayed as PRIVATE RYAN in the movie of that name. He actually was found after his plane was blown off course to the Caranthan Penninsula and brought home to North Tonawanda, NY near Buffalo. He had 2 daughters and died around 1982. I am not related to Gen. “Nuts” McAuliffe but served as the Post Dental Officer at Ft. McNair, Wash. DC where the General and his wife lived with his son and daughter. they were my Dental Patients on the POst. They are all buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
By John E. McAuliffe on May 22, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Great read and comment. God bless all of you who served in the war. I had two brothers who were in the Army Air Force. Neither saw action but I am just as proud of them. They are both gone now and one is burried in the National cemetery at Fort Sam Huston.
It’s too bad we have a situation like we have now. I pray for our troups and the good old USA.
Chuck Dishno
Dillon, Montana
By Chuck on May 31, 2009 at 6:02 pm
this is another excellent article. thank you HistoryNet and a very special thank you to all those brave men who participated in Operation Overlord. You all are truly one of a kind.
By Juan M Rodriguez on Jun 7, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Not to belittle the efforts of those men of the 101st Abn, but IU do get tired of the notion they single handedly saved the day at Normandy. For many of thses brave men, this was thier fisrt combat jump.
Let us not forget that Normandy was the second and third jump behind enemy lines for men of the 82nd Abn. In fact, begrudginly, men of the 82nd were pulled from their ranks to help form and train the men of the 101st.
Both divisions served with honor and distinction but it was the 82nd “All American” that led the way and set the standard for airborne operations.
By Alex on Jun 20, 2009 at 1:19 am
To Comment on Alex’s Comment above:
Neither did the 101st “Save the day” at Bastogne…They were surrounded: and as Gen. Patton observed: “The 101st Div did well, but got too much credit”..and as Gen. MIddleton of the V111 Corps observed of the so -called Besiege of Bastogne: The most fighting occured after the so called besiege: which includedd the 87th Div; 17th Airborne Div and the 11th ARMD DIV holding off the Germans 8 miles west of Bastogne…and other units which gave relief to the 101st as they were surrounded. The 4th ARMD DIV coming from Orlons to open the Goose Egg.
By John E. McAuliffe on Aug 22, 2009 at 8:27 am