The brave paratroopers.
- Mar 1
- 1 min read
In honor and memory of the Greatest Generation…
There were poor conditions over the coast of Normandy on the night of June 5-6, 1944, but F Company 505th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division would jump nonetheless. The freedom of the world hung in the balance.
In the town of St Mere Eglise, the Church Square was illuminated by fires raging in nearby buildings, and the light of the fires made easy targets of the paratroopers. Thirty-six men of F Company were killed or captured immediately, but Private John Steele had quite a different experience. You see, his parachute caught on the church tower, and he hung there for two hours, pretending to be dead! He was then taken prisoner and promptly escaped to rejoin his unit! He survived the war and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
To this very day, an effigy of John Steele hangs on the church of St Mere Eglise in honor and memory of the brave paratroopers of the Normandy invasion.
