Figure 1.--Early in the morning, American paratroopers were blown off course and descended on Sainte-Mère-Église. The battle for the town and its inhabitants are described in the book and movie 'The Longest Day'.” One of the first Frenchmen to see the Americans falling from the sky was 10-year old Henri-Jean Renaud. His father was the town mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église. His father woke him up when the Americans began falling on he town square where many were masacared by the Germans. Here in a family snaspshot Henri and others are celebrating with the Americans after the battle. His mother becanme famous in Anerica because she tended to the American graves. She began corresponding with American women after 'Life Magazine ran a photo of her laying flowers at the grave of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who had died weeks after leading the first wave of U.S. troops onto Utah Beach. Renaud describes how "The letters came from families of lost boys. My mother wrote back. She went to the graves, took a picture, laid some flower petals. My parents, especially my mother, were very devoted to the Americans." 【Bruton】 Click on the image to see Henri today with the family photo in front of the town Airborne Museum.

The American paratroopers were a new army force, formed only after the Germans introduced paratroopers in the Western offensive (May 1940). American commanders noticed that and decided that the United States should have a paratroop force as well. Hitler decided against further drops after Crete (May 1941). He was ageist at the casualties. Incomprehensibly, one month later,he launched Operation Barbarosa and he seemed unaffected by the hugely larger casualties. The first use of he paratroopers was on Sicily (July 1943). The second was on Normandy. The American dropped two paratroop divisions (the 82nd and 101st) on the right flank of the Normandy Beachhead--behind Omaha and Utah Beaches. An important part of the air born success was the Pathfinders. It was a horrific experience for the paratroopers. Many have described their grueling experiences. One of the 101st Airborne paratroopers writes, "My parachute opened immediately and as I descended to earth all I kept saying to myself while looking head on at the tracers and bullets coming up was 'Keep your feet together ... Keep your feet together.' It never entered my mind about those bullets just missing me. Between the anti-aircraft fire coming up at us and planes getting hit and exploding it was just like a 4th of July celebration out there in that night sky." 【Devito and Womer】 Lt. Thomas 'Dusty Rhodes with the 82nd Airborne describes his drop over Sainte-Mère-Église as luck with have it, the epicenter of the Airborne assault and occupied by the Germans, "I was hit as I went out the door over Sainte-Mère-Église (but was able to count seven chutes following me before I hit the ground). I did land in the town square. I had been hit in the mouth and was bleeding rather profusely. A few minutes after landing, two French civilians helped me to my feet and prevented a German soldier from shooting me on the spot. They then laid me down and all ran for the fire a short distance away. I started getting out of my chute when a group of ten to twelve Germans came and started looking me over, at which time I played dead. The Germans took some of my equipment and left. I then got out of my parachute, ran across the square, down an alley and into a house." 【Poyser and Brown】 Casualties were high, but the performed brilliantly. They kept German forces from reinforcing the beach defenses until the beachheads were well established. Mean while the lightly armed paratroops had to battle with the heavily armed German forces moving toward the beaches. The battle swirled around Sainte-Mère-Église. 【Bruton】 About 15,000 American paratroopers landed in and around Sainte-Mere-Eglise not long after midnight and after a fierce battle seized it from the Germans. By 4:30 a.m. An American flag flowed in front of the town hall. Sainte-Mère-Église proved to be vitl, dominasting the road to Utah Beach. Their struggles was a matter raw courage. Ironically, they were aided by the fact that they were spread out beyond their drop zones. The Germans were unsure just where they were and what their objective was. That bought the paratroopers time.

Sources

Bruton, F. Brinley. "I never forget': How this Normandy town remembers the American sacrifice at D-Day 75 years on," NBC News (June 5, 2019).

Devito, Stephen C. and Jack Womer. Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer--Ranger and Paratrooper (2012), 304p.

Poyser, Terry, and Bill Brown. Fighting Fox Company: The Battling Flank of the Band of Brothers (2013), 320p. Easy Company of the 101st Airborn is well known because of the book Band of Brothers. There were, however, other comapnies such as Fox Company. Poyser's and Brown's book help to fill a needed niche in World War II history.

Created: 8:08 PM 4/16/2023
Last updated: 8:08 PM 4/16/2023