Mrs THC's uncle also jumped that same night in 1944. I only met him once; he told me it was the scariest moment of his life. Later that year he fought at Bastogne and in early '45 was wounded in Germany. The D-Day jump had such an impact that after returning to civilian life he refused to get on a plane for 25 years. Deciding he needed to get over his fear, he decided to become a pilot, purchased his own plane, and used it to fly from his home in California to see his mother in Nebraska.WATCH: 97-year-old US paratrooper veteran Tom Rice, who served with the Army's 101st Airborne Division, recreates his D-Day jump in Normandy 75 years later. pic.twitter.com/qAth429XCA— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 5, 2019
D-Day was a great accomplishment achieved at a terrible cost, about 10,000 Allied casualties (primarily American, British, and Canadian) on that day but it was only the start of a grinding two month campaign in Normandy; a slow slog against intense German resistance until the Allied breakout during the first part of August. The cost was high - 209,000 Allied killed and wounded; along with the ABC forces, the Free Polish and Free French forces played key roles.
In the past five years I have lost my remaining uncles who fought there way across Europe. They were Vermont farm boys thrown into that terrible war. They seldom spoke of their service. Upon returning they were the first generation to live full lives beyond the farm. They were good men who I admired dearly. I miss them!!
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