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D-Day +60 Years: A Small Piece of History

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"D-Day +60 Years" is a great read! It's really two books in one. It's a military history based on 20 years of thorough research as the author doggedly sought to learn how his uncle died on D-Day in Normandy. It's also a throat-swelling story of a handful of D-Day heroes in their twilight years who-with the author's help-reconnect and bring some closure to the enormous experiences and sacrifices that they shared. As I read this book, I was mesmerized by its powerful, true story. I laughed, and I fought back tears.

Military histories come in two varieties-they're either the intense and personal "grunt's-eye view" of a small and hellish piece of the battlefield, or an aloof and critical overview of an entire battle, campaign, or war. This book is the soldier-level sort, following a handful of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers and the intrepid pilots who flew slow and level through murderous flak to get them to their drop zones. Reading this book, I once again marveled at the courage it took to win that war and at how the tiniest of details separated survivors from those who fell. I also enjoyed the humor and resourcefulness of remarkable people coping with challenging times-stories that ranged from the "Urgin Virgin" pin-up artwork on a C-47 aircraft to a wedding gown made from parachute silk. As a Vietnam vet and a paratrooper, I was amazed at how little the tactics, equipment, and human antics had changed from a time before I was born to my own service a quarter-century later.

But what makes this book truly unique, in my opinion, is the mystery and human emotions that unfold as the author follows one lead after another in his quest to learn who his uncle was and what sort of men these were who won history's greatest war. The cast of characters begins with a few troop carrier crews, but grows to include paratroopers, French civilians, the soldiers' girl friends and wives, and their children today. The author lived an adventure that anyone would envy-he met true heroes, and was of service to them for all they did for us.

A plethora of books have been written in recent years about the airborne assaults at Normandy on June 6,1944, especially about the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, all of which are fine reading. However, little has been written about the Troop Carrier Squadrons who delivered them there. Most of these pilots and crews had never been in combat before and the courage they displayed flying through the dark into torrents of anti-aircraft fire while maintaining as best they could a level flight path in order to deliver those men and equipment needs to be told. These are the forgotten heroes of D-Day.

This book is one man's quest to learn what happened to his uncle who was a navigator on one of those planes who didn't return. He served on one of the three planes of B Flight of the 77th Troop Carrier Squadron of the 435th Troop Carrier Group carrying the third platoon of G Company, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Two of the three planes were shot down by enemy fire including the plane carrying the authors uncle. It iells the tale both from the authors research and reminiscences of men who were involved. The authors quest resulted in plaques being erected in France for the men lost on these planes and a rare reunion of a Troop Carrier Squadron and paratroopers who they carried.

I bought this book from Ray Geddes, T4 in G Co., 501st Parachute Infantry, who jumped from the third plane in B Flight and who is quoted and pictured several times in the book. He was selling them for the author at the Maryland Arms Collectors Show at Baltimore, MD in March,2009. It was a great pleasure to meet and talk to him. He graciously inscribed it for me;the author had previously signed it. It is a fine book full of human interest and I highly recommend it. The subtitle of the book is "A Small Piece of History". It is certainly more than that! I was haunted for days after I finished reading it.

"D-Day +60 Years: A Small Piece of History" has been researched and documented by personal interviews with French citizens and the actual veterans that were involved in the 77th Troop Carrier Squadron flying the C-47's that transported the paratroopers from Company G, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. It includes many rare photographs and documents. In reading the vivid details of the veterans stories, one feels transported half a century in time and half a world in location. It provides the most realistic insight to the U. S. Airborne night attack into Normandy short of actually being there. This book is invaluable to anyone interested in World War II, the Normandy invasion, Troop Carrier Squadrons and Parachute Infantry Regiments, or the 101st Airborne Division.