Customer Reviews

D Day - Down to Earth - Return of the 507

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4 star:		(1)
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Moving account of one of the most important parachute infantry regiments, the 507th- whose fanfare has had to wait 60 years to arrive with the degree of respect and notoriety that it deserves. I have watched this film more than a few times and still cannot get through it without shedding a tear.

The real life band of brothers telling their stories in their own words when brought together for the first time in 60 years to the small town in the South of France into which they all jumped out of perfectly good aircrafts to liberate. WHEW!

I'm 28 and loved this documentary. It is especially important and relevent for people of my generation to look back on the history, which the men in this film helped to create, in order to gather perspective on the current liberation going on in Iraq.

A wise man once told me it is very easy to sit in the back of a coffee shop and preach "war is not the answer"- but when the question centers around a Hilter storming in, hell bent on genocide- how else will he be stopped? With a Mochachino Latte.

This film captures in a vivid, beautiful way the determination, courage and deep belief in freedom and liberty that each of these soldiers carried with them into battle- and for many it was this strong belief which got them through the hardest times and delivered them back home to a grateful nation.

I am proud to say my Grandfather whose name I was given shared those common beliefs with the men in this film- and as a result was alive years later to try and share them with me. For this I am forever blessed.

Wonderfully entertaining, this film is truly a historical treasure. Check it out.

This DVD provides plenty of relevant footage of the combat areas the documentary focuses on. Unlike some WWII DVD's where the viewer is shown footage of scenes in no way related to the subject at hand, this documentary offers some nice shots of the actual areas of interest. The updated footage taken in the late 1990's of the La Fiere area and the rebuilt Cauquiny church were especially of interest to me. The maps used throughout are helpful in understanding the placement of the actual battles. Also of interest were the before and after shots of the flooded Normandy landscape - it definitely helped to visualize the difficulties the paratroopers faced as a result of the flooding.

This documentary not only does a great job in bringing some much needed attention to the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and it's accomplishments during WWII, it also makes an excellent companion to the book No Better Place To Die by Robert M. Murphy. If you want to understand the battle for the La Fiere bridge and causeway, these two resources are an excellent place to start.

This is an excellent DVD, which is very informative about the fierce combat engaged in by the 507th PIR on D-Day and in the days following. A bit more than half is in a standard documentary format while the remainder focuses on the veterans of the unit during a return to Normandy for a commemoration of those events. These men fought with tremendous courage and suffered terrible casualties. We are fortunate to have this DVD to help us to remember.

I have been very interested in the events that lead up to WWII, and the history of the battles fought. This video was one that I did not know about, but one which should be a part of anyone's WWII library. The individual stories and revisiting the sites of some of these battles put a human spin on the tragedy of war from the view of the soldiers and the townspeople who suffered through these battles. It's good to know that there remains an appreciation on the part of these French citizens for what the cost was in terms of human sacrifice. The personal stories and memories captured in this video are priceless!

This is an excellent documentary of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment's experiences on and around D-Day. The film contains moving interviews with veterans, whose stories are laced together and elaborated on by historian Martin K.A. Morgan (who also wrote a book on the subject). The documentary deals specifically with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, but speaks to a much larger audience. I recommend it to anyone with a general interest in World War II and D-Day, as well those who desire a better understanding of the experiences of veterans.

This is really the only WWII documentary that reminds you what these men did for us. Instead of old b/w footage of some soldiers you can't relate to, some of these men are still living, breathing, human beings. It's a touching story of the miraculous things they accomplished on D-Day and during the Battle of the Bulge without receiving any recognition - until a memorial was sculpted in their honor 58 years later. The French who died at the hands of the Germans helping these men is also very emotional. I loved this documentary, and will honor these men forever.

This CD is very special to me and my family as my father was a member of the 507PIR which is depicted in this film. We were able to meed the film maker severaly years ago at a reunion to which we accompanied my father.

Having purchased this DVD, I have been asked to write a review, OK, but the reader should know that I was on this trip back to Normandy along with the 507, with out question, the trip of my life to date.

I think that the DVD does a great job of putting historical context from personal interviews with the vets and historical pictures and videos to the remarkable return trip to Normandy in 2002. The DVD does a good job of telling the story of how well these men (and me because I was with them) were and are treated by the people of Normandy. The passion with which the people of Normandy appreciate the vets and the passion that the vets hold for the people of Normandy comes through, forged by sharing the same cauldron behind the lines and surrounded, each helping the other in a life and death struggle.

The people of Normandy truly appreciate that these men sacrificed their youth to set them, complete strangers, free, and they teach it to the coming generations.

I was very pleased that the video contains in its entirety the speech given by Mayor Alain Maitre, of Amfreville, at the dedication ceremony, as read in English by a translator which says it all:

"Thus, this monument, standing like a sentinel at the entrance to our community, proclaims a message: vigilance! Democracy is a value incessantly challenged by men with destructive ideologies that lead only to the Abyss.

Democracy is something we must defend!

Democracy is something we must deserve!

Thank you to the United States of America!

Honor and Glory to the 507th Parachute Infantry!"

Lastly, the DVD immortalizes, for me, many of the great men that I meet and grew to admire, on that trip who have since passed on, several even before the DVD was finished.

Legends of the 507th PIR, the men, the stories... a heritage of liberty (at an ultimate price).

We are losing these legendary men fast...
Lt. Bob Parks of the 507th PIR passed away today (18th of September 2009). Bob served in C, E and F-Co and was the jumpmaster for the stick of troopers including Ed Jeziorski (who passed away recently), Tony Guzzo, Greg Howarth & Andrew Manger.
Bob is featured in the excellent DVD: 'Down to Earth, Return of the 507th to Normandy'. (La Fiere Causeway Battle, Graignes etc).

Hope his skies will be blue forever !