Unit History *Operation D-Day*

The largest combined military operation in history,"D-Day", was to be spearheaded by the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions. Visibility was hampered by poor weather conditions as the C-47's crossed the English Channel during the first hours of the 6th of June 1944. When the troop carriers finally did made landfall on the Cherbourg Peninsula they came under heavy German flak scattering many of the troop carrier flights. It was 0300 hours on 6 June 1944, when the 505th were given the green light to jump. Some Pathfinders were able to signal their dropzones. However, many of the troop carriers missed their dropzones and the All-Americans of the 505th began landing across a large swath of the countryside around Normandy.



Nevertheless, the 505th PIR was one of the first airborne units to hit the ground and despite the subsequent confusion surrounding the landing, were able to use it to their advantage mustering enough troops under the command of the 2nd Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort to liberate the first town in France, - St. Mere-Eglise. The paratroopers jumped prior to the actual start of the invasion "H-Hour". Because of the tradition of being the first into the fight, the 505th Regimental motto is "H-MINUS". For their performance in the invasions the 505th was awarded the Presidential unit citation, the unit equivalent of the Medal of Honor awarded to individual soldiers. In the words of author Clay Blair, the paratroopers emerged from Normandy with the reputation of being a pack of jackals; the toughest, most resourceful and bloodthirsty in Europe.