Dropping Into Normandy-- Part 1: Into the Darkness

From the WW II History Presents "D-Day 75th Anniversary" magazine.

By Kevin M. Hymel.

These are some individual accounts of members of the 82nd and 101st Airborne who parachuted into Normandy before the attack.  I will be following them up to June 6.

THE JUMP

ROBERT WEBB, 101st:  "When I cleared the door, the plane was bucking like a horse, and the tracers were so thick it looked like a wall of fame."

KENNETH MOORE, 101st:  "The plane started bucking and jumping, as as [ a fellow paratrooper] fell down the green light came on.  They were all jumping, and he was scrambling trying to get out the door, so i grabbed him and pitched him out the door."

TOM POCELLA, 82nd:  "With the roar of the engines in my ears, I was out the door and into the silence of the night.  I realized I had made the jump into darkness."

TIM SEELYE, 82nd:  ""After I left the door, the plane nosed downward, and I watched the tail pass a few feet over my head."

Mighty Scary Jumping Into That.  --GreGen