Chapter 47
The lights of Paris twinkle in the moonlit sky as Albert drove my car north. The Eiffel tower dazzling in white light made my heart jump for joy as we drove along the northern bank of the Seine River. Mr. Kandinsky turned right onto Rue Henry de la Vaulx. the mighty tower slowly shrank into the nights horizon as Albert drove me to the village of Sainte-Mère- Église.
The dawn’s spender broke along the French coastline as we passed the village of Bayeau. The name brought back memories of another life and death. I swore to myself that I would never go back to Sainte-Mère-Église again. The closer we got to the Normandy beach, the more those distant memories of blood and mayhem creep back into my heart.
I drift back in time. It is a Sunday night June 6, 1944 when the nightmare first started. I could smell the salty air of the English channel as my friend Robert Banner and I flew from England to France. The low clouds over the French countryside made it impossible for us to parachute acutely. My fellow soldiers and I missed our targets by miles and were scattered across the German occupied French countryside.
I was just a nineteen year old country boy looking to kill some Krauts. I signed up to the draft when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. I was assigned to eight six Airborne under brigadier General James Gavin.
We were the toughest guys in the world. Six thousand paratroopers jumped five hours before the D-day invasion started. Our intended target was a strip of land on either side of the Merderet River.
I could hear the pounding of the German antiaircraft fire as we parachuted into the French countryside. Many of the troops were scattered; I got stuck in a tree along with my friends Robert Banner and John Kelly.