06JUN1944: Jumping with the 505th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day, PVT John Steele found himself coming down near the middle of St. Mere-Eglise. As a nearby fire burned, his fellow paratroopers were cut down helplessly as he neared the ground. Working to avoid landing in the fire, his chute became tangled on the church steeple in town Steele dropped his knife when trying to cut himself down and entered a waiting game, would the Americans or Germans find him first? A few hours later, two German soldiers found Steele, cut him down and took him prisoner. After a few days in captivity he escaped and made his way back to American lines where he was evacuated for treatment of wounds sustained on D-Day. Steele would rejoin his unit, jump into Holland during Operation Market Garden and fight with his brothers through the end of the war. In a wonderful tribute to the Allied forces, if you visit St. Mere-Eglise today, you will find a parachute with a mannequin paratrooper hanging from the church, just as Steele did the morning of June 6th, 1944.

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