Brothers in arms road to hill 30 push into carentan

Lee, called their вЂњrendezvous with destiny.вЂќ After we took off and flew a little ways, it came over the speaker for everybody to stand up and hook up because we were going to fly right between the Guernsey and Jersey Islands and were going to receive fire.вЂќДЄntiaircraft fire from the German-occupied territory in the English Channel never materialized, and about 30 minutes later Bowser and the rest of the Screaming Eagles would hurl themselves into what the divisionвЂ™s first commanding officer, General William C. вЂњOur plane didnвЂ™t have an officer, so the companyвЂ™s first sergeant acted as jump master. вЂњOfficers were supposed to be our jump masters,вЂќ Bowser says. 101st and 82nd and British 1st Airborne Divisions began boarding planes that would take them into the darkening skies over England and into the inhospitable darkness over Normandy. In the early evening hours of June 5, paratroops and glidermen of the U.S. вЂњThatвЂ™s when it started to dawn on us, вЂHey, this is it.вЂ™вЂќ The Jump on June 5th вЂњRoast beef, potatoes, the whole works,вЂќ Bowser explains. While the casualty rate among the airborne troops came nowhere close to that estimate, the idea of sending thousands of men to possible death might explain why Army officials treated them to a hearty meal on June 5, sort of a last supper. He also was aware of the dire predictions made by his advisers that up to 80 percent of the airborne troops, men whom Eisenhower took a special interest in visiting on the eve of the invasion, might be lost to enemy action over the coming days. Should the D-Day operation fail, he knew responsibility would fall on his shoulders alone. The generalвЂ™s apprehension is understandable.

вЂњHe then asked Hayes if he was scared, and Hayes looked over toward Stroebel and he said, вЂYes.вЂ™ And Eisenhower said, вЂThatвЂ™s okay. вЂњHe asked Hayes where he was from, and Hayes told him either North Dakota or South Dakota. вЂњI must have reached up and touched my nose at some point.вЂќД«owser says he did not hear EisenhowerвЂ™s conversation with Stroebel, but he does remember the generalвЂ™s brief talk with Corporal Bill Hayes, E Company clerk, pictured directly in the center of the photograph. вЂњWe put some kind of oil on our faces, and a buddy would take a handful of cocoa (chocolate powder) and blow it in your face,вЂќ he says. And viewed at a certain angle, since multiple shots were taken of the encounter, BowserвЂ™s nose is the вЂњwhitestвЂќ spot on his face. At five feet, four inches tall and one of the smallest men in Easy Company, BowserвЂ™s helmeted head and blackened face may be seen directly to the left of EisenhowerвЂ™s shoulder.

But William вЂњBillвЂќ Bowser, 89, who lives near the groundhog-friendly town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, remembers the generalвЂ™s pep talk to the troops. Most of the men in the picture have since passed on, including Stroebel, who died in 1999. The Man with the White Nose Bill Bowser on his fifth practice jump in 1942. 23 indicating his landing group or вЂњstickвЂќ in the invasion, made it known after the war that the general was discussing fly fishing with the Michigan native. A common misconception took hold from the very start that the general, with his right fist clenched and thumb up, is extolling the Screaming Eagles to вЂњFull victory-nothing else.вЂќ The men who were there, however, and who heard the general speak, including Lieutenant Wallace Stroebel, jump master and the man wearing the cardboard No. It has since been printed on calendars, coffee mugs, even a postage stamp.ДЄs a morale booster on the homefront, the picture worked, visually depicting a determined Eisenhower and his prepared warriors on the eve of the greatest invasion ever. wire services for publication in newspapers and magazines.

After the black and white film was developedВ and the photo passed censors, the image was flashed stateside to U.S. Eisenhower, supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, is addressing men of E Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division, in England on June 5, 1944, just hours before their jump into Nazi-occupied Europe. Army cameramen during World War II, General Dwight D. In one of the most recognized photographs taken by U.S.

Brothers in arms road to hill 30 push into carentan