Normandy Road Trip: Saint Mère Église & D-Day's Hidden History

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<p>It was one of many small towns nestled in Normandy, France,</p>
<p></p>
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<p>occupied by Nazi Germany for years now.</p>
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<p>On the night of June 5th, 1944, its serene streets and humble homes</p>
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<p>were about to become the stage for a pivotal moment in World War II.</p>
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<p>As the clock struck midnight, the tranquility was shattered</p>
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<p>by the hum of aircraft engines.</p>
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<p>Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division were being dropped into</p>
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<p>the area with a crucial mission to secure Saint Mère Église and</p>
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<p>prevent German reinforcements from reaching the nearby beaches where</p>
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<p>Allied forces would soon land.</p>
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<p>However, the operation did not go as planned.</p>
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<p>Strong winds and navigational errors scattered the paratroopers across</p>
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<p>the countryside, and some even found themselves landing directly in the town</p>
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<p>square, right amidst German troops.</p>
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<p>One such paratrooper was Private John Steele.</p>
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<p>As he descended, his parachute snagged on the steeple of the</p>
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<p>town church, leaving him dangling helplessly above the chaos below.</p>
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<p>Steele, displaying remarkable presence of mind, played dead as the</p>
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<p>battle raged on, hanging there for hours in a surreal tableau of war.</p>
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<p>Despite the unexpected challenges, the paratroopers regrouped and</p>
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<p>launched their assault on the town.</p>
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<p>Fierce fighting ensued, with bullets tearing through the night</p>
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<p>and explosions lighting up the sky.</p>
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<p>By dawn, however, the Allies had gained control of Saint Marie Eglise.</p>
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<p>This victory was a crucial step in securing a foothold in Normandy and</p>
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<p>advancing the liberation of France.</p>
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<p>The bravery and determination of the paratroopers in Saint Marie</p>
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<p>Eglise have not been forgotten.</p>
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<p>The town's church steeple Parachute in tribute to steel's harrowing experience.</p>
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<p>And the Airborne Museum stands as a testament to the soldiers</p>
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<p>who fought and died there.</p>
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<p>Saint Mere Eglis remains a symbol of the courage and sacrifice of the</p>
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<p>allied forces during World War II, a poignant reminder of the high cost</p>
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<p>of freedom, and the incredible spirit of those who fought to preserve it.</p>
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<p>Welcome to Talk With History.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>I'm your host, Scott, here with my wife and historian, Jen.</p>
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<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>Okay, so today we're going to talk about a town that, that a lot of</p>
<p></p>
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<p>our audience may actually be semi familiar with because it was featured</p>
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<p>prominently in Band of Brothers.</p>
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<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Yes.</p>
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<p>And you got to visit there, and this is a very, I'll call it,</p>
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<p>American friendly town in France.</p>
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<p>So tell us about Saint Mère Église, one of the first French towns liberated</p>
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<p>after the Normandy D Day invasion.</p>
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<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>St.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Marigles.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Like I had to ask people many times how to pronounce it over and over again.</p>
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<p>And it's, it's also in the longest day.</p>
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<p>So most people will recognize it initially from the longest day.</p>
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<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>And then it does play a big role in Band of Brothers, but this town is</p>
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<p>synonymous with D Day because of what it means for the allied troops, what</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>it means in the landing of Utah beach and the airborne, but it's an old town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Town in France and it's close to the Normandy Beach It's the first major</p>
<p></p>
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<p>town behind Utah Beach and not far from the beach But it's also on a</p>
<p></p>
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<p>major roadway the n13 Which is this major road that the Allies would need?</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Logistically to get the tanks and the troops and the men into theater to fight</p>
<p></p>
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<p>the Nazis So it's it's a major road It's founded in the 11th century, so</p>
<p></p>
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<p>the earliest records date back to 1080, and the Latin name means Church of St.</p>
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<p>Mary or Holy Mother Church.</p>
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<p>So if you think of St.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Mary Iglesias, it's like St.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>Mary Church or Mother Mary.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>So that's, the name is very Catholic or Latin Catholic.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>that kind of makes sense, because the town chapel, the</p>
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<p>town church, is very central.</p>
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<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>It's very central.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>And like back in the day, the 10, you know.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Uh, that's what was the French society was based around the church.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>And so the town was involved in the hundred years war.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>It was involved in the wars of religion.</p>
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<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>This is an old town, but when it comes to D Day, it's such a significant part</p>
<p></p>
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<p>because it's right behind Utah beach.</p>
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<p>And because it's one of the first places that it's going to</p>
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<p>start to see action that night.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>From June 5th from midnight on into June 6th is when the first Jumps will</p>
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<p>start and they start about 1 40 AM.</p>
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<p>You're going to get the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne jumping in that</p>
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<p>area to support the landings of Utah beach again, to, to take control of</p>
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<p>these roads logistically, to be able to get these tanks and these people.</p>
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<p>into France.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>And knowing that the Germans have flooded a lot of the farmland,</p>
<p></p>
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<p>there's a, there's less roads available and this is a major one.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>And so you're going to get this 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Now things don't go as planned and people get scattered.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>That's exactly what happens to Dick Winters.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>He gets, he's far away from where he should be.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>And I think that's because a multitude of things, right?</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>In the opening, we said, part of it's wins and high, and then this and the</p>
<p></p>
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<p>other, but also, and we talked about it when we did a lot of masters of the air</p>
<p></p>
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<p>content a while back, there was pilots and soldiers that we're talking about, some of</p>
<p></p>
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<p>these pilots who were flying were flying twice as fast as they were supposed to.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>I mean, people are nervous.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>They were nervous, and and that's what happens in</p>
<p></p>
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<p>what they call, the fog of war.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>You fly too fast, or, the conditions aren't what you're expecting, and all</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>of a sudden, these airborne troopers, rather than being within the area that</p>
<p></p>
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<p>they had planned on being dropped, they're getting dropped all over the place.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>And as much as you can practice this, you have to remember these</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>pilots are, are relatively new.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>They've just been trained to be pilots.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>A lot of these guys haven't flown a lot of missions in war.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>A lot of these guys haven't dropped over theater yet.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>Think about it.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>This is our first invasion.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>This is America's first invasion into Europe.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>dropping troops.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>So, those landings started about 1 40 AM, but they result in heavy casualties</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>because like you said, going too fast, these paratroopers are very heavy.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>They're carrying 60, 70, 80 pounds on them.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>They're hitting these water areas, which I say are flooded and they're</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>flooded more than six feet or seven feet, the basic height of a man.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:18</time>
<p>And when they have all that weight on them, they basically are drownded.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>And then there was bombing that also happened that night and some</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>of these buildings in town caught fire and they illuminated the sky.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>So as these men are jumping, they become targets in the sky.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>And so the Germans who are made aware of this attack happening, come out and are</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>able to fire on these men as they land.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>And you get men, Who are descending and hitting telephone poles.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>They're hitting trees and they're easily shot because they're</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
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<p>not, they're not cut down.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:09:52</time>
<p>And this is where you get the John Steele story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:09:54</time>
<p>Yeah, and so that is, I don't think I realized until we started doing</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
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<p>this, that's based on a true story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:00</time>
<p>story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:00</time>
<p>It's a very unique story when you think about it, because of all the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:04</time>
<p>things to get hung up on, you're going to hit a church steeple like</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:09</time>
<p>and then he plays dead, probably for a couple hours.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:11</time>
<p>And I think you had mentioned in the video that eventually, he's trying</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:15</time>
<p>to cut himself down, he drops his knife, he alerts the German soldier,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:19</time>
<p>that German soldier tries to shoot him, shoots him in the foot, and</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:22</time>
<p>then another paratrooper shoots that.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:24</time>
<p>So he actually gets saved because the German who was shooting him gets shot,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:28</time>
<p>that other, his counterpart, gets shot.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:31</time>
<p>Eventually, the Germans capture him.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:33</time>
<p>But when the Airborne takes the town, he takes the purse.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:36</time>
<p>So it's a very interesting story, especially for a movie like The Longest</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:40</time>
<p>Day, which I haven't watched yet.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:41</time>
<p>I need to go watch it.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:10:42</time>
<p>It's another John Wayne movie.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:43</time>
<p>Another John Wayne movie, Red Buttons plays John Steele in it.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:46</time>
<p>John Steele is of the 505th Parachute Infantry.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:49</time>
<p>He's in the 82nd Airborne.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:51</time>
<p>So you get the 101st 82nd Airborne that are jumping that night.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:10:55</time>
<p>And when I'll talk more about the town looks like today, but like you said,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:01</time>
<p>he gets hung up on the church steeple.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:03</time>
<p>And today there is still a mannequin hanging from a parachute on</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:07</time>
<p>the church steeple to tell that story because it's a true story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:11</time>
<p>And it's one of those fantastic.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:14</time>
<p>Truth is stranger than fiction, right?</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:17</time>
<p>Like you can telling the truth is so much more amazing than a</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:21</time>
<p>fictional story would have been.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:23</time>
<p>Well, and aside from, well, you'll talk a little bit about the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:26</time>
<p>Airborne Museum that's there in St.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:28</time>
<p>Mary Eglis, but it's also a way for the town to continue to</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:11:32</time>
<p>recognize what these men did that</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:35</time>
<p>yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:35</time>
<p>So when you think about it, this, these first jumps happened</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:38</time>
<p>at 1 40 AM by 5 AM, a force.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:41</time>
<p>led by the 505th Parachute Regiment took the town with little resistance.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:46</time>
<p>So think about three hours later, John stills hang in for two hours.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:50</time>
<p>He gets cut down.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:51</time>
<p>He's basically prisoner for an hour and then the town is taken by 5 a.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:55</time>
<p>m.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:56</time>
<p>So it's one of the.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:11:57</time>
<p>first towns liberated by the Americans.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:00</time>
<p>And that the story, the town is so proud of that story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:06</time>
<p>They were under Nazi occupation for four years.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:09</time>
<p>And here it takes a little less than four hours to take the town back.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:15</time>
<p>They just even today they embrace that story so much that John Steele</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:18</time>
<p>Mannequin is part of their town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:20</time>
<p>It hangs in their town square.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:23</time>
<p>Now I don't think it's on the right.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:24</time>
<p>side of the steeple.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:25</time>
<p>I think he actually in real life was on the other side of the steeple,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:28</time>
<p>but because that doesn't face the town square, they hang the mannequin</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:32</time>
<p>on the other side for the story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:34</time>
<p>in the face.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:34</time>
<p>Is the trip</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:35</time>
<p>Like you said, he drops his knife.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:37</time>
<p>He gets shot in the foot.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:38</time>
<p>He's eventually cut down, but he does help capture the town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:42</time>
<p>He goes on to keep fighting.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:44</time>
<p>The church has since become very much like a shrine.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:49</time>
<p>to the paratroopers.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:51</time>
<p>And they have even have stained glass windows with the Virgin</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:12:54</time>
<p>Mary and paratroopers beside</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:57</time>
<p>It's really cool.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:12:58</time>
<p>If you haven't seen our video, the link will be in the show notes of this podcast.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:02</time>
<p>I would encourage you to go to go see that because one, the movie, The</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:05</time>
<p>Longest Day, we put some clips in there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:07</time>
<p>So it shows it's a good representation of what happened that day.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:10</time>
<p>But to you, you got some shots of the stained glass and it was really neat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:14</time>
<p>Cause I actually missed it the first time when I was looking</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:16</time>
<p>through the footage and you said, Hey, no, go back and look at this.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:19</time>
<p>And so I was able to zoom in and you can see that stained glass.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:23</time>
<p>I've never seen stained glass like this before with, you see kind of the The St.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:28</time>
<p>Mary, you see Mary there, classic pose, head, head bent over a little bit.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:32</time>
<p>But then on the sides right next to her are paratroopers in their paratrooper</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:37</time>
<p>green with a helmet on and boots and a parachute in stained glass.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:13:42</time>
<p>It's really beautiful and it's really neat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:44</time>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:45</time>
<p>And like we have spoken before, for so many things to go right that night.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:50</time>
<p>I mean, things went wrong, but so many things to go right.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:53</time>
<p>that you didn't have as much of a defense by the Nazis and for this</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:13:59</time>
<p>town to be liberated so quickly.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:01</time>
<p>We believe that it was some kind of divine intervention there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:04</time>
<p>And so for the town to embrace that and put it into something</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:09</time>
<p>permanent, like stained glass with the Virgin Mary beside paratroopers.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:13</time>
<p>It's just a very interesting thing to see.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:15</time>
<p>They also have a Joan of Arc in there and a just a generic depiction of</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:20</time>
<p>Jesus, but it's a very beautiful church.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:22</time>
<p>The church still has remnants of bullet shots and things</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:26</time>
<p>in the side of the church.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:27</time>
<p>So it's very much still a just a relic of D Day and you can go and see it.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:33</time>
<p>And the town square is just beautiful, but they Love the story of D Day</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:40</time>
<p>and the liberation of their town so much so that I was there that day.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:45</time>
<p>80 years later, and they had parades of American tanks, all these French</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:51</time>
<p>men and women dressed as Americans.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:54</time>
<p>It was very neat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:14:55</time>
<p>And they just embrace Americans so much that there is a monument there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:00</time>
<p>to the 82nd and the 101st Airborne.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:02</time>
<p>And people leave poppies and different things there, but</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:06</time>
<p>they've just embraced that story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:08</time>
<p>And if you walk around the town, there are different areas with</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:13</time>
<p>little plaques and things about different paratroopers that fell into.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:18</time>
<p>this backyard or into this greenhouse or into this garden and what they may have</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:24</time>
<p>come up against or what happened to them.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:28</time>
<p>And even in different areas, they still have parachutes that they'll hang over</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:32</time>
<p>trees and things just to give you a sense of what the town felt like that day, that</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:15:38</time>
<p>morning, when all of these, Parachute is basically descended on the town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:43</time>
<p>Yeah, it was, it was really neat to watch it and, and seeing the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:47</time>
<p>footage the parade footage with, I mean, these are old tanks that are,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:51</time>
<p>that was even just neat because you don't see that in the States, right?</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:54</time>
<p>You just don't see parades like that.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:15:57</time>
<p>And, and these are legitimate old World War II tanks that</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:00</time>
<p>they're driving through the town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:01</time>
<p>It was really cool to see</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:03</time>
<p>It was really neat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:04</time>
<p>And when you think about these roads are basically a tank wide and they're</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:09</time>
<p>driving these tanks down these cobblestone old roads and people</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:14</time>
<p>are loving it and they're waving and they're just having a great time.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:18</time>
<p>And these tanks look legit.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:21</time>
<p>Like they could have just, Been made yesterday.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:24</time>
<p>They've taken such good care of them.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:16:26</time>
<p>It's, it's, it was so cool.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:28</time>
<p>So what else they have in st Mariglis if Town Square walk around again</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:33</time>
<p>see the plaques to the different airborne that were there that day But they have the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:37</time>
<p>entire airborne museum is there and that was a great museum to show what but the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:44</time>
<p>airborne kind of went through that day.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:47</time>
<p>They have an example of what it's like to board a C 47 aircraft</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:51</time>
<p>and jump from a C 47 aircraft.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:53</time>
<p>You get reminiscence of it in Band of Brothers when they're all</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:57</time>
<p>lining up and you have the red light that goes green and they just</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:16:59</time>
<p>start jumping on the static line.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:02</time>
<p>It's the same kind of feeling.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:03</time>
<p>You go through, you walk through, you get to see what it's like,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:06</time>
<p>dark night the jostling of the aircraft, not knowing where you are</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:11</time>
<p>and you're basically just jumping.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:13</time>
<p>It also lets you see the amount of weight these men are carrying on them</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:17</time>
<p>because besides their jump gear, they're carrying on whatever ammunition they need.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:21</time>
<p>They need, they're carrying on whatever gear they need and just</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:25</time>
<p>all the weight they have upon their bodies as they jump not only makes</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:29</time>
<p>them fall to the ground faster.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:31</time>
<p>And since these men were going low and fast, that was put at them a danger.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:36</time>
<p>But just.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:37</time>
<p>the sheer weight if they're going to hit water, they just not going to</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:40</time>
<p>have the time to cut themselves free.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:43</time>
<p>And that's also when men were hitting burning buildings or burning areas,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:49</time>
<p>they didn't have the time to redirect themselves because it's so fast and</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:53</time>
<p>you're so heavy that you don't have that opportunity to avoid the fire.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:17:57</time>
<p>So you have cases of that as</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:17:59</time>
<p>If you ever get a chance to see, somebody parachuting or</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:02</time>
<p>something like that, it looks like they're falling relatively slowly.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:06</time>
<p>You don't realize and you and I I think you you did it for My birthday or</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:10</time>
<p>something one year we went skydiving.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:11</time>
<p>We did tandem skydiving thing And so I was strapped to somebody who you know</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:15</time>
<p>knew what he was doing and when you're falling you realize how fast you're</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:19</time>
<p>falling But then also you don't realize and that when the parachute pulls it's</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:23</time>
<p>not violent you slow down But then when you get closer to the ground you realize</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:28</time>
<p>how fast you are still falling You know, and that's modern day parachutes.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:33</time>
<p>These are World War II era, the airborne concept is still relatively new, a</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:39</time>
<p>few years and all the gear and all the other stuff that's going on, right?</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:45</time>
<p>You, you, you add all of that stuff up together.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:48</time>
<p>together What</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:49</time>
<p>these paratroopers were doing and how they were jumping in</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:53</time>
<p>is pretty incredible and, and.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:55</time>
<p>very, very dangerous, especially at the time.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:18:57</time>
<p>Like today we have much better equipment, much more control for</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:02</time>
<p>your average parachuter coming down.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:04</time>
<p>So it really was incredible what they were doing.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:07</time>
<p>It was, and that's, this town has embraced that story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:10</time>
<p>And that museum has embraced that story.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:13</time>
<p>They actually have the gliders were also a big part of that day.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:19</time>
<p>And they have one of the only examples of the Waco glider there that you can see it.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:24</time>
<p>So gliders are big.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:25</time>
<p>If we ever talk about the Pegasus bridge The English had the gliders where you</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:29</time>
<p>could get about 40 men, 30 men in a glider</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:19:32</time>
<p>we referenced them, I think, Latin last week or the week before his episode.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:35</time>
<p>it's quiet.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:36</time>
<p>You don't hear it and they can land and they can really</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:39</time>
<p>land right under your nose.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:40</time>
<p>That's why they took the Pegasus Bridge so easily.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:42</time>
<p>But they have an example of it in there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:45</time>
<p>I want people to remember two paratroopers as much as they're known for jumping.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:50</time>
<p>Jumping is just the easiest basic part of what they're doing.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:56</time>
<p>They're soldiers.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:19:58</time>
<p>They're there to fight.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:00</time>
<p>They're there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:00</time>
<p>They're infantry.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:01</time>
<p>When you think about it, they're there to fight.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:03</time>
<p>Jumping is just how they get there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:05</time>
<p>And once they're there, they just become, they become</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:08</time>
<p>soldiers, ground troops, ground</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:20:10</time>
<p>It's a smaller part of their training than people realize.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:12</time>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:12</time>
<p>And so yeah, getting the jump right is so important, but getting the jump</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:17</time>
<p>right is, is the easiest basic part.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:21</time>
<p>And then you're going to have to start fighting a war.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:24</time>
<p>And that's what you know, when you see in Band of Brothers,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:27</time>
<p>jumping in is how they get there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:29</time>
<p>But it's really when they get on the ground and then they have to</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:32</time>
<p>start doing the tactics, the ground tactics that comes into play.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:35</time>
<p>So it's, you're, you're like double the soldier there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:39</time>
<p>But I really loved being in that town.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:41</time>
<p>I recommend if you're going to go visit France and Normandy, you have to go to St.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:47</time>
<p>Mere Eglis.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:47</time>
<p>I think of all the towns associated with D Day, it is the most important one.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:54</time>
<p>It is the one that was in support of Utah Beach.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:56</time>
<p>It is the.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:57</time>
<p>first one liberated.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:20:58</time>
<p>It is, they have embraced that story there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:01</time>
<p>They love Americans there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:03</time>
<p>You can see the mannequin of John Steele on the steeple there.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:07</time>
<p>And it's just a place.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:09</time>
<p>They have recently unveiled a statue of President Eisenhower, General</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:13</time>
<p>Eisenhower, as he preferred to be called, but in full World War II uniform.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:19</time>
<p>So it looks like the statue at the D Day memorial.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:24</time>
<p>and the statue at his at his presidential museum in Kansas.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:28</time>
<p>So that is also right there beside the steeple as well.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Jenn:</cite>
<time>00:21:32</time>
<p>So it's a great place to go and visit.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:33</time>
<p>Yeah, it was a fun video to make because it's much more, able</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:38</time>
<p>to be a little more celebratory with a video like this and the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:42</time>
<p>topic was really, really neat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:47</time>
<p>With the successful securing of Saint Mère Église and the other key towns on</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:51</time>
<p>D Day, the Allied forces turned their attention to using these strategic points</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:55</time>
<p>to push further into occupied France.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:21:58</time>
<p>The beaches of Normandy became a crucial supply and reinforcement</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:02</time>
<p>hubs for the advancing troops.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:05</time>
<p>From these beachheads, the Allies initiated Operation Overlord, the</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:09</time>
<p>codename for the Battle of Normandy.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:12</time>
<p>This involved a series of meticulously planned operations</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:16</time>
<p>to break through German defenses and liberate occupied territories.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:20</time>
<p>One of the first objectives was to link the five beachheads,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:22</time>
<p>ensuring that they would be safe.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:24</time>
<p>A continuous front line and facilitating the movement of troops and supplies.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:29</time>
<p>As the Allied forces advanced, they encountered fierce resistance</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:32</time>
<p>from entrenched German troops.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:34</time>
<p>The hedgerows of the Normandy countryside provided natural defensive positions,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:38</time>
<p>making progress slow and costly.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:41</time>
<p>Despite this, the Allies pressed on, employing coordinated infantry, armor,</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:46</time>
<p>and air support to overcome the obstacles.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:50</time>
<p>key towns such as Carentan, Caen, and Bordeaux.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:53</time>
<p>And Saint Lô became major battlegrounds.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:22:56</time>
<p>The capture of the French port city, Caen, in particular was</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:00</time>
<p>critical due to its strategic location and transportation network.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:04</time>
<p>The British and Canadian forces faced weeks of intense fighting before</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:07</time>
<p>finally securing the town in mid July.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:11</time>
<p>The liberation of these towns allowed the Allies to establish vital supply</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:15</time>
<p>lines and command posts, enabling them to sustain their push into France.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:21</time>
<p>The breakout from the Normandy beach has begun.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:23</time>
<p>culminated in Operation Cobra, launched in late July 1944.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:30</time>
<p>This offensive aimed to exploit the weakened German positions</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:33</time>
<p>and achieve a rapid advance through the French countryside.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:37</time>
<p>The operation succeeded beyond expectations, leading to the encirclement</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:41</time>
<p>of German forces in the Falaise pocket in their eventual retreat.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:46</time>
<p>With the German defenses in disarray, the Allies surged forward, liberating</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:50</time>
<p>Paris by the end of August.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:52</time>
<p>The momentum continued as they drove towards the German border, liberating</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:23:55</time>
<p>town after town and village after village.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:00</time>
<p>The successful use of the Normandy beachheads and towns as springboards</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:03</time>
<p>for further operations was a testament to the meticulous planning</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:06</time>
<p>and bravery of the Allied forces.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:08</time>
<p>Their efforts paved the way for the eventual liberation of France.</p>
<p></p>
<cite>Scott:</cite>
<time>00:24:12</time>
<p>And the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany, marking a turning point in World War II.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>