WHEN GI JOE SAW RED
Waves of C-47 Skytrains in formation flew east across the English Channel toward Normandy under cover of darkness, an overcast sky eclipsing the stars and moon above. In one plane a stick of 16 paratroopers from Company I of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR), 101st Airborne Division, sat silent, each man lost in thought. Their mission was clear enough: From their drop zone they were to move south, seize two footbridges at the mouth of the Douve River and expand them into a bridgehead.
Over the Cotentin Peninsula a dense fog enveloped the landscape, providing additional cover but sending the formation into disarray. As the fog cleared, the planes began to take heavy anti-aircraft fire. Hit by flak, a few of the C-47s lurched and plummeted to the ground, one in flames. As Company I’s plane fishtailed across the sky, it dropped from 700 feet down to 400 feet, shuddering as it descended.
Landing with a thud on the roof of a church, he tumbled down and dropped to the ground
The jumpmaster began to bark out commands: “Stand up!…Hook up!…Sound off for equipment check!”
When he opened the door, the wind noise and engine roar required him to holler even louder. “Stand in the door!” A moment passed before he tripped the green light. “Go!”
Technical Sergeant Joseph Beyrle grabbed the doorframe for balance before throwing himself into chaos. As his chute opened, tracer rounds crisscrossed the sky around him, some striking his fellow troopers. Within 30 seconds of leaping from the plane, Beyrle found himself drifting down toward a church, bursts of gunfire issuing from its steeple. Landing with a thud on the roof, he tumbled down its steep grade and dropped 15 feet to the ground. Recalling the pictures, maps and sand tables from his company’s intensive mission briefings, Beyrle realized he was in Saint-Côme-du-Mont, a
