OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
The sky thickens with Allied planes, each one carrying a “stick” of fifteen paratroopers. 1,000 planes with 13,000 warriors aboard aim towards France.
An hour later the flotilla meets at “Elko”, the rally point above the English Channel, then flies southwest for 57 miles at 1,500 feet.
The pilots turn off their planes' lights and the paratroopers settle in as best they can.
The flight to France is a nerve-wracking sixty minutes. Most men sleep or pray, while Sergeants and lieutenants go over their mission one last time.
Corporal Kelly, the platoon medic, and Turnbull stare in disbelief at the scene below them in the Channel.
The planes soon outpace the invasion fleet and time stretches. Turnbull nervously checks his watch to measure their progress.
It is thirty minutes past midnight on June 6, 1944 when the planes cross the French coast and German anti-aircraft guns open fire.
