OVER FRANCE
Fire and flame crowd the sky as the German 88mm guns cut loose.
Co-pilot Mike Weatherhead grips his controls tightly and thinks that the flight across the Cotentin peninsula will be the longest fifteen minutes of his life.
Captain Gwynn knows, however, that the Germans are firing wildly, throwing steel into the sky and praying for luck. The real danger is closer to the drop zone when they slow to a safe jump speed.
So Gwynn focuses on flying, checking his speed and altitude indicators.
But when he looks up a moment later, he is stunned to find the sky covered by a thick mist.
The meteorologists expected haze, but this is much worse. The fog is disorienting, cutting the pilots' visibility to fewer than ten feet. The other C-47's have disappeared.
The danger is real and Gwynn yearns to shake free of the choking mist. Fear gnaws at him. He imagines another plane punching through the clouds and smashing into them.
Time for a decision. If he speeds up, he might punch past the cloud layer. He could also try gaining altitude to get above the cloud layer.
Of course, he could do nothing and stay on course, trusting that his fellow pilots have the nerve to do the same.
