RECON TO THE SOUTHWEST
Turnbull moves quietly but he soon loosed his direction in the thick hedgerows.
Abruptly, a machine gun fires to his right, barely thirty feet away and Turnbull drops his map in his scramble to get away.
Turnbull ends up lost and wandering for the next several hours. It is close to 6:00 AM when a gruff voice calls out.
"What unit are you with?" an American officer asks while stepping out of the shadows.
"82nd Airborne. I'm with the 2/50S5th and trying to find my rally point," Turnbull answers, identifying himself.
"You're far off course, Lieutenant. I am Major Kellam and this is the 1/505th command post. We are about three miles west of your rally point," the man says.
Turnbull swells with disappointment. He knows he can't get back to his men before they seize Neuville-Au-Plain.
"We're just about to seize La Fiere bridge." Kellam continues. "I could use some help."
Turnbull nods. He might as well do what he can here "Tell me what you need, Major."
Paratroopers gather in the brightening light and organize for the assault the bridge.
This will be a good fight, Turnbull decides. The Americans need to hold La Fiere bridge to keep the Germans from attacking east towards the landing beaches.
Fierce fighting lasts the day and many men die, including Major Kellam. Turner Turnbull leads a valiant but doomed assault on the causeway and falls midway through the
