THE WAR AFTER D-DAY
The war in Europe went on for another eleven months, and the 82nd Airborne had many more days like June 6, 1944. It was weeks before the Allies broke out of Normandy, months before they got to Germany, and almost a year before Germany fell.
June 7, in fact, was every bit as tough as the day the paratroopers landed in France, due to a fierce German counter-attack that plowed into St. Mere-Eglise. The American position was only held by the arrival of tanks from the 4th Infantry Division.
But without Turner Turnbull and his men's heroic actions at Neuville-au-Plain, American casualties on June 7 would have been much worse.
If the Germans had seized Neuville early in the day on June 6, they would have been able to crush the resistance at St. Mere-Eglise between two huge pincers. They failed because Ben Vandervoort and Turner Turnbull made a series of outstanding leadership decisions throughout the day.
The 82nd Airborne survived D-Day and went on to fight in all the major campaigns that led to fall of Nazi Germany.
Sadly, Turner Turnbull was not among them when they achieved final victory. He lived only one day more after his stand at Neuville-Au-Plain, killed by German artillery fire on June 7 and buried at the American Cemetery in Normandy.
MISSION END
