WW2- D-day: St. Mere Eglise - Summer 2006

[dragon3600000]

The man who was the original paratrooper who fell on the building was from a town a few miles from me

[82abnoff]

We try and we fail.

[82ndReenactor]

he was orignaly on the pther side but they put it on this side so every1 can see him he played dead for 4 hours then taken

as a POW

[82ndairbornefreak]

he was taken prisoner then he escaped and got back to his unit.....read ww2 heroes and true stories of ww2

[mickyproo]

I remember there cruch 4 CoD2

[extreamgamer101]

i went there 4 a history trip a few years back i will always remember that church with da para on it

[airborne1940]

where is the dummy paratrooper on top of the church? is it that thing on the left

[Asteriks]

The name of the parachutist of the 82nd Airborne is (or was) Private John M Steele and in the film "The Longest Day", he was played by Red Buttons. Today, across the square from the church, there is a café named after him, the Auberge John Steele.

[charliethewop]

Was. He died in the late sixties. For years he went to St.Mere Eglise, on the 6th of June, to celebrate the d-day.

[mrgenius4]

did you see that man ??

[kababyenoh]

Its kinda irritating with the crappy camera handling but I know what it is...I heard the paratrooper lost his gun while getting stuck on the top

[CptZappacosta]

Sorry for the poor quality, but i shot the vid with a small camera and the belfry was so far... the paratrooper got shot in a foot and pretended to be dead eventually had been rescued the day after and for several years went to st mere eglise to celebrate the anniversary

[HoCkEyfreak41110]

If you read the book "The Longest Day" (also a movie) it tells that he crash landed there. He tried to cut himself loose but dropped his knife. Then he decided to play dead. He was cut down by a German, not an American, and taken prisoner.

[fernfeyes]

I just finished reading "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan where he interviewed Pvt Steele. Steele says he dropped his knife and couldn't cut himself down and he witnessed the battle that ensued in the courtyard in front of him. He played dead and was later captured. One day I hope to visit the spot. There was a reenactment including the Central Valley chapter of our local military collecters club a few years ago, they took trucks/tanks over there and the locals went wild.