- He didn't talk much, like most veterans
from World War II, they don't talk a lot.
I would love to know exactly where he was driving around.
I would like to know exactly where he fought.
I would like to know the names of his friends,
that probably died here, you know.
I would like all those answers.
(melancholy music)
Basically, I joined the army in 1969.
I did everything in the airborne.
I was a sergeant. I was a jump master.
I've got over a hundred jumps.
Then I went to the 82nd Airborne.
It was my time in the 82nd Airborne,
that I realized something.
My father was in the 82nd Airborne, and you know,
like I said, I started asking him questions,
and you know, I found pictures of him.
I'm here now, and I'm retracing the footsteps of my father.
He was in the 82nd Airborne, 325 Glider Infantry,
and I was in the First Battalion of the 505th infantry.
Both of these units have some extensive history
right here in Sainte-Mère-Église.
This is the tough one right here,
if you come here and you understand what's going on here,
then the rest of it's going to be easy, you know?
'Cause those guys, you know, they fought their butts off.
(melancholy music)
We went over to La Fiere Bridge, pretty much.
This is, now I know, this is where my dad is,
this is where my dad landed,
this is where my dad fought and I'm thinking to myself,
"Was he there or was he over here?" You know?
Well, it doesn't really matter whether he was there
or over here, he was here at this area
and he was fighting over this bridge
and trying to make things happen, you know?
They had to capture the bridge,
they had to move their soldiers across the bridge,
the had to take the land.
(reflective music)
It brings it all back to you,
it just brings it back to you, you know?
It's like, "Holy cow, I'm feeling,
hopefully I'm feeling what my dad felt
about the people and all this, the area here."
You know, he survived but a lot
of his friends didn't survive.
To read what happened and how many people were killed
trying to take this area, you know,
it's almost too much to fathom,
it's just too much to handle because you're looking at this
and you're thinking the price that we paid
to try to take this place.
(reflective music)
If my dad was here I'm sure he would be impressed
by what has happened.
I'm sure he'd be impressed by the idea that in fact
the people here, the generations
after the initial people that lived here
are still keeping the history alive, you know?
It's the French, you have to thank the French
for doing this.
I've been all over the world and I have never been anywhere
where I see so many American flags and so many monuments
for the American soldiers that died here.
Do you remember this? Do you remember that?
Do you remember this?
I'd love to just take him and just show him around
and say, "Look what you got here.
Look what your generation did."
There's nothing I would do differently,
it's just a super way to see this place.
Like I said, it's just an emotional thing to come here.
If you're a paratrooper this is like,
the Mecca of the Airborne, right here.
This is where it is, this is what happens,
this is the history of it right here.
It's all wrapped up right here in Normandy.
(reflective music)