WEBVTT 00:06.769 --> 00:10.350 Yeah , welcome to history 00:10.359 --> 00:13.130 shorts . I'm Courtney Short . And this 00:13.140 --> 00:16.809 year 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of 00:16.819 --> 00:18.979 the liberation of France that started 00:18.989 --> 00:22.360 on June 6th of 1944 . Even 00:22.370 --> 00:24.760 today . The event is widely celebrated 00:24.770 --> 00:26.826 throughout the country . But did you 00:26.826 --> 00:29.319 know that a few months later , the 00:29.329 --> 00:31.899 country also celebrated another 00:31.909 --> 00:33.909 operation that contributed to their 00:33.909 --> 00:36.540 liberation operation . Dragoon the 00:36.549 --> 00:38.771 allied invasion of Southern France that 00:38.771 --> 00:41.830 started on August 15th of 1944 and our 00:41.840 --> 00:44.619 own 3/10 bombardment group played a 00:44.630 --> 00:47.000 pivotal role in ensuring its success . 00:48.069 --> 00:50.450 The campaign in Southern France was 00:50.459 --> 00:52.529 designed to work with the Normandy 00:52.540 --> 00:55.590 landings to squeeze the German army 00:55.599 --> 00:57.889 simultaneously from two directions 00:58.430 --> 01:00.810 briefly canceled because of diminished 01:00.819 --> 01:03.369 resources . The operation was later 01:03.380 --> 01:06.349 reinvigorated with a new objective to 01:06.360 --> 01:08.250 improve the throughput of allied 01:08.260 --> 01:11.010 supplies into France . Operation . 01:11.019 --> 01:12.741 Dragoon would provide ports at 01:12.741 --> 01:14.908 Marseille and Toulon and challenge the 01:14.908 --> 01:16.908 German forces by opening up another 01:16.908 --> 01:20.699 attack front in preparation 01:20.709 --> 01:23.129 for the landings . The 3/10 bombardment 01:23.139 --> 01:25.599 group who were flying out of Corsica 01:25.610 --> 01:28.080 began bombing targets in France as 01:28.089 --> 01:31.559 early as August 3rd of 1944 . But by 01:31.569 --> 01:34.599 August 11th , those bombing missions 01:34.610 --> 01:37.389 had increased in the four days leading 01:37.400 --> 01:39.709 up to the invasion . The 3/10 01:39.720 --> 01:41.599 bombardment group completed an 01:41.610 --> 01:45.610 astonishing 23 missions in 01:45.620 --> 01:48.980 the early morning of August 15th , 1944 . 01:49.290 --> 01:51.599 The crews of the 3/10 bombardment group 01:51.610 --> 01:53.690 dropped bombs ahead of the 8 a.m. 01:53.699 --> 01:56.330 landings , arriving over their targets 01:56.339 --> 01:59.569 which included gun positions and the 01:59.580 --> 02:02.959 landing beaches themselves . By 7 a.m. 02:02.980 --> 02:05.370 they encountered little resistance with 02:05.379 --> 02:08.070 the targets destroyed , all crews 02:08.080 --> 02:11.759 returned by 7:30 a.m. but the German 02:11.768 --> 02:14.119 resistance would increase as the days 02:14.128 --> 02:16.518 continued . And first Lieutenant Bob 02:16.529 --> 02:18.899 Keane and his crew from a 3/80 02:18.908 --> 02:20.964 bombardment squadron would encounter 02:20.964 --> 02:24.108 such flak that it would down their B 25 . 02:24.408 --> 02:26.519 And then it came up as more flak than 02:26.519 --> 02:29.339 I've ever seen before between 20 30,000 02:29.348 --> 02:31.399 burst . Well , it looked like a big 02:31.408 --> 02:33.669 black thunder cloud . The plane was in 02:33.679 --> 02:36.018 sad shape . The engines were spraying 02:36.029 --> 02:38.140 gasoline all over the ship . I had to 02:38.140 --> 02:40.251 cut my right engine to keep the plane 02:40.251 --> 02:42.473 from setting fire . Then my left engine 02:42.473 --> 02:44.418 quit on me . So there was only one 02:44.418 --> 02:46.940 direction to go down . Luckily they 02:46.949 --> 02:49.119 landed in the sea and were rescued and 02:49.130 --> 02:52.410 all of them survived . The 80th 02:52.419 --> 02:54.699 anniversary of operation dragoon is 02:54.710 --> 02:56.929 about remembering and celebrating , 02:57.229 --> 02:59.679 celebrating our allied relationships 02:59.899 --> 03:02.289 and celebrating our role in bringing 03:02.300 --> 03:05.380 victory to a world conflict . Today , 03:05.389 --> 03:07.500 the 310 Space Wing brings the same 03:07.509 --> 03:09.565 level of talent , cooper , operation 03:09.565 --> 03:11.565 and commitment to operations in the 03:11.565 --> 03:14.070 space domain and our efforts influence 03:14.080 --> 03:15.779 missions around the globe .